There are many critically important differences between MSHA Part 46 (Surface Miner) and Part 48 (Underground Miner) regulations. Among those differences are the distinctions that MSHA makes about who can conduct training. Specifically, the concept of the Part 46 “competent person” raises a lot of questions, especially for mining contractors unfamiliar with MSHA. But understanding what the competent person’s role is and how this person fits into a compliant training program is absolutely necessary for any surface mining operator or mining contractor. Hopefully, these questions and answers I’ve collected over the years will help reduce some of the confusion.
So, what are the 22 essential questions about the MSHA Part 46 Competent Person? The 22 essential questions about the MSHA Part 46 Competent Person are:
- What is an MSHA Part 46 “competent person”?
- What does the competent person do?
- Can a New Miner be a competent person?
- Do I need to be a miner to be designated as a competent person?
- How much experience do I needed to be deemed “competent” in a training subject?
- How do I get certified or MSHA-Approved as a competent person?
- What type of documentation displays who is designated as a competent person?
- Does every trainer we use have to be listed as a competent person?
- Can a training company be listed as a competent person?
- How many competent persons can my company have?
- Can my company have only one competent person for all required training subjects?
- Is a Part 48 MSHA-Approved Trainer automatically a Part 46 competent person?
- What’s the difference between a competent person and responsible person?
- Can I be both the competent person and the responsible person?
- Can a competent person be someone outside my company?
- As a mining contractor, how do I determine who should be a competent person?
- As a mining contractor who is a sole proprietor, who will be my competent person?
- If I’m the competent person, can I get credit for the training I provide?
- Does the competent person sign the 5000-23 Certificate of Training?
- Who is the competent person if my team takes online training?
- Does the competent person have to conduct all training in person?
- Who signs the 5000-23 if my team takes online training?
In MSHA’s Part 46 surface miner training regulations, a number of roles are identified and defined, including the:
- Production operator
- Independent contractor
- New miner
- Experienced miner
- Responsible person
- Competent person
And each of these roles play a specific part in developing, conducting, and documenting a compliant training program. But one of the most important and active players among these roles is the “competent person,” who must be able to both perform and evaluate the effectiveness of the required training. As a miner operator or mining contractor, designating and properly documenting your competent persons will be critical element of your compliant training program.
1 – What is an MSHA Part 46 “competent person”?
In MSHA’s Part 46 regulations for training surface miners, a competent person is defined as, “a person designated by the production-operator or independent contractor who has the ability, training, knowledge, or experience to provide training to miners in his or her area of expertise. The competent person must be able both to effectively communicate the training subject to miners and to evaluate whether the training given to miners is effective.”
So, the competent person, or persons, will essentially be the people either personally presenting or remaining available during training in areas of their own expertise.
2 – What does the competent person do?
The competent person either presents the training in person or provides the training via any predetermined “methods” of training.
Methods of training “may consist of:
- classroom instruction
- instruction at the mine
- interactive computer-based instruction or other innovative training methods
- alternative training technologies
- or any combination of training methods.”
Each of these teaching methods the competent person expects to use must be listed on the MSHA Part 46 Training Plan. This allows the competent person the most flexibility for how they will teach their designated subjects.
3 – Can a New Miner be a competent person?
Yes. A new miner can be designated as a competent person for any area or training subject for which they have expertise. For example, a trainee at a mine may have little or no actual mining experience, but they may be an experienced welder and heavy machine operator. The mine operator has the authority to designate that new miner as the competent person for “hot work” or front end loader training based on their experience in those areas.
It’s important to remember that the competent person can be virtually anyone designated by the production operator (mine operator) or independent contractor (mining contractor).
4 – Do I need to be a miner to be designated as a competent person?
No, you don’t need to be a miner to be designated as a competent person. It’s actually very common for the mine operator to designate a trainer brought in from outside the company as a competent person, or it could be someone a mine operator or mining contractor sends trainees to. For example, MSHA’s State Grant Program often distributes funds to universities and training facilities around the country where miners and mining contractors are sent for training.
However, it would be wise to ensure that any instruction on mining tasks specific to your operation is provided by competent persons with appropriate experience and expertise in mining. So in those cases, you’ll likely designate an experienced miner as the competent person.
5 – How much experience do I needed to be designated “competent” in a training subject?
MSHA’s Part 46 regulation gives the production operator and independent contractor the authority to designate who has the ability, knowledge, and experience to provide training and evaluate its effectiveness. MSHA makes no minimum requirements on the amount of experience required in a given subject to become a competent person. Again, this designation is at the discretion of the mine operator or independent contractor.
6 – How do I get certified or MSHA-approved as a competent person?
You don’t. There is no formal certification provided or required to become a competent person. The role of “competent person” is simply a designation by the production operator or independent mining contractor.
And while MSHA does not require that the names of Part 46 competent persons are submitted to them from approval, each competent person and their associated teaching subjects MUST be listed in the Part 46 Training Plan. When inspecting training documents, MSHA will expect to see the competent person who trained your team specifically named on both the Training Plan and Record of Training.
