In 1971, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created an Outreach Training Program as a voluntary program with a purpose to promote workplace safety and health, as well as help workers become more knowledgeable about workplace hazards and their rights. Over the years OSHA has done well to expand the reach of the program and with this growth has increased training availability with their train-the-trainer format. In fact according to OSHA, between FY 2008 and FY 2013, more than 3.6 million workers were trained in job hazard recognition and avoidance through the program.

OSHA offers Outreach Training Programs for 4 industries: Construction, General Industry, Maritime, and Disaster Site work. For the sake of this article, we will be covering the construction and general industries. Although their class formats and even a few topics are similar, generally they cover a different set of topics and the atmosphere and scope is much different and taking one over the other can be unnecessary and a waste of time and money, depending on the industry you work in.

Why were these implemented?

The OSHA Outreach Training Program provides training on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. Outreach classes also provide overview information regarding OSHA, including workers’ rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint.

Why take one over another?

The 10 hour courses are designed and intended for entry or lower level workers, due to the nature of the material covered. It is a more simplistic approach and covers a smaller scope. The 30 hour courses are designed and intended for higher level workers, those with some safety responsibility, due to the larger scope and more topics included in the 30 hour course. Although it should be noted, that any worker would benefit from either 10 hour or 30 hour courses; however as stated earlier, a worker in the construction industry would not get a proper representation of their industry in the general industry course and vice versa.

What is the difference between the two?

As per OSHA.gov’s website: “The 10 hour course provides basic awareness training on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. The course also provides information regarding workers' rights, employer responsibilities, and filing a complaint.

The 30 hour course provides a greater depth and variety of training on an expanded list of topics associated with workplace hazards in each industry. OSHA provides authorized trainers procedures for each industry program on the topic outlines for each industry.”

The neat thing about these programs is that they are customizable to a company’s own wants and needs. For example, the 10 hour General Industry course covers the following mandatory topics:

• Introduction to OSHA
• Walking/Working Surfaces
• Exit Routes, Emergency Action Plans, Fire Prevention and Protection Plans
• Electrical Hazards
• Personal Protective Equipment
• Hazard Communication

With the following example topics being selective or optional and can be selected to best tailor to a specific company based on want/need:

• Hazardous Material Flammable/Combustible
• Machine Guarding
• Confined Space Entry Awareness
• Lock Out/Tag Out

The list becomes even longer when you look at a 30 hour OSHA course. It is a more detailed version of the previous topics and also includes Materials Handling in the mandatory topics, but adds 6 or so additional topics to be covered. The construction industry courses include even more additional topics for individual selection. The mandatory topics are different as well, tailored to include more construction specific topics, the most important difference is that of “Focus Four Hazards” which include: Fall Protection, Electrical, Struck By, and Caught in/Between.

Can anyone take either class?

These courses are not designed to be exclusive to an age group. Everyone, of all ages, can benefit from OSHA courses. Especially the general industry as it covers a good number of general topics (as the name would imply) that can be used in any setting, even an office workplace or at home.

And again, you should be certain to verify which course (General Industry or Construction Industry) is a best fit for you when registering. At STS, we are happy to answer anyone's questions regarding this difference, as it important to attend the correct one for your industry. Find out more by contacting us! 

Are these classes required?

Short answer, no. They are a recommendation from OSHA as an orientation to occupational safety and health for workers. However, some states have enacted laws that mandate the training. Also, certain employers or organizations may require this training.

What are the benefits to me?

With the courses not being mandatory for all, what is the reason you should take these courses? Well, in a perfect world, one would hope you’d want to take these courses simply to establish a good safety values and attitude at your workplace. But the reality is often times not so. So below you will find a few valuable reasons to engage yourself or your staff into OSHA compliance safety training.

• It promotes good safety culture through peer training
• Training is intended to be participatory, using hands-on activities
• Trainers are able to tailor the training topics based on specific needs of their audience
• Outreach training content includes hazard recognition and avoidance, workers’ rights, employer responsibilities, and hot to file a complaint; it emphasizes the value of safety and health to workers, including young workers
• Outreach training is available in languages other than English (Spanish, Polish, etc.)

The Question: Should you have a supervisor or senior employee be your trainer or should you hire an outside training company?

Here are a few points to consider in that decision:

Universal Language of “Money” – outside trainers are without question less expensive compared to the organizational risk, salary differential, overtime and cost of retraining a new trainer if the current one leaves the company. Dollar for dollar, an outside trainer has little downside risk for the company since there is no loss of expertise when the trainer leaves the organization. You get exactly what you need, whenever you need it; regardless of any personnel changes within your organization.

Consistency of Quality – outside trainers maintain the same quality and consistency of training in both their course content and the delivery of that content. High quality training is their commodity; and they are counting on your complete satisfaction. They have more objectivity and are free from internal social or political biases so often affecting a company’s internal training results.

Compliance and Updates - changes often occur in safety and compliance with OSHA training regulations. Outside trainers can update the customer, keep them compliant and informed of new developments and interpretations by OSHA that may affect the company. Outside firms have personnel regularly available with the experience in the training industry to offer their customers additional and on-going counseling and advice regardless of the specific topic.

Flexibility and Mobility - training firms can conduct training in most venues and locales regardless of distance or accommodations. They are focused on getting the training done correctly and not on the “sacrifice” they are making for the company in terms of their other duties. Contracted Trainers carry literally suitcases of training equipment and materials that allows them to conduct a session in almost any situation, geographic location or audience.

Credibility/Record Keeping – outside trainers bring a resume of experience in training competitors, similar industry companies, and leading industry companies. The client gets the direct benefit of these diverse and experienced trainers. This experience and know-how is very hard to find in-house for the average company. Trainers are often former supervisors, managers and safety professionals that have done the job themselves successfully and have the skills and training to deliver training for others. Lastly – record keeping is extremely important to the company in order to validate the students training credentials to the company and certainly to OSHA when requested. Professional training firms maintain these records very well, both in printed and electronic forms. 

If you utilize aerial lifts (scissor, boom, rough terrain fork lifts) in your business, you are required by OSHA to provide appropriate training to your operators; and if that training was performed by an equipment rental company, you would expect that training to be effective and complete. Right?!--Maybe… 

You may have simply received “equipment familiarization” and received a signed certificate for it.

Per ANSI/OSHA Standards, TRAINING must include 12 information/ instruction components and include equipment demonstration proficiency.

This cannot be accomplished with a 1-hour video! Could you imagine if learning to drive an automobile was taught this way? 

For years now the aerial lift industry has been relying on the OEM’s “canned” training materials - usually a video or DVD provided by local aerial lift dealers to achieve the ANSI/OSHA requirement of “qualified person” status for operators. As we are finding out, this simple approach just does not do a good enough job of providing appropriate safety training to operators.