The purpose of safety training is to provide the knowledge necessary to perform a job safely. Training is one method employers use to assist employees in making safe decisions, improve safety culture, and remain compliant with OSHA and other federal standards.

Effective safety training includes general safety topics, regulatory requirements, and site specific information. Additionally, some topics are required annually, some only upon hire, and some when job tasks change.

Determining what training is required can be challenging. Identifying the exposures located within your workplace is a good place to start. The list below provides required training topics as well as the required training frequency:

• Fire Safety and Evacuation Plans: Upon hire; Workplace changes
• Occupational Noise Exposure (Hearing Protection): Upon hire; Annual
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): Upon hire; Workplace changes
• Chemical and Hazardous Materials Safety: Upon hire; Periodic; Workplace changes
• Bloodborne Pathogens: Upon hire; Annual
• Ladder Safety: Upon hire; Change in equipment
• Respiratory Protection: Upon hire; Annual; New hazard
• Powered Industrial Trucks: Upon hire; Every 3 years
• Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout): Upon hire; Periodic
• Portable Fire Extinguishers: Upon hire; Annual
• Equipment and Machinery Specific Training: Upon hire; Workplace changes
• Workplace Hazards: Upon hire; New hazards

The above list is not an all inclusive list of training requirements. OSHA may require additional training dependent upon specific job tasks or unique work environments. Also, note that additional training requirements adopted by OSHA become mandatory, such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) or the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

In order to assist businesses, OSHA recently released publication 2254 entitled “Training Requirements in OSHA Standards”. This publication includes the training requirements for industries including 29 CFR 1910 (General Industry) and 29 CFR 1926 (Construction) as well as other specialty industries.

MEMIC’s website also offers resources to assist policyholders with developing a safety training plan. Check out the MEMIC Safety Director which offers tools such as a training matrix for both construction and general industry. Next, the video lending library offers hundreds of safety related topics. Lastly, MEMIC policyholders have free access to Business Legal Reports, a site that contains a wealth of information on all safety topics including handouts, policy templates, and even audio presentations. This is a fantastic resource for establishing safety programs or providing training.

Posted ByJayson Hebert, WCP®