Posted By Bob Pedley
Sean,
It all about suitable and sufficiency......
You via your risk assessment for working in a confined space should define the roles, responsibilities and levels of training required for each person.
Competency is built up around experience, training and regular use of that experience and training.
There are plenty of competent training establishments around that can train people to the level you require. Look carefully at what they propose so that you can ensure it meets the requirements of your risk assessment and that they understand your site arrangements.

Remember it is the complexity of the risk that will dictate the level of training. This can extend to quite a number of distinct roles ie; those responsible for setting up jobs and authorising entry, those responsible for conducting gas checks,
confined space supervisors who make sure the site is in order before work starts, Sentries or Emergency Men who constantly look after the people within the confined space and
operatives who are actually doing work within the confined space.

The legality is to satisfy the requirements of the Confined Space Regulations as a whole not hold certificates for one thing or another

The documents INDG258 Safe Work in Confined Spaces and the Confined Space Regs ACop L101 are a must read for anyone involved in confined space work

The best advice comes at the beginning of all the guidance in the question "can the work be done without entering the space?"

Hope this helps

Bob