Mentoring and competency verification · Lesson 1 of 4

Mentoring and competency verification: principles and terminology

Why new workers need verified competence, the difference between being trained, evaluated, certified and competent, who may judge, and how trainees are supervised until they are verified.

You will be able to: Tell training, evaluation, certification, competent person and qualified person apart, name who may train and who may judge, and state the supervision boundary for trainees on live machines.

9 min · 10 slides · 7 questions

All lessons in this module

Slide 1 of 10

Why competence has to be shown

OSHA's booklet says researchers conclude people new on the job have a higher rate of injuries and illnesses than more experienced workers.

BLS counted 1,176,340 private-industry days-away cases in 2020; 331,560 (28.19%, calculated here) involved people with under a year of service.

These are shares of cases, not injury rates: the table does not say how many workers are in each service group.

BLS Table R71, 2020; percentages calculated for this lesson. These are shares of cases, not injury rates: the table does not say how many workers are in each group, and 2.78% of cases fall outside these four service rows.

Sources

Training Requirements in OSHA Standards (OSHA 2254-09R, 2015), which reprints 29 CFR 1910.95(k)(2), 1910.157(g) and 1910.178(l) and gives training guidance - U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Table R71. Nonfatal occupational injuries and illnesses involving days away from work by selected worker characteristics and number of days away from work, and median days away, private industry, 2020 - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Glossary

Competent person: Under OSHA's construction definitions (29 CFR 1926.32), someone capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.
Qualified person: Under OSHA's construction definitions, someone with a recognized degree, certificate or professional standing, or who by extensive knowledge, training and experience has shown ability to solve problems about the subject matter, the work or the project.
Authorized person: Under OSHA's construction definitions, a person approved or assigned by the employer to perform a specific type of duty or duties, or to be at a specific location.
Evaluation: Watching a person do the work and judging it against a standard. OSHA's forklift rule lists evaluation of the operator's performance in the workplace as a separate part of training, next to formal instruction and practical training.
Certification record: The employer's written statement that required training and evaluation took place. In OSHA's rules it is a record the employer keeps, not a credential issued by OSHA.
Hands-on training: OSHA's training guidelines in its booklet define it as training in a simulated work environment that lets each student practice tasks, make decisions or use equipment suited to the job.