How OSHA 10 Makes Your Company and Employees Safer

To improve safety measures at your company, you may want to invest in the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 10-hour training for your workers. Primarily intended for entry-level employees, the OSHA 10 training addresses workplace safety and prepares workers for routine hazards they may encounter. Workers will learn how to effectively identify, control, and prevent health and safety hazards.

What is OSHA 10?

Purpose

OSHA 10 refers to the OSHA 10-hour training course that is part of the OSHA Outreach Training Program. Taught by OSHA authorized trainers, the Outreach Training Program was created to promote workplace health and safety amongst employees.

Benefits

Due to the many benefits it provides, OSHA 10 is one of the most popular health and safety training courses. In 2020 alone, over 60 percent of all OSHA training graduates had participated in a 10-hour course (compared to all other OSHA training courses). OSHA 10 provides several key benefits, including:

• Situational workplace skills and information such as: hazard avoidance and recognition, how to file a complaint, employer responsibilities, workers’ rights, and the value of health and safety to workers, including young workers.
• Advocacy for a work culture where safety is prioritized.
• Participatory training where workers use hands-on activities to learn about their rights and responsibilities.
• Flexible training topics, which trainers can change depending on the workers’ needs.
• Multilingual training in Spanish, Polish, and other languages as needed.
• Versatile learning modes, either on-site or through virtual learning.
• Reduction in the rate of workplace incidents, which saves lives and boosts workplace productivity.
• Ability to remain OSHA compliant at an affordable price.

Is OSHA 10 Training Mandatory?

OSHA10 training isn’t mandatory, but some municipalities and states may require safety training for specific roles and industries. Nonetheless, it’s a good idea to invest in OSHA 10 training for your employees so you can better foster a safer work environment, reduce accidents, and encourage workers to be more conscious of their roles and responsibilities in their daily environment.

Who is the OSHA 10 Training Intended For?

OSHA 10 training is primarily intended for employees in the maritime, construction, and general industries, such as construction workers, stevedores, and textile factory workers. It is meant for entry-level workers, while the 30-hour option is for supervisors and employees that are responsible for safety.

What is Learned Through OSHA10 Training?

In general, OHSA 10 is a great way to make sure your workers know how to recognize, avoid, abate, and prevent workplace hazards. They will also learn how to file a complaint, what their employer’s responsibilities are, and what their rights are as workers.

OSHA10 Provides Different Content Depending on Your Needs

OSHA 10 provides different content depending on your industry and the expertise you’re seeking. There are three industries you can choose from: General Industry, Maritime, and Construction.

General Industry

According to OSHA, general industry includes any industry that is not classified as agriculture, marine, or construction. Here’s what’s included:

• Mandatory Topics (7 hours): This section includes an introduction to OSHA—employer responsibilities, workers’ rights, and how to file a complaint—electrical, personal protective equipment, hazard communication, emergency action plans, and more. These topics are generally the same across the board, no matter your industry.
• Elective Topics (2 hours): This section covers ergonomics, bloodborne pathogens, machine guarding, fall protection, and more.
• Optional Topic (1 hour)

Maritime

Maritime stands out from the other industries in that you can choose from three different types of maritime courses: Marine Terminals, Longshoring, and Shipyard Employment. Here’s what’s included:

• Mandatory Topics for all maritime courses (3 hours): This section includes only some of the topics covered in the Mandatory Topics section in the General Industry and Construction courses. More time is spent in the Elective Topics section for Marine courses.
• Elective Topics (4 hours): This section includes confined spaces, fire protection, fall protection, and electrical.
• Optional Topic (3 hours): This section varies depending on whether you’re taking the Marine Terminals, Longshoring, Shipyard Employment course. Depending on what is necessary, your trainer may decide to teach you about proper lifting techniques, ergonomics, or machine guarding.

Construction

The construction industry includes companies involved in interior design, heavy engineering, and building construction. Here’s what’s included:

• Mandatory Topics (7 hours): This section includes an introduction to OSHA, as well as a section on the OSHA “Focus Four” Hazards. This covers electrocution, falls, and what to do when you’re caught in something, caught between something, or struck by something. You’ll also learn about health hazards in construction and personal lifesaving and protective equipment.
• Elective Topics (2 hours): This section covers scaffolds, cranes, hoists, conveyors, derricks, power tools, and more.
• Optional Topic (1 hour)

As you can see above, each industry has mandatory, elective, and optional topics. The mandatory topics are pre-determined by OSHA and must be studied for the minimum amount of time as laid out in the OSHA protocol, while elective topics can be chosen by trainers from a list of industry topics provided by OSHA.

Optional topics give the trainer full flexibility to adjust the content according to workplace-specific needs as long as the 10-hour training requirements are met. If the trainer chooses not to cover optional topics, they must spend additional time on mandatory or elective topics to meet the 10-hour requirement.

To Wrap It Up

OSHA 10 training is an affordable, hands-on way to help your employees learn how to better protect themselves in the workplace. In only 10 hours, your workers will be exposed to a variety of topics, ranging from worker’s rights to industry-specific topics, such as machine guarding. In taking this course, you’ll reduce the rate of workplace incidents, boost workplace productivity, and foster a work culture where safety is prioritized.

If you have any questions or concerns about hosting an OSHA 10 training at your workplace, create an account on the Yellowbird platform today. Yellowbird is an on-demand platform for matching companies with Environmental Health & Safety (EHS) professionals, as well as providing OSHA-certified training instructors.