HSE inspections up 47% - HSE carried out over 13,200 workplace inspections in 2024/25.
Competent Person in Health & Safety
Regulation 7 | OSHCR Registered
What the Law Requires: Appointing a competent person under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999
Expert guidance on competent person requirements, OSHCR registration, CHAS compliance, in-house vs outsourced options, and appointment advice.
Free Health & Safety Gap Analysis
30-minute Compliance Call Valued at £750+
What Happens on Your Free Gap Analysis Call:
- 1.30-minute consultation
- 2.We review your current H&S arrangements
- 3.We identify 1-10 critical compliance gaps you're missing
Identify 1+ gaps, or you receive a £50 gift card. Only 20 consultations are available every month.
What It Means, Who Can Be Appointed, and What the Law Requires
Every UK employer has a legal duty to appoint a competent person to assist with Health & Safety compliance under Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
This requirement applies to all employers, regardless of size or sector.
Understanding what constitutes a competent person and who can fulfil the role is essential for legal compliance.
A competent person is defined in Regulation 7 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 as someone with:
"Sufficient training and experience or knowledge and other qualities to enable them to assist an employer or self-employed person to ensure compliance with health and safety requirements."
In practice, this means the competent person must be capable of:
- Identifying workplace hazards
- Assessing risk accurately
- Advising on legal compliance
- Supporting the implementation of effective controls
Competence is not a job title.
It is a combination of knowledge, experience, and ability.
A competent person is required as soon as you employ people or conduct work activities that could affect others' health and safety.
This includes:
Small businesses and sole employers
Office-based organisations
Low-risk environments
High-risk and specialist operations
There is no exemption based on size, sector, or risk level. The level of competence required must simply be proportionate to the risks involved.
Yes.
Regulation 7 requires every employer to appoint one or more competent persons to assist in complying with Health & Safety law.
The Regulations also require that:
- Adequate time and resources are provided
- The competent person has access to relevant information
- Their advice is taken seriously
Failure to appoint a competent person is a common enforcement issue.
There is no fixed number set in law.
The requirement is to appoint as many competent persons as necessary to manage risks effectively.
Factors include:
- Number of employees
- Number of sites or locations
- Nature and level of risk
- Complexity of operations
For example:
- A small, single-site office may require one competent person
- A multi-site or higher-risk organisation may require several, or a combination of internal and external support
The Regulations state that where a competent person exists within the organisation, they should be appointed in preference to an external consultant.
However, many organisations:
- Do not have sufficient in-house competence
- Have partial competence but lack specialist knowledge
- Require additional capacity or oversight
Common Models
In-House Competent Person with Consultant Support
- Qualified internal staff member
- External consultant provides specialist advice and backup
- Knowledge transfer and development
- Internal champion for Health & Safety
- External support for complex or high-risk issues
Fully Outsourced Competent Person
- No permanent staff overhead
- Maximum flexibility
- Access to specialist expertise
- Scalable support as the organisation grows
- Cost-effective for SMEs and multi-site operations
Both approaches are acceptable, provided competence is sufficient to address the risks involved. For businesses seeking a fully outsourced competent person service, Arinite provides OSHCR-registered, IOSH Chartered consultants who can act as your appointed competent person under Regulation 7.
No.
While the competent person may be external, legal responsibility always remains with the employer or business owner.
The competent person:
- Assists with compliance
- Provides advice and support
- Helps design and maintain systems
They do not take legal responsibility away from directors or employers.
This distinction is critical.
Failing to appoint a competent person can result in:
Enforcement action for breach of Regulation 7
Improvement or prohibition notices
Evidence of management failure during investigations
Increased risk of prosecution following incidents
In many cases, lack of a competent person is used by regulators as evidence that Health & Safety arrangements were inadequate.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) defines competence as a combination of:
- Training
- Skills
- Experience
- Knowledge
- Ability to apply these in practice
In addition, competence includes:
- Understanding of current legislation
- Awareness of best practice
- Knowledge of the organisation's activities
- Understanding of hazards and risks
- Awareness of limitations and when to seek support
- Ability to prioritise risk using the hierarchy of controls
Competence must be proportionate to the level of risk.
Appointing a competent person does not remove the need for management competence. Senior managers and directors must:
Understand their legal responsibilities
Ensure suitable arrangements are in place
Provide leadership and resources
Review and monitor Health & Safety performance
They do not need to be technical experts, but they must demonstrate oversight, ownership, and commitment.
If you are unsure:
Whether your current arrangements are sufficient
Whether internal staff are suitably competent
Whether external support is required
A professional review can quickly clarify this. Arinite offers a free Health & Safety gap analysis to help you assess your current competent person arrangements and identify any gaps in compliance.
The Arinite Transformation™
From Reactive Firefighting to Proactive Health & Safety Compliance
REACTIVE
(Where 60% of Businesses Operate)
What It Looks Like:
No formal HSE systems in place. Everything is reactive, waiting for something to go wrong. Documentation is missing or outdated.
Why It's Dangerous:
- ✗£50K-£150K average fine when (not if) HSE inspects
- ✗Can't bid on contracts requiring HSE certification
- ✗One accident away from director prosecution
This isn't just "non-compliant." It's criminally negligent. Directors face personal prosecution.
