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OSHA Health & Safety Training Guidance


CFR Environmental Health & Safety

The Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) requires employers to provide health and safety training for employees that face job hazards. Preventing injuries and saving lives is in everyone’s best interest and the OSHA Standards have played a lead role in worker safety since 1971. The OSHA Standards provide guidance for employers about training requirements and are organized into five categories:

  • General Industry (29 CFR Part1910;)

  • Maritime (Shipyard 29 CFR Part 1915) (Terminals 29 CFR Part 1917);

  • Construction (29 CFR Part 1910 and 1926);

  • Agriculture (29 CFR Part 1928); and

  • Federal Employee Programs. (29 CFR Part 1960).

Each category is divided in multiple subparts and include worker safety requirements for various topics. A few examples include training on hazardous materials, exit routes and emergency planning, first aid, fire protection, materials handling, machinery usage, and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Safety training can be overwhelming for employers. CFR Environmental can refresh your training program with training on a variety of topics, including hazard communication, PPE including respirator fit testing, powered industrial trucks, control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) and permit-required confined spaces. Training can be scheduled on-site at any time that accommodates your employee shift schedules.

Employers have a legal responsibility to provide a safe workplace for all employees. According to OSHA, here is a summary of employer responsibilities:

  • Provide a workplace free from serious recognized hazards and comply with standards, rules and regulations issued under the OSH Act.

  • Examine workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable OSHA standards.

  • Make sure employees have and use safe tools and equipment and properly maintain this equipment.

  • Use color codes, posters, labels or signs to warn employees of potential hazards.

  • Establish or update operating procedures and communicate them so that employees follow safety and health requirements.

  • Employers must provide safety training in a language and vocabulary workers can understand.

  • Employers with hazardous chemicals in the workplace must develop and implement a written hazard communication program and train employees on the hazards they are exposed to and proper precautions (and a copy of safety data sheets must be readily available). See the OSHA page on Hazard Communication.

  • Provide medical examinations and training when required by OSHA standards.

  • Post, at a prominent location within the workplace, the OSHA poster (or the state-plan equivalent) informing employees of their rights and responsibilities.

  • Report to the nearest OSHA office all work-related fatalities within 8 hours, and all work-related inpatient hospitalizations, all amputations and all losses of an eye within 24 hours. Call our toll-free number: 1-800-321-OSHA (6742); TTY 1-877-889-5627. [Employers under federal OSHA's jurisdiction were required to begin reporting by Jan. 1, 2015. Establishments in a state with a state-run OSHA program should contact their state plan for the implementation date].

  • Keep records of work-related injuries and illnesses. (Note: Employers with 10 or fewer employees and employers in certain low-hazard industries are exempt from this requirement.

  • Provide employees, former employees and their representatives access to the Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (OSHA Form 300). On February 1, and for three months, covered employers must post the summary of the OSHA log of injuries and illnesses (OSHA Form 300A).

  • Provide access to employee medical records and exposure records to employees or their authorized representatives.

  • Provide to the OSHA compliance officer the names of authorized employee representatives who may be asked to accompany the compliance officer during an inspection.

  • Not discriminate against employees who exercise their rights under the Act. See our "Whistleblower Protection" webpage.

  • Post OSHA citations at or near the work area involved. Each citation must remain posted until the violation has been corrected, or for three working days, whichever is longer. Post abatement verification documents or tags.

CFR Environmental guides employers in navigating the OSHA Standards to determine which type of initial and annual refresher training programs are required. CFR has over 25 years of industrial hygiene monitoring experience in a multitude of industries, including chemical, petroleum and general manufacturing.

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