What is a Competent Person for Health and Safety?
If you run a business in the UK, you have a legal duty to appoint what is known as a 'competent person' to help you manage health and safety. This is also sometimes called a retained health and safety service / advisor, outsourced advisor or external competent person. But what does that actually mean, and why does it matter?
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A competent person, in the context of health and safety law, is someone who has the necessary knowledge, skills, training and experience to help an employer meet their legal obligations under health and safety legislation. This is not a vague or aspirational job title — it is a specific legal requirement set out in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
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The competent person's role is to assist the employer in identifying risks, developing appropriate control measures, and ensuring that health and safety arrangements are properly implemented and maintained. In practical terms, this could mean writing health and safety policies, carrying out risk assessments, advising on legal compliance, providing guidance after an accident, or helping a business prepare for an HSE inspection.
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It is important to understand that the competent person does not have to be a full-time employee. Many businesses — particularly small and medium-sized enterprises — choose to appoint an external health and safety consultant to fulfil this role. This approach gives them access to high-level expertise without the cost of a full-time hire, and is entirely legitimate under the regulations. For example, some of our client have good established systems and only see us once a year, other have much more complex requirements and hazards onsite and we regularly visit them.
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The level of competence required will depend on the nature and complexity of the business. A small low-risk office might be adequately served by someone with a basic health and safety qualification and a solid working knowledge of the relevant regulations. A high-risk manufacturing environment, on the other hand, will typically need someone with a much deeper level of technical expertise — ideally with recognised professional qualifications such as NEBOSH or IOSH Chartered membership.
For more specialist topics, there are additional competencies which should be sought, for example fire risk assessments require specialist knowledge, skills, training and experience. Machinery safety and PUWER is also a technical topic and requires its own competencies.
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At LESH, our consultants are IOSH Chartered safety professionals with years of hands-on experience across a wide range of industries, but we do specialise in manufacturing and engineering safety. When we act as your competent person, you can be confident that you are meeting your legal obligations and that your business has access to genuinely expert advice whenever you need it.
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We offer a range of health and safety Competent Person packages.
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