OSHA 10-Hour Safety Course Now Mandatory in 7 States

Recently, PRNewswire reported from Arlington, Texas that "seven states now have laws on the books that require construction workers to complete the OSHA 10-hour safety training course before they can work on certain construction projects. The states with an OSHA law already in effect are Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New York, and most recently Missouri. The state of Nevada OSHA training law becomes effective January 1st, 2010."

According to the news release, "most of the state laws restrict the required training to workers on publicly funded construction sites, such as public roads and bridge construction projects and public school buildings. However, the state of Nevada, whose law takes effect January 1st of 2010, requires all construction workers to complete the course. The state laws also vary on exactly which "workers" need the training, according to Curtis Chambers, Vice President of OSHA Pro's, Inc., an OSHA training company with national coverage. 'While all seven state laws require the same 10-hour training class, there are slight nuances from state to state. A particular state law may require all labor[er]s and supervisor to complete the class, wheras another state may require the class for just laborers,' says Mr. Chambers. 'There are also vary thresholds for the dollar amounts of the contracts that dictate when the states' laws become effective. However,' he warns, 'each of these state laws contain a provision that say failure to comply with their rule can result in fines and penalties being assessed, typically to the employer of the non-compliant workers. So affected workers are required to obtain the OSHA 10-hour construction training wallet card to prove they completed the course.'"

Personally, I think these laws are long overdue! And, not just for certain public works projects over a $ threshold, but for every construction project! Why not? These classes typically run about $150 per person and take only 10 hours to complete (hence the name "OSHA 10-hour Class"). My company has required this of all of their field personnel since 2004. The classes are typically broken up into two 5-hour sessions, held on back-to-back Fridays from Noon to 5 pm. And, even though the OSHA 10-hour cards don't expire, we require that they take the class every three years. Since there is always room for more in the classes, we always invite our subcontractors to send someone - they rarely do so. Over the past 5 years, only a few subcontractors have chosen to take advantage of this opportunity - usually the ones who are already very attentive to worker safety on the jobsite.

The 7 states noted above are on the right track - but why not include all construction workers? Can your state be far behind? Could OSHA step in and require this training? Even if they don't, wouldn't every contractor be better off if they started to invest in safety training NOW? This training doesn't cost the contractor money, it actually saves on insurance costs, lost time, worker retention, etc. One accident could cost far more than the investment they would have made in worker safety training. And the icing on the cake is that the contractor who invests in safety training becomes more competitive in this tight construction market.

Something to think about, isn't it?