Competent Person

OSHA requires a competent person to be on site during all excavation activities, including hydrovac operations. This person must be trained to identify hazards such as unstable soil, water accumulation, overhead hazards, atmospheric dangers, and proximity to buried utilities. Critically, the competent person must also have the authority to stop work immediately when hazardous conditions are identified.

The competent person's responsibilities on a hydrovac job site include classifying the soil type, determining whether cave-in protection is needed, inspecting the excavation daily and after any event that could change conditions (such as rain or vibration from nearby equipment), ensuring proper utility locates have been obtained, and verifying that all workers are using required personal protective equipment.

OSHA does not require a specific certification for the competent person designation, but the individual must demonstrate knowledge through training and experience. Many hydrovac companies send their supervisors and lead operators through formal competent person training courses that cover soil classification, protective system selection, atmospheric monitoring, and OSHA regulatory requirements.