Posted By Alan Capstick A competent person, amongst other things, has to have the skiils, knowledge, attitude, training and experience. It sounds as if you dont have these. If this is the case i would look at the situation very very closely and decide where the buck is going to stop if something goes wrong. Regards Alan

Posted By Richie Jane, As the assessor you should possess the acument to undertake the task, as stated in the previous posts. Assessors have little onus in law however. The onus lies with the management. It is management (being in CONTROL of the workplace, with the ability to make changes to the workplace) who must accept or decline your assessment as a sufficient or not. In accepting or declining the assessment the management must consider whether the task, if the controlls identified within the assessment are implemented, results in the safeguard of the worker's Health, Safety and Welfare. To this end it is management who must assess your suitability to undertake this task. Richie

Posted By kanta You could ask your employer to send you on a few courses.

Posted By Alan Capstick Although grammar is of importance I think in this instance it is not the necessity of the question at hand. I am sure the position does not include the need for writing concise and exact management reports. Lets give the help requested at hand and not belittle someones lack of grammar.

Posted By HOWARD SHELDON Hi Jane , as a Local Authority Health and Safety Inspector I would just like to assure you that you would have absolutely no personal liability in respect of this . It is entirely your employers resposibilty to ensure that it has competent people to carry out such tasks . There is no way that you could face a criminal prosecution under the provisions of HASWA . To be competent you need to have a full understanding of the requirements of the legislation , full understanding of HSE guidence and industry guidence and experience of its implentation in respect of the subject matter . In your particular case I would expect you to have undergone at least a specific recognised training course . Obviously the office environment is not as hazardous as many other work situations but the employer still has the same overiding duty under section 2 to ensure the health , safety and welfare of its employees . The Management Regs 99 require anyone who carries out risk assessments or provides advice on health and safety matters to be competent . It is blatently obvious you are not competent particulary in respect of COSHH which is an intricate piece of legislation . Employers are in my opinion are far too ready to settle responsibilities on individuals in their companies without providing them with the training that is necessary to carry out the function . In a similier vein I have in my years as an inspector come across employers engaging the services of those who have inadequate qualifications and have quite suspect health and safety experience . Invariably I have found policies , risk assessments , safe systems of work , training and monitoring systems that have fell well below the standard that should be expected from a competent person providing health and safety advice . Qualifications do not make a safety advisor , experience most certainly doe`s and this reflects in the documentation that they produce . I would urge any employer to thoroughly check both qualifications and experience of an advisor preferably through references dating back a number of years , before taking up the services of that adviser . I speak from the experience of having had to prosecute a number of employers who have failed to take these basic precautions . Yes there is a provision to prosecute somebody who causes a dutyholder to break the law and I have certainly done that , but that doe's not stop the accident occuring with the pain of knowing you have caused harm and for the business the resultant increase in insurance premiums . I have known businees go down the drain as a result . I would advise you to put in writing your concerns to your employer telling them that you do not feel competent to carry out the work and pointing out the requirements of the legislation . If they persist then you could whistle blow but I would advise you to seek the advice of your union or ACCAS before taking that measure . Kind regards Howard