REACTIVE
(Where 60% of Businesses Operate)
What It Looks Like:
No formal HSE systems in place. Everything is reactive, waiting for something to go wrong. Documentation is missing or outdated.
Why It's Dangerous:
- ✗£50K-£150K average fine when (not if) HSE inspects
- ✗Can't bid on contracts requiring HSE certification
- ✗One accident away from director prosecution
This isn't just "non-compliant." It's criminally negligent. Directors face personal prosecution.
COMPLIANCE
(Where Most Businesses Stop)
What It Looks Like:
Basic HSE documentation is in place. Minimum legal requirements met. You can pass a basic audit.
Why It's Better (But Not Enough):
- ✓Legal protection (no fines if inspected)
- ✓Can bid on contracts requiring certification
- ✓Pass basic client audits
- ✗Still reactive (problems arise, then you respond)
- ✗Compliance maintained by one person (bottleneck)
- ✗Systems don't run themselves
Compliance is where most consultants get you, then leave. You're legal, but you're not optimised.
COMPLIANCE
(Where Most Businesses Stop)
What It Looks Like:
Basic HSE documentation is in place. Minimum legal requirements met. You can pass a basic audit.
Why It's Better (But Not Enough):
- ✓Legal protection (no fines if inspected)
- ✓Can bid on contracts requiring certification
- ✓Pass basic client audits
- ✗Still reactive (problems arise, then you respond)
- ✗Compliance maintained by one person (bottleneck)
- ✗Systems don't run themselves
Compliance is where most consultants get you, then leave. You're legal, but you're not optimised.
PROACTIVE
(Where Arinite Clients Operate)
What It Looks Like:
Systems run proactively (prevent problems before they occur). Compliance is distributed (not dependent on one person). HSE becomes a competitive advantage, not a cost centre.
Why It's Transformational:
- ✓Win more contracts (HSE certification opens doors)
- ✓Save 20+ hours/week (systems run themselves)
- ✓Peace of mind (sleep soundly, without the fear of prosecution)
- ✓Focus on your core business while we handle compliance
That's why 95%+ of clients renew year after year.
PROACTIVE
(Where Arinite Clients Operate)
What It Looks Like:
Systems run proactively (prevent problems before they occur). Compliance is distributed (not dependent on one person). HSE becomes a competitive advantage, not a cost centre.
Why It's Transformational:
- ✓Win more contracts (HSE certification opens doors)
- ✓Save 20+ hours/week (systems run themselves)
- ✓Peace of mind (sleep soundly, without the fear of prosecution)
- ✓Focus on your core business while we handle compliance
That's why 95%+ of clients renew year after year.
The Arinite Difference:
Other consultants get you to Stage 2 (Compliant) and disappear.
We get you to Stage 3 (Proactive) and keep you there.
That's why we call it transformation, not just compliance.
"We work with you to deliver peace of mind. We tailor our service provision to your business to provide proactive, pragmatic health and safety advice and that helps reduce costs by ensuring compliance with relevant health and safety legislation."
Robert Winsloe
Managing Director
From Hidden Gaps to Compliance
Our proven 3-step system has helped over 1,000 businesses eliminate enforcement risk, pass inspections, and protect directors from personal liability.
No guesswork. No generic templates. No box-ticking.
Free Health and Safety Gap Analysis Call
Identify what's missing before an inspector does.
A focused 30-minute health and safety assessment to expose weaknesses in your current arrangements.
What you get:
→ You leave knowing exactly where you're exposed and what to do about it.
Health and Safety Audit
Turn risk into documented compliance, fast.
We conduct a comprehensive health and safety audit of your workplace and ensure everything inspectors expect to see is in place. This covers risk assessments, workplace safety inspections, health and safety policy documentation, and every gap identified in Step 1.
What's included:
→ You move from exposed to defensible with evidence to prove it.
Outsource Your Health & Safety - The Arinite Partnership
We become your health and safety department. Your competent person. Your compliance team.
No chasing updates. No need to worry about changes in health and safety laws. No need to wonder if you've missed something. You focus on your core day-to-day business, Arinite handle the rest.
What we take ownership of:
→ Compliance handled. Risk controlled. Directors protected.
Why This Works
Most enforcement actions arise from systems being assumed rather than proven.
We don't advise. We don't hand over templates.
We build, implement, and maintain end-to-end health and safety compliance, and when we identify an action item, we proactively pursue and resolve it. That's the difference.
The Numbers That Matter
Since 2011, we've helped businesses eliminate risk, win contracts, and sleep easy:
Arinite Factsheets
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Protected Businesses
Across 50 countries. 95%+ retention in 2025
Years of Combined Experience
IOSH Chartered specialists
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Free Health & Safety Gap Analysis
30-minute Compliance Call Valued at £750+
What Happens on Your Free Gap Analysis Call:
- 1.30-minute consultation
- 2.We review your current H&S arrangements
- 3.We identify 1-10 critical compliance gaps you're missing
Identify 1+ gaps, or you receive a £50 gift card. Only 20 consultations are available every month.
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