How to Ensure Compliance with Health & Safety Competence

It's imperative you prioritise compliance with Health & Safety regulations to ensure the Health & Safety of employees and others that could be affected by your work processes.

To meet the standards set, it is important to ensure that staff members have sufficient training to perform their duties, contractors that you hire to work for you are competent, and that you have access to competent health and safety advice.

What is the definition of competence?

Having competence in a specialism or an activity is not possible without the person having the combination of the following factors:

Skill – do they have the relevant skills to complete the task

Knowledge – are they knowledgeable in the subject matter

Ability – are they able to complete the work to the required standard.

Training – have they had the necessary training and if it is necessary, do they hold the qualifications to enable them to complete the work.

Experience – do they have a decent amount of practical, real-world experience in the role.

What are the requirements for competence for Health & Safety?

The competence requirements that we will discuss in this article fall into 3 areas:

1. Access to competent health and safety advice
2. Health and safety competence of employees for their roles
3. The requirement to assess the competency of contractors

Access to competent Health & Safety advice

The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires businesses to appoint a competent person to manage or assist the management of Health and Safety.

There needs to be somebody within the organisation that can be allocated the responsibility of managing Health and Safety.

To meet the requirement set by the management of Health and Safety at work regulations, this appointed person must either be competent in Health and Safety management OR have access to the advice of somebody that is competent in Health and Safety management.

Health & Safety competence of employees for their roles

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places a legal duty on employers to provide suitable and sufficient information, instruction, training and supervision.

The provision of health and safety information instruction and training will give them the knowledge and training to enable them to develop their competence in their role. Regular supervision while working will ensure that they develop their skills and ability to do the role with on-the-job experience.

Competency is something that is both acquired over time and maintained over time with continuous professional development, which is why regular refresher training and workplace assessments of employees are important.

The requirement to assess the competency of contractors

Where you do not have the competency in house to complete certain works, you would look to take on the services of a competent contractor.

Any contractor that you take on to complete work on behalf of your organisation needs to be vetted to ensure they work safely.

This process includes them providing information that demonstrates that they are compliant but also competent to complete the work that they have been hired to do.

This is something you can assess internally, or you can mandate that any contractors tendering for your work hold an accreditation with an SSIP (Safety Schemes in Procurement) scheme.

SSIP schemes take the work out of vetting contractors as the contractor holding the accreditation will need to prove on an annual basis that they meet the requirements of the accreditation.

Get expert advice from Peninsula UK

You should appoint a competent person or persons in your business. Competent persons should have the appropriate training and ability to perform dangerous tasks safely. And without risk to others.

Without a competent person, workplace injuries at your business may become frequent. Not to mention you could face fines - or even prosecution if you breach work regulations.

Peninsula offers you expert 24/7 HR advice and support, to help you appoint a competent person in your workplace - or use a competent person scheme. As well as advising you on what knowledge, skills and experience they will need. Contact us today on 0800 0282 420.