Qualifying and keeping your employees qualified: How hard can that be?

What constitutes a qualified employee? In OSHA's eyes, will 5, 10, 15 years of experience, licenses, certifications, or a degree make an employee qualified? Licenses, certifications, degrees, and other types of training usually provide the worker with knowledge and the technical aspects of the job, but do not qualify a worker to perform tasks on or near exposed energized circuit parts. Every worker who is expected to work on or near exposed energized circuits must be properly trained to meet OSHA's requirements. OSHA's definition of a “Qualified” person includes not only the technical skills and knowledge, but also the ability to recognize and avoid the electrical hazards, understand the construction, installation, and operation of the involved equipment. In addition, the employee must demonstrate those skills and knowledge. With the help of NFPA 70E, most employers know and have implemented the training requirements to qualify their employees. However, OSHA takes the requirements for continued qualification a step further, by requiring, through supervision and annual audits, the employer must determine that the qualified employee continues to comply with OSHA's requirements. Is there a simple way to comply? This paper will explore one method a company used to comply with OSHA's requirement.