However, a Part 48 (underground) MSHA-approved trainer is considered a competent person on all subjects to be provided. And since Part 48 training exceeds all Part 46 requirements, you’ll be covered if your Part 46 team is trained by an approved Part 48 instructor.
7 – What type of documentation displays who is designated as a competent person?
A competent person doesn’t need to carry any type of card or certification.
However, each designated competent person absolutely must be listed on your company’s MSHA Training Plan as one of the “persons and/or organizations who will provide the training, and the subject areas in which each person and/or organization is competent to instruct.”
So, every person who provides training as part of your MSHA Part 46 training program MUST be listed on your Training Plan to be identified as a competent person.
When Part 46 training is completed, the competent person who provided the training must also be listed on a 5000-23 form or compliant Record of Training.
8 – Does every trainer we use have to be listed as a competent person?
Yes. If you hire a new trainer or send your team off-site to a training facility, you need to update your MSHA Part 46 Training Plan with those individual trainers’ names and their subjects of expertise.
During an inspection of training program documents, MSHA will expect to see the names of the competent persons on BOTH the Training Plan and the Record of Training.
9 – Can a training company be listed as a competent person?
No. MSHA will not accept the name of a training company or educational institution as a competent person. The competent person, by definition, must be an actual, named person listed on both the Training Plan and Record of training.
I’ve had to personally facilitate conversations between an MSHA inspector and a client to help the client understand that a training facility or online training provider cannot be listed as a competent person.
And when online training is used as a “teaching method,” a competent person is still required to be available for questions during the training. This just requires a bit of coordination between trainees and competent persons regarding the timing of training. So, when a trainee is taking online training, the competent person for the subject being trained must be available for questions and assistance, in this case by phone.
10 – How many competent persons can my company have?
You can have as many or as few as necessary to meet the requirements of a training program for your organization. MSHA places no limit on the number of individuals mine operators or mining contractors can designate as competent persons.
It’s a good idea to list all competent persons possible per subject on your Part 46 Training Plan. That way, you’ve got options for trainers when conducting and documenting your training. And when any of those competent persons provide training to your team, you’ll list them on the Record of Training and the names will match up.
This is important because MSHA expects to see the same names of competent persons listed on both the Training Plan and Record of Training.
11 – Can my company have only one competent person for all required training subjects?
Yes. There’s no requirement for companies to have multiple competent persons. MSHA understands that many companies have few employees and limited resources. So, you can definitely have a single competent person. And that person can either be an employee or someone outside of your organization.
It’s also important to understand that simply listing a competent person in your documentation who isn’t an employee doesn’t make them an employee or “agent” of your company. That’s why MSHA draws the distinction between the competent person providing the training and the responsible person, the individual designated as responsible for the mine’s health and safety training.
12 – Is a Part 48 MSHA-Approved Trainer automatically a Part 46 competent person?
Well, sort of. The Part 48 Underground Mining trainer certainly can be designated as a competent person. But this isn’t automatic. That designation has to be made by a mine operator or mining contractor.
So, the Part 48 MSHA-Approved trainer is certainly qualified to be a competent person, but that trainer must be listed on the Training Plan to be officially designated as the competent person for an organization.
13 – What’s the difference between a competent person and responsible person?
While the competent person is designated by the mine operator or mining contractor as able to present and evaluate training on specified subjects, the “responsible person” is identified as “the person designated in the MSHA-approved training plan for the mine as responsible for health and safety training.”
The responsible person, sometimes referred to as the “designated person,” may be the Safety Manager or General Manager at a mine. It may also be anyone else designated by the mine operator or mining contractor, such as an independent safety consultant contracted to oversee the organization’s safety programs.
14 – Can I be both the competent person and the responsible person?
Yes. Since MSHA allows for individuals to have overlapping designations. For example, you may be the Safety Manager who is also experienced in mining excavation, equipment maintenance, and electrical work. In that case, you’ll likely be the responsible person for your company’s health and safety training as well as a competent person for those subjects in which you have expertise.
15 – Can a competent person be someone outside my company?
Of course. MSHA allows for mine operators and mining contractors to plan for and have training conducted in a variety of ways. This can include:
- Bringing an outside trainer on-site to train your team
- Sending your team off-site to a training facility
In both of these scenarios, your designated competent person can be an individual not employed by your company.
Again, it’s critically important that the individual’s name, not their company name, appears on both the Part 46 Training Plan and Record of Training.
16 – As a mining contractor, how do I determine who should be a competent person?
MSHA places the responsibility and authority on you, as an independent contractor, to designate who is competent to train your team and evaluate the effectiveness of the training. So, to simplify things, you could spread out the competent person designations across a few categories. Here’s how some contractors compartmentalize training and competent person designations:
- Mine Site Training – You can coordinate with one of the mines where you’ll perform work to determine who could act as a competent person for mine-related training, a mine tour, and site-specific hazards. With the mine’s permission, you may be able to list that individual as a competent person on your Training Plan and Record of Training.
- Task Specific Training – For tasks that your employees will perform at a surface mine, you should be able to determine who has expertise within your company. For example, if you’re an electrical contractor company performing electrical work at a mine, there will be someone on your team with sufficient experience to provide training on electrical tasks.
