Safety Tidbit 3.48 – Competent Person
In the construction world, where work crews are on different sites and oftentimes several different sites simultaneously, companies rely on one person to be “in charge.” For safety, this person is known as the competent person. For the purposes of OSHA's safety and health standards for the construction industry, "competent person" is defined in 29 CFR 1926.32(f) as "one 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 authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them."
Overtime, many OSHA regulations have used the term competent person mainly in the construction but also in the maritime industries. More recently the term has been used in the general industry specifically in the Respirable Crystalline Silica (RCS) rule. For quite some time now, I’ve been providing a two-hour class to the masonry and concrete trades throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia on how to complete the Exposure Control Plan for Silica. The class teaches students how to predict and identify silica hazards in their respective workplaces, catalog the control measures necessary to ensure workers are not overexposed to RCS. Furthermore, the class develops insights into how exposures may be reduced before work begins to avoid unnecessary worker exposure.
The class has been given more than twelve times with more than 350 attendees. Anecdotally, feedback indicates that many attendees have been able to significantly reduce their workplace dust concentrations. Furthermore, the methodology taught in the class can be used to assess risk for any workplace hazard.
How does this relate to my opening about the competent person? I am giving the class again next week, and I was asked by a prospective attendee if the class would meet the requirements for a silica competent person? I told the client that the class will definitely meet the first half of the definition of competent person: “one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees…” However, I reminded the client that only by giving the competent person “authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate hazards” will the safety and health of workers be assured.
Hope this was helpful and thank you for reading my Safety Tidbits! Comments and questions are always welcome. ~ Bryan
P.S. If you have an interesting safety or health question, please let me know.
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