Safety Tidbit #27 - Trenching: Competent Person

Safety Tidbit #27 - Trenching: Competent Person

I was on a construction job site recently and the first question I asked - who is the competent person at the site?  This is usually my first question since the qualified person has the responsibility to make most of the decisions on the site and, therefore, is directly responsible for the lives and safety of all of the workers on that site.  On this site, a young man, who happened to be the company owner’s son, raised his hand. He appeared to have very little training or experience and this site had a very mean looking trench.  Which was why I stopped to begin with!

First, what is a competent person?  OSHA defines a competent person as:

A person who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings, or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has the authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.

In our particular case competent translates to the following knowledge:

1) Training, experience, and knowledge of:

a) Soil analysis;

b) Use of protective systems; and

c) Requirements of 29CFR1926 Subpart P

2) Ability to detect:

a) Conditions that could result in cave-ins;

b)    Failures in protective systems;

c)    Hazardous atmospheres; and

d)    Other hazards including those associated with confined spaces.

3) And above all - authority to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate existing and predictable hazards and to stop work when required.

Just because the “competent person” on our site was young did not mean he couldn’t be a competent person. Ultimately, I didn’t want to appear prejudiced so; I proceeded with a few simple trench-related questions. First, what was the depth of the trench - he could not answer.  Second, what type of soil was present - no answer.  Third, what protective system were they using - dead air.  Fourth was an easy one, did he know the requirements of 29CFR1926 Subpart P - success!! He said he remembered hearing about it during the OSHA 10-hour course that he and the whole crew attended just before starting this job.  I did give him a little credit, however, since he was the owner’s son he probably had Item C above covered.

Remember: A competent person has a great deal of responsibility and must be given as many tools as possible to perform their job so they can make informed decisions and ensure all workers go home each and every day.

BTW: The trench was 12 feet deep 4 feet wide, it had rained the night before and water was standing in the bottom of the trench and pouring in from the sides. And, oh, there was no trench box or shoring material to be seen anywhere. Upside - They quit for the day.