Safety & Compliance News

Is an OSHA 10 or 30 card a certification?

No, the card isn’t a certification and completing a course doesn’t mean an employee is qualified to perform specific tasks. The courses are a foundation for hazard awareness and emphasize hazard identification, avoidance, control, and prevention, rather than OSHA standards. Employers must ensure employees receive job-specific training on the hazards they may encounter in the workplace.

Who’s required to take the training?

OSHA’s 10- and 30-hour Outreach Training Program is a voluntary program for workers in general industry, construction, maritime, and disaster site work. No OSHA standard requires employees to take the 10- or 30-hour outreach courses. Some states and municipalities, however, have enacted laws mandating the training, particularly for certain construction projects. It’s also not uncommon for private construction or service contracts to include requirements that only workers who have completed a 10- or 30-hour OSHA outreach course be allowed to work on the site.

10 vs. 30: What’s the difference?

Both courses provide basic awareness training on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. They also provide information regarding workers’ rights, employer responsibilities, and filing a complaint with OSHA.

The 10-hour training program is primarily intended for entry level workers while the 30-hour training program is more appropriate for supervisors or workers with some safety responsibility. It provides a greater depth and variety of training on an expanded list of topics associated with workplace hazards in each industry.

When the 10- or 30-hour courses are taught by OSHA authorized trainers, trainees will receive course completion cards from OSHA. As mentioned, these cards are not certifications, but they do acknowledge that the person has taken either a 10-hour or 30-hour OSHA outreach training course that was taught by an authorized trainer.

At the federal level, student course completion cards don’t have an expiration date. However, some states and municipalities do have further training requirements, such as refresher training every five years, so it’s important to be aware of such requirements.

How do you become an authorized trainer?

To become an authorized trainer to conduct 10- and 30-hour general industry outreach courses, you must complete OSHA’s Course #501, Trainer Course in Occupational Safety and Health Standards for General Industry. For construction courses, you must complete OSHA’s Course #500, Trainer Course in Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry. The trainer course is mandatory for those trainers who conduct 10- and 30-hour courses and issue OSHA course completion cards to the students.

Only the OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and OTI Education Centers can offer OSHA courses. The #500 and #501 courses are offered at OTI Education Centers around the country.

Trainers are independent service providers and their schedules and fees may vary. All trainers should possess a trainer card which includes an expiration date along with the name of the authorizing OTI Education Center.

Key to remember: No OSHA standard requires employees to take 10- or 30-hour outreach courses. However, some states, municipalities, and private employers may have such requirements. Even if employees take OSHA 10 or 30 courses, employers must ensure they receive job-specific training on the hazards they may encounter in the workplace.