OSHA requires that a competent person be present on all job sites where asbestos work is performed. Workers who need this training include supervisors and foremen on demolition, renovation, or construction projects involving asbestos-containing materials, designated competent persons for asbestos operations, safety officers overseeing asbestos work, and anyone responsible for implementing and enforcing asbestos safety protocols on construction sites. Employers must designate a competent person capable of identifying asbestos hazards and taking prompt corrective action.

The course requires approximately 5 hours of instruction time. Because it is self-paced, you can complete it over multiple sessions at your convenience. Most students finish within one to two weeks. Progress is saved automatically, so you can stop and resume on the same device at any time.

The course covers asbestos characteristics and health hazards, exposure limits and assessment procedures, types of asbestos and where they are found, medical surveillance requirements, establishing and maintaining regulated areas, engineering controls and work practices, methods of compliance for all job classes, respiratory protection requirements and programs, OSHA training requirements by job class, Class I through Class IV asbestos work classifications, proper clean-up and disposal procedures, and comprehensive competent person responsibilities including hazard recognition, exposure assessments, inspection requirements, and negative exposure assessments. The course is divided into 10 parts covering these topics in depth.

You must score at least 70% on the final exam to pass the course. Knowledge check quizzes throughout the course help prepare you for the final exam but do not count toward your grade. If you do not pass on the first attempt, you can review the material and retake the exam.

Yes. eTraining’s Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person course is built directly from OSHA standard 29 CFR 1926.1101 and covers all required competent person responsibilities and knowledge areas. You receive a certificate of completion upon passing that documents your training. The course is accepted by employers and meets OSHA’s requirements for competent person training on asbestos work sites.

Yes. The Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person course works on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Your progress is saved automatically on the same device, allowing you to pick up where you left off.

 According to OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1101, a competent person for asbestos is someone capable of identifying existing asbestos hazards in the workplace and selecting the appropriate control strategy for asbestos exposure, who has the authority to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate hazards. For Class I and Class II work, the competent person must be specially trained in a training course which meets the criteria of EPA’s Model Accreditation Plan for supervisor, or its equivalent. For Class III and Class IV work, the competent person must be trained in a manner consistent with EPA requirements for local education agency maintenance and custodial staff.

 Yes. The course covers Class I asbestos work (activities involving the removal of thermal system insulation and surfacing asbestos-containing material), Class II work (activities involving the removal of asbestos-containing material which is not thermal system insulation or surfacing material), Class III work (repair and maintenance operations where asbestos-containing material is likely to be disturbed), and Class IV work (maintenance and custodial activities during which employees contact asbestos-containing materials and debris). Each class has specific requirements and work practices covered in the training.

 Yes. This Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person course is designed for supervisors and designated competent persons who need in-depth knowledge of OSHA standards, exposure assessment procedures, all four job classes, and competent person responsibilities. It is approximately 5 hours long. eTraining also offers a shorter Asbestos Safety Awareness Course (approximately 2 hours) designed for workers who need basic asbestos safety awareness but do not have competent person responsibilities. The competent person course goes beyond basic awareness to provide the detailed knowledge necessary to create a safe working environment for others.

 The asbestos competent person is responsible for conducting exposure assessments before or at the initiation of asbestos operations, performing or supervising the setup of regulated areas and containment, ensuring the integrity of enclosures and containment through onsite inspection, setting up procedures to control entry and exit from regulated areas, conducting frequent and regular inspections of the job site and equipment, determining if employee exposure monitoring is feasible, identifying jobs likely to exceed permissible exposure limits, supervising all asbestos work performed within regulated areas, and taking prompt corrective action when hazards are identified. The competent person must be present on all asbestos work sites as required by OSHA.