A competent person is someone who has the skills, knowledge and expertise to recognise hazards in the business and who can eliminate or control the risks to protect people from harm.

No formal qualifications are required but someone within the business will usually have a better understanding of the hazards than an external person. External support may be helpful where risks are particularly large, complex or high or where there isn’t a suitable person in-house.

You can appoint yourself, one or more workers or someone from outside the business.