What does OSHA require?
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has a myriad of regulations governing the safe work practices of the American worker. In every task that is covered in the regulation, OSHA mandates some form of training to ensure the proficiency of the worker to safely complete the task. It is required with some of the tasks that training refreshers be done annually to maintain proficiency.
29 CFR: Parts and Subparts
The OSHA regulations, commonly known as the 29 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations), are broken down into parts and subparts. The foundational section is Part 1910: General Industry. Regulations are further broken down into: Maritime, Parts 1915, 1917, 1918, which includes shipbuilding, marine terminals and longshoring; Construction, Part 1926; Agricultural, Part 1928; and Federal Employee Programs, Part 1960.
The General Industry Part serves as the foundation of all the other parts. That is, where the task is duplicated, reference is made to the corresponding task in the General Industry Part. Parts are broken down into subparts and then into tasks. Some of the tasks in the subparts require annual training.
29 CFR 1910 Subpart G
The first mention of annual training can be found in subpart G. Hearing protection is to be taught to all affected employees, according to the regulations, and then annually thereafter to ensure that the employee maintains proficiency in the practice. Part of the annual training can include auditory tests.
29 CFR 1910 Subpart H
If your company deals with Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, the regulation explains the various levels of initial training required. The annual training required varies with the tasks that workers are required to perform. The greater the task, the greater the initial and annual training required.
29 CFR 1910 Subpart I
If employees perform any tasks requiring the use of a respirator, then their initial and ongoing training must be part of a respiratory program. This program is noted in other subparts as part of the ongoing and annual training as well.
29 CFR 1910 Subpart J
Subpart J deals with Environmental Controls, including Confined Space Entry. If your company deals with entrance into Permit-Required Confined Spaces, then you must have a rescue plan for workers who enter these spaces. Initial and annual training must be conducted for the Rescue and Emergency Services for confined space entry.
29 CFR 1910 Subpart L
When a company provides portable fire extinguishers in the work place it is assumed that the employees who work in that area may one day choose to use the extinguisher. With that in mind, the employees must know use them. Subpart L deals with the initial and the annual training of employees on the proper use of fire extinguishers.
29 CFR Subpart Z
Subpart Z deals with Hazardous Communications and lists 28 chemical and biological hazards that employees must be trained on initially and annually. The list begins with awareness to asbestos in the work place and includes blood-borne pathogens, lead, and cotton dust, to name a few.
Tags: annual training, 1910 Subpart, deals with, broken down, broken down into
