Competent Person
By the Riskora Editorial Team · Last reviewed
A competent person is someone with the skills, knowledge, experience and training to carry out a specific health and safety task — judged against the task, not in the abstract.
The phrase is used throughout UK health and safety law. Regulation 7 of the MHSWR 1999 requires employers to appoint competent persons to assist with their duties. CDM 2015 requires competent designers, principal designers, principal contractors and contractors.
Competence is task-specific. A scaffolder is not automatically competent to assess a roof anchor; an electrician is not automatically competent to design a temporary supply.
A competent person should also know when a task is beyond their competence — and have the integrity to say so.
Why it matters
RAMS rejection feedback often includes 'not signed off by a competent person'. This is not a paperwork issue — it is the principal contractor saying the document does not look like it was reviewed by someone who understands the work.