10 OSHA Training Requirements

OSHA standards come with specific training requirements that can be found in the Training Requirements in OSHA Standards PDF for free online. Below, you’ll find a list of OSHA training requirements and information for general industry that you can use in planning your training programs.

1. Emergency Action Plans

Emergency Action Plans is an OSHA training requirement where employers must have an emergency plan. Action plans and osha training documentation need to be written and should be made available to employees for review. For employers with, 10 or fewer workers, plans can be communicated verbally. 

At a minimum, emergency action plans must include procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency, conducting an emergency evacuation, remaining employees who will stay to operate critical operations before evacuation, accounting for employees after evacuation, and performing rescue or medical duties on other employees. A contact person is also needed in case employees need to know more information about the emergency action plan and their duties under the plan. Plans also need to be reviewed when employees are assigned to a new job and responsibilities are changed. They also need to be reviewed when changes are made in general. 

As an employer, you need to designate and train your employees so they can participate and assist others in a safe and orderly evacuation. EdApp, a cross-platform learning management system (LMS) for compliance training, can help you train your employees by providing ready-made courses that can be sent out to them instantly. The Exit Route Standards course will introduce you to OSHA’s standards on safe exit routes, while the Evacuation Plan course can serve as a template for your company’s evacuation plan. You can also edit this course without any coding or design experience using EdApp’s creator tool. It’s simple and easy to use with its drag-and-drop function and pre-made templates.

Join EdApp at no cost and start complying with various OSHA training requirements today!

2. Personal Protective Equipment

Another OSHA training requirement is that your employees should be trained on how to use personal protective equipment (PPE). Particularly, when and what PPE is necessary, as well as how to properly don, doff, adjust, and wear PPE. Their PPE training should also cover the limitations of PPE and its proper care, maintenance, and disposal. Employees need to understand these topics before being allowed to perform work requiring the use of PPE. Retraining is required when an employee lacks understanding or skills, or changes in the workplace or equipment are made.

Similarly, if employees are required to use respirators, then you also need to provide effective and understandable annual training to your employees. Employees should know why respirators are necessary and how improper use can impact the equipment. They also need to learn about its limitations and capabilities, its uses in emergency situations, and the procedures for using, maintaining, and removing respirators. Training should be given before employees need to use a respirator for work, while retraining should happen when changes in the workplace or respirator are made, knowledge gaps are found in employees, or situations make it necessary to retrain in safe respirator use. 

EdApp offers courses on the use of PPE for construction and PPE for manufacturing. Also available in its course library is a four-lesson course on Airborne Hazards. The more informed and aware your workers are, the higher their chances of staying healthy and safe while working for your company. This can lead to happier and more satisfied employees overall. 

3. Confined Spaces

Employees that work in confined spaces require training so that they have the understanding, knowledge, and skills necessary for the safe performance of their duties. They need to be trained before they are assigned duties, before there are changes to those duties, and whenever there are changes in operations that present any hazard that they have not previously been trained for. If you have reason to believe that your employees also lack knowledge of procedures in confined spaces, then you need to retrain them as well.

When it comes to rescue and emergency services in confined spaces, you need to evaluate a possible rescuer’s abilities, capabilities, and proficiencies. You also need to inform your rescue team or service of the hazards they may run into while performing the rescue. Confined Spaces by EdApp covers the explanation of worker training, assigned duties, hazards, and emergencies that are related to the risky work environment. Being hosted on a gamified LMS, your workers can experience fun, game-like training, motivating them to get the training done quickly.  

4. Lockout/Tagout

Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) is a set of procedures that are used to make sure equipment dealing with potentially hazardous energy is shut down, inoperable, and de-energized. This way, maintenance and repair work can be safely performed on the systems. Among OSHA training requirements is the need to provide training to your teams so that your LOTO procedures are understood by everyone involved. You also need to make sure that the tags used in your procedures are legible and understandable and made with materials that can withstand the environmental conditions found in the workplace.

If you need an online course that gives an overview of LOTO procedures, then this Controlling Hazardous Energy: Lockout/Tagout course could work for you. In just three interactive lessons, your teams will learn everything they need to know. Since you need to conduct periodic inspections of LOTO procedures, you can also integrate this EdApp course with the audit and inspection solution, SafetyCulture. With both tools, you can conduct inspections and deliver training all in one place easily, saving you time and resources. 

