13 OSHA training requirements

As an organization, you know OSHA takes workplace safety seriously. Effective safety training is essential to protecting workers and preventing injuries or incidents on the job. Staying on top of these mandates is needed not just for maintaining compliance but also for building a culture of safety at work.

But what exactly does OSHA require you to train on? The short answer - a lot! This article goes over 13 key OSHA training requirements you need to have covered for your safety programs.

What does OSHA require training for?

OSHA has very specific training requirements for employers across industries to make sure workers can identify, mitigate, and report potential health and safety hazards in the workplace.

OSHA-mandated training covers a wide range of topics. This includes the proper use and maintenance of personal protective equipment (PPE), safe operating procedures for machinery and tools, fire protection, emergency action plans, and procedures for recognizing and alerting management to workplace risks.

OSHA also requires specialized training for employees in high-hazard roles, such as those working with electrical systems, confined spaces, or hazardous materials. The exact training content and frequency depend on the unique risks present in a given work environment.

Below, you’ll find a list of OSHA training requirements and information for the general industry that you can use in planning your training programs.

1. Emergency action plans

Emergency action plans are 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. Mitti (by SafetyCulture) (formerly Mitti (by SafetyCulture)), 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 Mitti’s creator tool. It’s simple and easy to use with its drag-and-drop function and pre-made templates.

Join Mitti (by SafetyCulture) 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 emergencies, 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.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) offers courses on the use of PPE for construction. 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 who work in confined spaces require training so 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 Mitti (by SafetyCulture) 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 Control of 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 course with the audit and inspection solution, SafetyCulture. With both tools, you can conduct inspections and deliver training all in one place, 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 a necessary topic to cover in your OSHA required training checklist. It's typically held with an instructor so that they can properly demonstrate the techniques and actions needed to perform certain tasks. But, if you want to use online courses as refreshers, then you don’t have to go further than Mitti (by SafetyCulture).

With The Basics of First Aid, OSHA First Aid Standards (US), 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 safety training requirements for fire protection, you need to make sure your workers can operate equipment, including respiratory protection equipment, effectively through instruction and hands-on practice.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) provides courses for annual safety training on Fire Safety, Portable Fire Extinguishers, 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 them 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 make sure 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 Mitti (by SafetyCulture).

With courses like Machine Guarding (US) and Working Safely with Machinery, you can send out their OSHA required annual 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

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 classroom or on-site, 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 Mitti’s Electrical Safety and Controlling Hazardous Energy: Electricity courses.

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 that it 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 (US) by Mitti (by SafetyCulture) can be repeatedly taken and can even help workers retain information through microlearning and game-based training.

10. Toxic and hazardous substances

Toxic and hazardous substances are materials that can negatively impact health or the environment if not handled correctly. These substances can include chemicals, heavy metals, and certain biological agents.

For the general industry, OSHA presents specific regulations on toxic and hazardous substances. This includes requirements for air contaminants, asbestos, and various chemicals like lead and benzene.

OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) makes sure your employees are informed about chemical hazards. Chemical manufacturers must evaluate the hazards of their substances and create labels and safety data sheets. Then, you must deliver these resources to your workers and train them on how to handle these chemicals safely, including understanding the hazards and protective measures.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) offers a bunch of courses related to handling toxic and hazardous substances that you can quickly deliver to your teams. That includes Vinyl Chloride (US), Cadmium (US), Asbestos in General Industry (US), Coke Oven Emissions (US), 13 Carcinogens (US) and Inorganic Arsenic (US).

11. Materials handling and storage

Everything from lifting and carrying items to organizing storage areas is covered in materials handling and storage. To prevent injuries such as strains, sprains, and falls, OSHA requires proper employee training. That way, they learn how to safely move and store items, as well as recognize and avoid hazards while on the job.

Your training should focus on minimizing workplace hazards by highlighting the dangers of lifting without proper training, avoiding unnecessary physical stress and strain, and knowing what a worker can comfortably handle. It should also cover the proper use of equipment and how to spot potential hazards and prevent or correct them.

Powered industrial truck operation is also part of the materials handling and storage rules set by OSHA. Teach your team how to use these trucks safely, spot potential hazards, and follow safety rules through Mitti’s course on powered industrial trucks.

12. Occupational noise exposure

Many industries, such as construction, manufacturing, and entertainment, often expose employees to high noise levels. But these levels of noise are harmful and may lead to hearing loss and other health issues.

Besides reducing noise exposure through administrative controls, engineering controls, or Hearing Protection Devices (HPDs), OSHA also mandates employers to implement a hearing conservation program.

OSHA’s training requirements on occupational noise exposure aim to help your employees recognize noise hazards, understand the effects of excessive noise on hearing, and learn how to use hearing protection effectively. They should be aware of the importance of monitoring noise levels and the need for regular hearing tests to catch any potential damage early.

Help reduce the risk of hearing loss and create a safer workplace with Mitti’s ASSP-vetted hearing conservation training course, Noise and Hearing Conservation (US).

13. Hazard communication

The last OSHA required training 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.

Mitti (by SafetyCulture) has hazard communication courses applicable to certain industries: Hazard Communication in Contruction (US), Hazard Communication in General Industry (US), 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'll also learn how to recognize precautions and their effects when exposed to these materials.

Check out Mitti’s vast course library, including OSHA training topics, as soon as possible!