1926.20 and .21 — the two sections that sit underneath every other citation.
These are the general provisions. They rarely get quoted in a toolbox talk and they are cited constantly, because they establish that the employer must have a program, must inspect, and must instruct.
§ 1926.20 — accident prevention responsibilities
It is the employer’s responsibility to initiate and maintain such programs as may be necessary to comply with the Act.
Programs must provide for frequent and regular inspections of the job sites, materials and equipment, made by competent persons designated by the employer.
The use of any machinery, tool, material or equipment which is not in compliance is prohibited — it must be identified as unsafe by tagging or locking the controls, or physically removed.
Employees must be permitted to work only in safe and healthful surroundings.
The phrase is doing real work. On an active data center build with multiple trades and daily-changing conditions, a monthly documented inspection will not be read as frequent and regular. Tie the cadence to the pace of change on the site, and write down what you found — an inspection with no record is very hard to prove.
§ Competent person vs qualified person
| Term | Definition | The distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Competent person | Capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards, and authorized to take prompt corrective measures | Authority is half the definition |
| Qualified person | By possession of a recognized degree, certificate, professional standing, or extensive knowledge and experience, has demonstrated the ability to solve problems relating to the work | Capability, not authority |
These are not the same as the NFPA 70E qualified person, which is defined against training and demonstrated skill for the specific electrical task, and which 2027 sharpened at 110.4(A)(1)(b) to be task-specific.
A person can be a 1926 competent person for excavation, a 1926 qualified person for rigging, and not a 70E qualified person for the switchgear thirty feet away. Programs that use one word for all three produce exactly the confusion you would expect.
§ 1926.21 — the duty to instruct
The employer shall instruct each employee in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions and the regulations applicable to his work environment to control or eliminate any hazards or other exposure to illness or injury. Note what it says: recognition and avoidance. Awareness alone does not discharge it.
- Employees required to handle or use poisons, caustics and other harmful substances must be instructed on safe handling and use, and on the personal protective and emergency measures required.
- Employees required to enter confined or enclosed spaces must be instructed on the nature of the hazards, necessary precautions, and the protective and emergency equipment required.
- This is the hook OSHA uses when a worker was exposed to a hazard the employer knew about and never explained. It is also why documented training matters — see 70E 105.3(A), which made documented training explicit in 2027.
A contractor with a thorough written safety program, a designated competent person, and a training file consisting of sign-in sheets with no content record. When the question became “instructed in what,” there was no answer.
Article 105 changed the paperwork
The 2027 edition put documented training requirements front and centre in Article 105. Every training file in the country is now measured against it.
Article 105 See the schedule