OSHA mandatory training in seven states- Is your state on the list?

To enhance safety in the construction workplace, various states have enacted various bills requiring OSHA training. The 2009 Nevada Legislature enacted Assembly Bill Number 148 that will go into effect January 1, 2010. This bill requires workers to complete an OSHA 10 Hour safety course and supervisors to complete a 30-Hour OSHA Training course no later than 15 days after being hired. Once the safety course is completed, the worker will receive a "completion card" that must be presented to the employer. In Nevada, the "completion card" verifying training will be valid for up to five years. Nevada is not the first state to make this mandatory. The states with an OSHA law already in effect are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and Missouri (as of September 2).

Each of these states have "customized" the required training for their workers. For example in Nevada, the state is requiring all construction workers to complete the course. Whereas in the other states, some of them are only requiring training for those workers on publicly funded construction sites, such as public roads and bridge construction projects and public school buildings is restricted by most of the states. Curtis Chambers, Vice President of OSHA Pro’s, Inc., an OSHA training company with national coverage, states, “While all seven state laws require the same 10-hour training class, there are slight nuances from state to state.” He also added that, “There are also varying thresholds for the dollar amounts of the contracts that dictate when the states’ laws become effective. However,” he warns, “each of these state laws contain a provision that say failure to comply with their rule can result in fines and penalties being assessed, typically to the employer of the non-compliant workers. So affected workers are required to obtain the OSHA 10-hour construction training wallet card to prove they completed the course.”

The OSHA 10-hour training courses has to be conducted by an OSHA authorized trainer. See a previous post of ours that discusses the various options available www.bit.ly/er1lt ("OSHA offers first training course in Guam- Are you interested in OSHA training?")

OSHA first developed the construction outreach training course as a voluntary safety course to teach workers about the hazards of construction work and the regulations applicable to their work site. Voluntary has now evolved into mandatory due to states hoping that this will decrease the number of injuries and fatalities in the construction industry. Will this make a difference? Time will only tell if these construction workers will truly value and implement their safety training.

Sources:
Nevada's State Contractor's Board. Contractor's Alert OSHA-10 and 30 Training Classes. Web. 7 Oct. 2009.
"OSHA 10-Hour Construction Safety Course Now Compulsory in Seven States." Compliance Home. 2 Sept. 2009. Web. 7 Oct. 2009.