Subpart C: General Safety and Health Provisions
Baseline employer duties
Subpart C, 1926.20–1926.35, sets minimum construction safety and health duties. Under 1926.20(a), an employer may not require employees to work in unsafe or unhealthful conditions. Under 1926.20(b)(1), the employer must initiate and maintain programs needed to comply with Part 1926; under (b)(2), a competent person must make frequent and regular inspections of job sites, materials, and equipment. Unsafe machinery must be removed or guarded under 1926.20(b)(3).
Competent and qualified persons
1926.32(f) defines a competent person as one who can identify existing and predictable hazards and has authority to take prompt corrective measures. 1926.32(m) defines a qualified person by degree, certificate, professional standing, or knowledge. 1926.21(b)(2) requires training in hazard recognition and prevention for employees exposed to hazards.
Worked example
A trench inspection is assigned to a supervisor who has completed trenching training but must call the home office before stopping work. The supervisor is not a competent person for Subpart P because the definition requires authority to take prompt corrective action. The employer must either give that authority or assign someone who has it.
Traps
“Competent” is not a personality trait or a synonym for “experienced.” Training without authority fails the definition. “Frequent and regular” inspections are not necessarily daily, but they must fit the hazard and work pace. Subpart C does not replace specific requirements such as 1926.651 daily excavation inspections.