What is a competent person in Health & Safety and how to choose yours

When it comes to meeting your Health & Safety responsibilities, having support from someone who’s sufficiently skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable may sound like a ‘nice to have’ – but in reality, it’s not an option, it’s a legal must-have.

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 outline the requirements for business owners to select “one or more competent persons to assist him in undertaking the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him”

But what does that mean for you? As a business owner, you need to appoint a specific person whose duty it is to make sure that your business is meeting its Health & Safety legal obligations. That person could be you, an employee who knows the business really well, or you have the choice to work with a third party who can act as a competent person on your behalf.

 

What is a competent person and how is it defined?

While the law doesn’t provide a specific definition or list of qualifications, it does offer guidance on what constitutes a competent person. Essentially, it boils down to having the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience to effectively manage health and safety in your specific workplace.

According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), a competent person is “someone who has sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities that allow them to assist you properly. The level of competence required will depend on the complexity of the situation and the particular help you need.”

We’ll dive into more details about typical competent person tasks and roles, but they should be able to:

• Identify hazards
• Assess risks
• Provide practical solutions
• Stay up-to-date with Health & Safety legislation

 

What does a competent person do?

A competent person is responsible for giving your working practices, premises and equipment a thorough inspection to make sure that your workplace is confidently meeting its Health & Safety responsibilities.

The overall responsibility for managing Health & Safety in a business will always fall on the business owner, a competent person can’t take that responsibility from you. But what they can do is give you advice and help, from a place of knowledge and experience, to make sure that you’re getting everything right.

The kind of tasks a competent person can carry out include:

• Keeping up to date with legislation and regulations and making sure your business does what it needs to do to comply with any changes
• Regularly inspect your premises for risks and hazard
• Help you to complete robust risk assessments, and keep them updated over time
• Work with you to put proper control measures for any risks and hazards you find in your risk assessments
• Assisting you in engaging your people with your Health & Safety policy – from communicating your stance to arranging necessary Health & Safety training.

It’s a list of big and important tasks, so when it comes to working with a competent person for your business, it’s important that you choose someone who really knows what they’re doing.

 

How to choose a Health & Safety competent person

There aren’t any specific qualifications a competent person needs to have according to the law. However, as this is a crucially important role when it comes to your business complying with Health & Safety laws, it’s definitely worth working with someone who has a good understanding of your business, how it works and what the inherent risks and hazards are.

1. Experience

While your competent person doesn’t need any formal qualifications, they still need to be experienced and trained enough that they can fulfil the role, according to the HSE. Has the individual been involved with a similar role before? Do they have any experience in creating risk assessments, implementing and monitoring safe work procedures, or conducting accident investigations?

2. Competence

Ideally, you’ll choose someone who’s done a similar role before. A solid understanding of Health & Safety law is a huge benefit, as well as being able to track updates so your business stays compliant with any changes in regulations.

3. Attitude

Is the individual proactive? Are they willing and capable of thinking about scenarios from multiple perspectives? And are they confident and able to communicate to all levels and teams within your business? You want someone who takes workplace Health & Safety seriously and has a keen eye for spotting risks. Also, consider how adept they’d be at getting your people engaged with your Health & Safety practices.

 

How can Citation help?

When you choose to work with Citation, we help you to find the right competent person for your business. Our approach is always centred on collaborating with you and giving you the skills to create a robust Health & Safety culture in your business.

While we don’t act as your competent person, we do work with your competent person to help you and them benefit from the years of experience our Health & Safety team bring to the table.

From helping you select the right person for your business and guiding you in the risk assessment process to keeping you up to date with legislation and regulation changes, your competent person will have industry-leading support, 24/7.

If you’re already a Citation client and you need our help selecting the right competent person, you can call our Health & Safety advice line on 0345 844 4848. To find out more about our Health & Safety services, such as our Competent Adviser support, contact us today.

And if you’re not a Citation client yet, give our team a call on 0345 844 1111 to chat through your business’s needs and how our Health and Safety consultants can help!