Sheet 26Mix-up sheet · Excavation, trenching and confined spaces
Competent person vs qualified person on the STSC
On a construction site the competent person inspects and the qualified person designs. 29 CFR 1926.32 defines a competent person as someone who can identify existing and predictable hazards and has authority to correct them promptly; a qualified person holds a degree, certificate or professional standing, or has extensive knowledge, training and experience, and has shown the ability to solve problems in that subject.
Definitions from 29 CFR 1926.32(f) and (m); duties from the subparts named in each rowscroll →
Point
Competent person
Qualified person
Rests on
Knowing the hazards plus authority to act on them
Credentials or deep experience plus proven problem-solving
Typical verbs
Inspects, identifies, stops, corrects
Designs, calculates, evaluates
Scaffolds, Subpart L
Directs erection and inspects before each shift
Designs the scaffold
Cranes, Subpart CC
Shift and monthly inspections
Annual comprehensive inspection; rigging for hoisting work
Fall protection, Subpart M
Serves as safety monitor; supervises a fall protection plan
Writes the fall protection plan where conventional systems are infeasible
Where you find them
On site, with the crew
Often off site, in an office or a design firm
Excavations deeper than 20 feet add a third role: a registered professional engineer designs the protective system (29 CFR 1926.652).
Talking point 02
Two halves, both required
The competent-person definition has two parts, and a person with only one of them does not meet it. A foreman who can read a scaffold perfectly but has no authority to halt the work does not meet it. Neither does a manager with full authority who would not notice a missing base plate.
Qualified is about depth rather than authority. An engineer who designs a formwork system or writes a fall protection plan is qualified for that work through education and a record of results, and may never stand on the deck. Some roles ask for both: a crane assembly or disassembly director is a person who is both competent and qualified, or a competent person assisted by a qualified one (29 CFR 1926.1404).
Talking point 03
Sorting a role on your site
Name the task
Looking, testing and stopping work point to the competent person. Calculating, designing and certifying a system point to the qualified person.
Check the authority
If the person cannot correct the hazard on the spot, they do not meet the competent-person definition, whatever their title says.
Check the size of the job
A protective system for an excavation deeper than 20 feet goes to a registered professional engineer, however experienced the site's competent person is.
Read the standard's own split
Some subparts divide the roles inside one rule. Scaffolds are designed by a qualified person and inspected by a competent person (29 CFR 1926.451).
Talking point 04
Who does it?
Each scenario pairs a task with a person. Decide which definition the task calls for before you look for a name among the options.
Card 1 of 6 · 0 right
Card 1
A crew wants to string a horizontal lifeline between two columns for three ironworkers. Which requirement applies to this system?
Pick an answer. A short note for each option, A to D, appears here.
AThe one-worker limit applies to vertical lifelines; a horizontal line can serve several workers when properly designed.
BSag and multiple workers multiply end-anchor forces far beyond a rope's rating, so a rating alone does not make a safe system.
CA body-weight pull does not simulate arrest forces, and this system calls for a qualified person rather than a competent person.
DCorrect: horizontal lifelines must be designed, installed and used under the supervision of a qualified person as part of a complete fall arrest system.
Card 2
A subcontractor sends a worker to erect a supported scaffold for a masonry crew. Which training record should the supervisor verify FIRST?
Pick an answer. A short note for each option, A to D, appears here.
ACorrect: workers who erect, move or dismantle scaffolds must be trained by a competent person in the hazards of that work.
BAn OSHA 10 card shows general hazard awareness, not scaffold-specific erection training.
CUser training from a qualified person covers working on scaffolds, not erecting them; this is the role swap the item tests.
DCarpentry experience does not show that the worker was trained in scaffold erection hazards.
Card 3
A worker refuses to enter a 7-ft-deep trench that has no shoring or sloping, saying the walls look unstable. What should the supervisor do FIRST?
Pick an answer. A short note for each option, A to D, appears here.
ADisciplining a good-faith refusal to face an imminent cave-in hazard can amount to illegal retaliation.
BSending a different worker into the same unprotected trench only changes who is exposed.
CCorrect: a 7-foot trench needs a protective system, so everyone stays out until the competent person evaluates it and protection is installed.
DWatching the walls gives no protection; a cave-in can bury a worker faster than anyone can warn.
Card 4
A worker's harness and shock-absorbing lanyard arrested a short fall yesterday. The worker was not hurt, and the gear looks undamaged. What should the supervisor do with the equipment?
Pick an answer. A short note for each option, A to D, appears here.
AA visual check by the user is not enough after impact loading, because damage to webbing and hardware may not be visible.
BCorrect: fall arrest equipment that has been impact loaded must be removed from service until a competent person inspects it and finds it undamaged.
CThe harness carried arrest force too, so replacing only the lanyard leaves possibly damaged gear in use.
DAn intact absorber pack does not prove the webbing, stitching or connectors escaped damage during the arrest.
Card 5
Strong, gusty winds develop while masons are working on a supported scaffold 30 feet above grade. Under OSHA scaffold rules, what is required for work to continue?
Pick an answer. A short note for each option, A to D, appears here.
AThree points of contact is a climbing practice and does nothing to meet the high-wind rule for scaffold work.
BGuardrails are already required at this height, which makes the choice tempting, but they do not satisfy the high-wind condition.
CThe determination belongs to a competent person, and checking ties alone does not address workers being blown off the platform.
DCorrect: Scaffold work in high winds is prohibited unless a competent person finds it safe and workers are protected by personal fall arrest or wind screens.
Card 6
A roofing crew trained last year on shock-absorbing lanyards is switching to leading-edge-rated self-retracting lifelines. What does OSHA require before they use the new devices?
Pick an answer. A short note for each option, A to D, appears here.
ACorrect: Retraining is required when changes in fall protection systems or equipment make earlier training obsolete, and the rule names a competent person as trainer.
BReading a manual is not training, and a signature does not show the crew can install or use the new devices correctly.
CThe fall protection training rule names a competent person rather than a qualified person, and it allows no 30-day grace period.
DEarlier training on lanyards does not cover leading-edge lifelines, which differ in anchorage position, clearance and edge exposure.
Talking point 05
Who the employer designates
Who is the competent person for an excavation?
The person the employer designates who can recognize cave-in, atmospheric and other trench hazards and has authority to correct them. 29 CFR 1926.651(k) has that person inspect daily before work and again after rain or any event that raises the hazard (as of October 2026). The wider topic is on excavation and confined spaces.
Can one person be both?
Yes. The crane standard names exactly that combination for the assembly and disassembly director (29 CFR 1926.1404). For any task, the person has to meet each definition the standard asks for.
Does a scaffold competent person also cover trenches?
Not automatically. Competence is tied to the hazards of a specific kind of work, so the employer designates for each one. Scaffold duties, from erection to inspection, are on falls, ladders and scaffolds.