5. Medical Services and First Aid

As the employer, you need to make sure your employees have immediate access to medical advice or consultation in the workplace. If there’s no infirmary, clinic, or hospital near the workplace, then you need to have a person or people who have completed OSHA first aid training requirements. You also need to make readily available an adequate number of first aid supplies in the workplace. 

First aid training is typically held with an instructor so that they can properly demonstrate the techniques and actions needed to perform certain tasks. However, if you want to supplement your training with online courses that can act as refresher training, then you don’t have to go further than EdApp. With The Basics of First Aid and OSHA First Aid Training and Standards courses, your workers will always know how to deal with common injuries or problems. Also, they’ll be aware of the different standards, risks, and responses that come with performing first aid. 

6. Fire Protection

Subpart L – Fire Protection covers everything from fire brigades to fire detection systems. Under section 1910.155, you can read about the scope, applications, and definitions applicable to this subpart. Under the OSHA training requirement for fire protection, you need to make sure your workers can operate equipment, including respiratory protection equipment, effectively through instruction and hands-on practice.

EdApp provides courses on both Fire Safety and Fire Protection. You can refresh your workers on the basics of fire safety or you can reorient them on how they can prevent and protect themselves in cases of fire. You can also edit these courses to match your company’s branding and guidelines. Since these courses can be delivered on any smartphone device, workers can easily access this course at any time. Having this information accessible to them on their phones can make refresher training easier to send out.

7. Mechanical Power Presses

The OSHA training requirement for mechanical power presses under machinery and machine guarding states that training needs to be provided to maintenance and operator personnel. They need to be trained before starting work on any operation and that correct operating procedures are being followed through adequate supervision. Training also needs to be conducted annually and records of their training need to be kept. 

Periodic training becomes easier if you have training materials that can be updated and delivered at scale. These are just some of the online training benefits that you can find and take advantage of on EdApp. With courses like Machine Guarding and Working Safely with Machinery, you can send out their training in just a few clicks. This way, you can help protect your workers against the common risks and hazards associated with workplace machines and equipment.  

8. Electrical Safety-Related Work Practices

Under the OSHA training requirements for electrical safety, employees need to be trained in and familiar with the skills and techniques necessary to distinguish exposed live parts from other electric equipment and determine the nominal voltage of exposed live parts. They also need to be aware of the specified distances and corresponding voltages to which employees will be exposed to.

While the training required in this section needs to be the classroom or on-site type, you can still provide additional resources to your workers for them to look through in their own time. Let your employees brush up on their knowledge of electrical safety with EdApp’s Electrical Safety and Controlling Hazardous Energy: Electricity courses. You can also send out reminders to your workers to take these refresher courses through push notifications and email invite links. 

9. Bloodborne Pathogens

The OSHA training requirement for Bloodborne Pathogens under Toxic and Hazardous Substances is that you need to provide training at no cost to your employees and should be held during working hours. Training needs to be provided at the time of initial assignment and annually. Training records should also be kept and maintained for 3 years from the date of the training session. 

Training required on bloodborne pathogens contains a lot of information. From types of equipment used to copies of regulatory text, you need to make sure your workers have everything they need. Since they’re absorbing a lot of information, it’s important to have their training content on hand for them to look through on their own time if they’re having trouble remembering the information. Bloodborne Pathogens by EdApp can be repeatedly taken and can even help workers retain information through microlearning and game-based training.

10. Hazard Communication

The last OSHA training requirement on this list is about Hazard Communication. Here, you need to provide effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in the workplace to workers at the start of their assignment. This can come in the form of hazard communication or hazardous material training courses. Employees should also receive training whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced. Chemical-specific information must always be available through labels and material safety data sheets. Your HAZCOM and HAZMAT training should include the methods and observations used to detect hazardous chemicals, measures employees can take to protect themselves, and details of your hazard communication program. 

EdApp has hazard communication courses applicable to certain industries: Hazard Communication (for Healthcare) and Hazard Communication (for Dentistry). Also included in their course library with over 1000 courses, Hazardous Materials (Silica, Polymerics and Waste) will teach your workers how to handle and manage hazardous materials. They will also learn how to recognize precautions and effects when exposed to these materials. 

Check out EdApp’s free course library, including OSHA training topics, as soon as possible!