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Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person

4.5(17 reviews)
Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person

Course Overview

Personal protective equipment training teaches your safety manager to size up a job, from earplugs to chemical suits. This 6-hour online course covers respirators, eye, head, foot and hand protection under 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I, the PPE standards.

  • Covers the ASTM standards that safety footwear must meet under 29 CFR 1910.136, and how to choose a pair.
  • Walks through respirator selection, cartridge choice, and the difference between the two kinds of fit test.
  • Explains what to look for when choosing safety glasses, hard hats and the right glove for a given chemical.
  • 45-60 minutes, self-paced
  • English & Español
  • Instant certificate
  • Mobile friendly
$89.00

Per seat. One-time payment, no subscription.

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30-day satisfaction guarantee. No hidden fees.

Course Clips

Everything You Need to Know
About This Course

The six parts follow the order the job happens in: size up the hazard, choose the protection, train the people who wear it, then keep the record. For a walkthrough of choosing the right PPE for every job site, our blog covers that separately.

  • Job hazard analysis.
  • Hierarchy of controls.
  • Employer and worker duties for PPE.
  • Chemical protective clothing.
  • Decontamination.
  • Respiratory protection.
  • Medical evaluation for respirator users.
  • Hearing conservation.
  • Head protection.
  • Eye and face protection.
  • Foot protection.
  • Hand protection.
  • Equipment performance requirements.
  • Selecting PPE and reassessing the hazards.
  • Retraining triggers and documentation.

OSHA StandardOSHA 29 CFR 1910 Subpart I
Course Duration45-60 minutes
Format100% online, narrated with photos, video, and interactivity
Passing Score70% on final exam
CertificatePersonalized certificate, printable immediately upon passing
LanguagesEnglish and Spanish
Device CompatibilityDesktop, tablet, and smartphone
ProgressProgress saved automatically, stop and restart without losing your place
AcceptedOur courses meet federal standards, but state requirements may vary. Please verify before purchase.

This course is written for one person in a company rather than for a whole crew. If you walk the floor, decide what protection a job needs and sign the paperwork afterwards, it is written for you.

  • Safety managers who own the PPE program at one site or across several.
  • Plant and operations supervisors who decide what a crew wears before a shift starts.
  • The person whose name goes on the written certification of the hazard assessment.
  • EHS coordinators who write and update the written PPE plan.
  • Maintenance leads who select gloves and eye protection for chemical work.
  • Warehouse and production supervisors responsible for head and foot protection.
  • Anyone running a hearing conservation program at 85 dBA or above.
  • Respirator program administrators, the role 29 CFR 1910.134(c)(3) says the employer designates.
  • Trainers who deliver PPE training to new hires and after a process change.
  • Purchasing leads who have to specify protective equipment to a performance standard.

The hazards here are general industry hazards: chemicals, noise, moving parts, hot work and airborne contaminants. These are the operations where one person ends up owning the PPE decisions for everybody else.

  • Chemical manufacturing and blending operations
  • Metal fabrication, welding and machine shops
  • Food and beverage processing plants
  • Warehousing and distribution centers running powered equipment
  • Hazardous waste sites and remediation crews working to 29 CFR 1910.120
  • Utilities and electrical maintenance departments
  • Pulp, paper and wood products mills
  • Automotive and parts assembly plants
  • Plating, painting and surface finishing shops
  • Pharmaceutical and laboratory operations
  • Municipal water and wastewater treatment plants
  • Grain handling and agricultural processing facilities

Personal Protective Equipment: Which Course Fits Your Role?

  • Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person. The page you are on. Written for the person who sizes up the job, chooses the protection, trains the crew and keeps the record. Six parts, seven protection areas, and the job hazard analysis method behind the decision.
  • Personal Protective Equipment Safety. For the people who wear the equipment. It covers what each type of protection does, how to put it on and take it off, and how to check it before a shift. Roll this one out to the crew. View the Personal Protective Equipment Safety
  • Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person – Spanish. The same six parts and the same certificate, delivered in Spanish on its own page. Buy it for the supervisors who would rather work in Spanish. View the Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person – Spanish
  • Competent Person Series. The rest of the series, one course per hazard: confined space, fall protection, scaffolding, trenching and excavation, electrical safety and more. View the Competent Person Series

If they wear the equipment, the PPE Safety course is the right buy. If they decide what gets worn and sign the assessment, it is this one.

 

Who Is Responsible for Providing and Maintaining PPE?

The employer, on both counts. 29 CFR 1910.132(a) requires protective equipment to be provided, used and maintained in a sanitary and reliable condition wherever hazards of process or environment, chemicals, radiation or mechanical irritants can injure someone, and Part 6 of this course covers what that means for the person managing it.

  • Provided means it is there when the job starts. The duty stands whether or not anyone has asked for the equipment. It is not triggered by a request, a complaint or a near miss.
  • Issued is not the same as used. The paragraph says provided, used and maintained, all three. Handing a box of gloves to a crew answers one word out of three, and Part 6 covers the other two.
  • Gear a worker brings is still the employer's responsibility. Where an employee supplies their own protective equipment, 29 CFR 1910.132(b) keeps the employer answerable for whether it is adequate, properly maintained and sanitary. Part 6 covers how that gets checked.
  • The crew has a part in it. Wear what was issued, check it before use, report damage, ask for a replacement. Part 6 sets that split out so a supervisor can hold both ends of it.

