Does a Small Business Need a Competent Health and Safety Person?

Competence is based on a combination of knowledge, experience and training relevant to the risks involved in the specific business, not a job title or qualification level alone. A small business carrying out straightforward, low-risk activities may need a lower level of competence than one working with higher-risk equipment, substances or processes.

Many small businesses lack the resources for a dedicated in-house health and safety role, which is precisely why external competent-person support is a common, legally recognised way of meeting this duty - the regulations do not require the competent person to be an employee.

It is important to understand what the competent person├ö├Â┬úÔö£├é├ö├Â┬úÔö£┬║├ö├Â┬úÔö£Ôòùs role actually is: to provide advice and assistance, not to take on the employer├ö├Â┬úÔö£├é├ö├Â┬úÔö£┬║├ö├Â┬úÔö£Ôòùs legal responsibility. That responsibility for managing health and safety always remains with the employer, regardless of who provides competent advice.

Where a business owner intends to act as their own competent person, they should honestly assess whether their own knowledge and understanding of the risks involved is genuinely sufficient - this is a common area where businesses either meet the duty adequately or underestimate what ├ö├Â┬úÔö£├é├ö├Â┬úÔö£┬║£competent├ö├Â┬úÔö£├é├ö├Â┬úÔö£┬║├ö├Â┬úÔö£ÔöÉ requires for their specific activities.

This duty is one of the more frequently checked items during an HSE inspection, and its absence is a breach in its own right, identifiable independently of whether any incident has occurred.