Endorsed Training Providers

Student Identity Verification for Online Training

Utility Safety Partners’ responsibility is to develop and provide—within the regulatory framework—industry best practice standards and guidelines for training as it relates to ground disturbance and damage prevention. Individual company policy and individual company internal risk management practices must dictate the most appropriate method of training, delivery, and learner validation, as well as worker competency for work performed within or for the corporation. The Utility Safety Partners does not mandate or prescribe a preferred method of training, delivery, or learner validation mechanisms deemed to meet those individual company policies.

Legal Obligations

Employers have a legal obligation to ensure that their employees are competent to carry out their required tasks. They have a further responsibility to ensure that any ground disturbance training they purchase is appropriate for the scope of their ground disturbance activities and is acceptable to their clients.

Competent is defined as “adequately qualified, suitably trained, and with sufficient experience to safely perform the work as outlined, independently or with only a minimal degree of supervision.” Employers must ensure employees supervising ground disturbance activities meet minimum qualifications, have received appropriate training, and have been properly mentored and observed independently while gaining experience performing the tasks.

Training is only one component in the development of a competent ground disturbance supervisor.