Verified Course Reviews

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4.5
Based on 17 reviews
5
70
70%
4
18
18%
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6
6%
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1-2 of 17 reviews
  1. Long, but very informative.

    (0) (0)
  2. Was very long

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Stay Compliant. Stay Safe.

Complete your Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person at your own pace, on any device, with an instant certificate when you're done.

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English
Unlocked progress. Complete modules in any order.
$89.00
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Español
Desbloqueado. Completa los módulos en cualquier orden.
$89.00
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30-Day Guarantee Instant Access Instant Certificate No Hidden Fees

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about the Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person.

Yes. Upon passing the final exam with a score of 70% or higher, you can immediately print a certificate of completion. This certificate serves as proof of training for your employer.

Yes. The course is accessible on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Progress saves automatically on the same device, so you can stop and resume where you left off.

 Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person training is an OSHA-compliant safety program covering 29 CFR 1910.132. It provides comprehensive instruction on all major categories of personal protective equipment including body, eye, foot, hand, head, hearing, and respiratory protection, all in one course. The training covers PPE selection based on hazard assessment, proper use and maintenance, training requirements, and the duties and responsibilities of a competent person as it pertains to protective equipment on a job site. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate of completion.

   OSHA requires employers to provide appropriate personal protective equipment and ensure workers know how and when to use it. Workers who need this competent person training include designated competent persons responsible for PPE programs, safety officers conducting hazard assessments, supervisors and foremen selecting PPE for their crews, facility managers implementing PPE requirements, and workers responsible for training others on PPE use. The competent person must understand all types of PPE, how to assess hazards, and how to select appropriate protection.

  The course covers body protection including protective clothing, aprons, coveralls, and vests, eye and face protection including safety glasses, goggles, face shields, and welding helmets, foot protection including safety shoes, boots, and toe guards, hand protection including gloves for various hazards such as cuts, chemicals, heat, and electrical work, head protection including hard hats and bump caps, hearing protection including earplugs and earmuffs, respiratory protection including filtering facepiece respirators, half-mask and full-face respirators, and powered air-purifying respirators, hazard assessment procedures to determine PPE needs, PPE selection based on specific workplace hazards, proper use, donning, doffing, and adjustment of PPE, maintenance, inspection, and storage requirements, training requirements for employees using PPE, and competent person responsibilities for implementing and overseeing PPE programs. The course provides comprehensive coverage of all protection areas in one program.

  Yes. The course includes comprehensive coverage of respiratory protection as one of the seven protection areas covered. Respiratory protection topics include types of respirators (filtering facepiece, half-mask, full-face, powered air-purifying), when respiratory protection is required, selecting appropriate respirators based on hazards and exposure levels, fit testing requirements, proper use and maintenance, medical evaluation requirements, and respiratory protection programs. All major PPE categories including respiratory protection are covered in this single comprehensive course.

  Yes. eTraining offers the complete Personal Protective Equipment for the Competent Person course in Spanish. The Spanish version covers identical content on all seven protection areas (body, eye, foot, hand, head, hearing, and respiratory), meets the same OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132 requirements, covers the same competent person duties and responsibilities, and results in the same certificate of completion upon passing.

  The PPE competent person is responsible for conducting workplace hazard assessments to determine PPE needs, selecting appropriate PPE based on identified hazards, certifying that hazard assessments have been performed, ensuring employees are properly trained on PPE selection, use, and maintenance, verifying that PPE fits properly and is being used correctly, ensuring PPE is maintained in sanitary and reliable condition, implementing procedures for PPE issuance and replacement, maintaining documentation of hazard assessments and training, evaluating PPE effectiveness and making adjustments as needed, and taking prompt corrective action when PPE deficiencies are identified. The competent person ensures compliance with OSHA PPE requirements across all protection categories.

  This comprehensive course covers all seven major areas of personal protective equipment (body, eye, foot, hand, head, hearing, and respiratory protection) in one program, providing efficiency and cost savings. Workers often need to understand multiple types of PPE since most job sites have various hazards requiring different protection. The integrated approach ensures the competent person has complete knowledge across all PPE categories and can conduct thorough hazard assessments and make appropriate PPE selections for any workplace situation. This comprehensive training is more practical than taking multiple separate courses.

You must score at least 70% on the final exam to pass and receive your certificate of completion. The course includes knowledge-check quizzes that do not count toward your final grade but help prepare you for the exam. If you do not pass on your first attempt, you can retake the exam.

Better Training. Better Outcomes.

Fifteen years, 200,000+ professionals certified, and a completion rate roughly double the industry average.

OSHA citation printed on every certificate

Your employer and site safety officer can verify compliance at a glance, with no phone calls and no lookups.

No setup. No LMS. Training in minutes.

Pay once, get instant access. No account setup, no downloads, no IT involvement. Works in any browser.

Built for field workers, not classrooms

Grounded in real jobsite operations. Scenarios reflect the work your crew actually does.

Trusted by safety managers & contractors

Used by EHS managers, general contractors and federal site supervisors to keep crews certified on time.

200,000+
Professionals certified
87%
Completion rate (industry avg <45%)
10M+
Hours of training delivered
15
Years in business

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