- General Training – All other general safety and personal protective equipment use and maintenance training could potentially be provided by your safety manager as the competent person.
17 – As a mining contractor who is a sole proprietor, who will be my competent person?
As a sole proprietor independent contractor, you’ve got at least two options:
- You can coordinate with the mine or other external training resource to designate competent persons.
- You can designate yourself as the competent person for your training and provide all the training to yourself.
MSHA offers sole proprietors some added flexibility to complete their Part 46 training. For example, if you’re a welder who works solo, you’ll be your own responsible person, you can designate yourself as the competent person, and you will also be your own trainee. That’s three roles all within the same person.
So, you’ll list yourself on your Training Plan and your Record of Training as both the competent person and responsible person. You’ll also actually sign your own Record of Training as the responsible person. Your name will show up in loads of places in your MSHA Part 46 documents.
Sounds a bit crazy, but MSHA allows for that. It’s true!
18 – If I’m the competent person, can I get credit for the training I provide?
Yes. This may sound a bit weird, but it’s true. As the competent person, you can get credit toward your own training requirements for the time spent on a specific subject that you present to others.
So, if you spend four hours training others on emergency medical procedures, fire warnings, and firefighting procedures, you can credit yourself for the same four hours on those subjects on your Record of Training if you need that time to meet your own training requirements.
19 – Does the competent person sign the 5000-23 Certificate of Training?
No. You may hear conflicting information on this, but it’s actually the responsible person who signs the 5000-23 or other compliant Record of Training. The competent person must be named on a compliant Record of Training and there is space for their initials on the 5000-23. But MSHA makes no requirement that the competent person must sign the Record of Training.
Of course, if the competent person and the responsible person are the same individual, then they would sign the Record of Training only in their role as the responsible person. Not confusing at all… Right?
20 – Who is the competent person if my team takes online training?
Many people think that the company providing the online training for Part 46 should sign a 5000-23 Certificate of Training for each person who successfully completes a course. That’s not the case.
Remember that the competent person must be an individual specifically named on your MSHA Part 46 Training Plan. And it must be a person, not a company.
For example, if you’ve named your safety manager as your competent person for all subjects and your team takes online training, it’s your safety manager who must be named on the Record of Training for the completed online training courses.
That’s a mouthful. But the main idea is that the competent person designated on your Training Plan doesn’t change simply because online training is used as a teaching method.
21 – Does the competent person have to conduct all training in person?
No. While the competent person must have the “ability, training, knowledge, or experience to provide training,” that person is not required to actually perform all aspects of the training in person.
However, the competent person is required to remain available during training in their respective subject in order to answer questions and assist trainees as needed.
For example, when online training is used, the Part 46 competent person may be available by phone during the training.
22 – Who signs the 5000-23 if my team takes online training?
No matter who the competent person is or what teaching method is used, it’s ALWAYS the “person responsible for training” who signs the 5000-23 to “certify that the above training has been completed.”
This is also the person designed by the mine operator or mining contractor and specifically named on the Training Plan who is “responsible for the health and safety training at the mine.”
Related Questions
What’s the difference between a 5000-23 Training Certificate and a Part 46 Compliant Record of Training?
A 5000-23 Training Certificate is an MSHA form that satisfies the requirement for documentation certifying that specified training has been completed by an individual miner or mining contractor.
It’s a common misconception that MSHA requires Part 46 training to be documented using a 5000-23 form. That’s not the case. In Part 46.9 (a) – Records Of Training, MSHA offers two documentation options to record and certify the training:
- 5000-23 Certificate of Training – You can use this standard MSHA Certification of Training form, which was originally designed to be used for Part 48 training. So, it actually has some items on it that aren’t required to comply with Part 46, making things a bit confusing.
- A Compliant Record of Training – You can make your own compliant form. For Part 46, MSHA considers a record of training compliant if it includes the following five items:
“(1) The printed full name of the person trained;
(2) The type of training, the duration of the training, the date the training was received, the name of the competent person who provided the training:
(3) The name of the mine or independent contractor, MSHA mine identification number or independent contractor identification number, and location of training (if an institution, the name and address of the institution).
(4) The statement, “False certification is punishable under §110(a) and (f) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act,” printed in bold letters and in a conspicuous manner; and
(5) A statement signed by the person designated in the MSHA-approved training plan for the mine as responsible for health and safety training, that states ‘I certify that the above training has been completed.’”
What’s the difference between Part 46 and Part 48 Training Records?
When a 5000-23 form is used for both Part 46 and Part 48, there’s really no difference. But the real question is about what MSHA requires for the two types of training.
- For Part 48 training, MSHA requires use of the 5000-23 form.
- For Part 46 training, MSHA allows either the 5000-23 form or a form that you can make that meets their requirements.
All training completed for Part 48 Underground Miner Training is required to be documented using the 5000-23 form. Simple as that.
But for Part 46 Surface Miner Training, MSHA allows for use of EITHER the 5000-23 Certificate of Training OR a form that meets their minimum information compliance requirements (See the prior question above).