The answer to this question isn’t as straightforward as it seems. OSHA speaks of an electrical employee being “Qualified” in OSHA 1910.332(a) and 1910.332(b)(3). If you have employees who perform electrical work of any type, these employees need to be qualified, and the qualifying agent is ALWAYS the employer. No one else can qualify per OSHA – and from a liability perspective, you as the employer are always liable for your employee training.

The Bottom Line:
Arrange to have your employees trained (NFPA 70E courses). Once trained, the record of that training gets filed in the employee’s training records, proving that the employee did, in fact, receive training.

After training, the employer (or a contracted training company/e-Hazard) must watch the electrical employee perform those tasks in which you as the employer expect him to be proficient. This “hands-on demonstration of skills” gets documented in personnel records.

Once an employer is satisfied that the employee meets their expectations, they will write a statement that designates an employee as a “Qualified Electrical Technician” or some wording to that effect. Once that paperwork is filed, the employee is now considered “qualified” and free to perform the task(s) that you as the employer qualified him to perform.

110.6 (A)(3) Additional Training and Retraining. Additional training and retraining in safety-related work practices and applicable changes in this standard shall be performed at intervals not to exceed 3 years. (NFPA 70E, 2021)

OSHA does not certify employees. Read our blog post on what certified means in electrical safety.

They do not. Only an employer can deem you qualified. One of our e-Hazard instructors wrote an article answering this question. Find out what these terms mean.