Competent Person for Excavation, Trenching & Shoring Training

Role & Purpose

This excavation competent person training - also searched as competent person excavation training, or competent person training for trenching and excavation - prepares the individual an employer intends to designate as a site's excavation Competent Person: classifying soil, selecting and verifying protective systems, running daily inspections, and building the site's written excavation safety program. If your role is limited to working in or around a trench without these oversight duties, see Excavation, Trenching & Shoring Safety Training instead.

Who Should Take This Course

• Individuals an employer intends to designate as Competent Person for excavation work
• Safety managers, foremen, and site supervisors overseeing daily trench inspections
• EHS coordinators and compliance staff assessing excavation risk
• Construction engineers and project managers overseeing protective system installation
• Contractors and subcontractors on projects involving excavation, trenching, utility installation, shoring, or site preparation

Who Should Not Rely on This Course Alone

• Workers who only need crew-level hazard awareness - see Excavation, Trenching & Shoring Safety Training (lower cost, shorter, matched to that role)
• Anyone expecting this course alone to satisfy engineering-design requirements for excavations 20 feet or deeper, which require a registered professional engineer - see Protective Systems
• Anyone whose employer has not yet formally designated them as Competent Person - training builds knowledge, but designation and site-specific authority come from the employer

Learning Objectives

• Define the Competent Person's authority and responsibility under 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P
• Classify Stable Rock, Type A, Type B, and Type C soils using visual and manual analysis tests
• Select and size sloping, benching, shielding, and shoring systems for site conditions
• Conduct required daily inspections and document findings
• Build a written excavation safety program and emergency/rescue plan
• Recognize when tabulated data is sufficient and when a registered professional engineer is required

Full Curriculum

1. Defining the Competent Person Role - authority and legal responsibility under 29 CFR 1926 Subpart P.
2. Soil Classification - classifying Stable Rock, Type A, Type B, and Type C soils using visual and manual analysis tests.
3. Selecting Protective Systems - choosing and sizing sloping, benching, shielding, and shoring systems for site conditions.
4. Daily Inspection Duties - required inspections before each shift, after rainfall, and whenever conditions change.
5. Program Development & Emergency Planning - building a written excavation safety program and rescue plan that holds up under inspection.

Knowledge Check & Exam Details

The course includes module knowledge checks and a final assessment covering soil classification, protective system selection, and inspection duties. A passing score is required to receive a certificate of completion. If a student does not pass on the first attempt, a retake is available; contact HAZWOPER OSHA Training support at 1-866-429-6742 for the current passing-score threshold and retake process for your enrollment.

Sample Certificate

Below is a redacted sample. It illustrates the certificate format only - it is not a real certificate and does not represent OSHA issuance.

Employer Responsibility

The stakes are not abstract. OSHA has cited employers for trench collapses tied directly to the absence of a properly designated Competent Person and adequate protective systems - in one 2022 Texas case involving a fatal trench collapse on a residential construction project, OSHA's citation specifically faulted the employer for not providing a Competent Person for the job and appropriate trench protective measures, resulting in a six-figure penalty. A cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car; there is rarely a second chance to get the protective system right after a wall gives way.

Policies

See our Refund Policy and Certificate Policy for cancellation terms and certificate handling.

Also Available Through HAZWOPER OSHA Training

Need this excavation competent person training deployed to your own systems instead of taken here directly? A SCORM-packaged version of this competent person excavation training course, built for upload to a company LMS with full completion tracking, is available directly through HAZWOPER OSHA Training - along with Virtual Instructor-Led sessions and In-Person Group training. See Certifications & Accreditations for provider credentials.

View SCORM & Other Formats on HAZWOPER-OSHA.com →