OSHA Safety Training For The General Industry

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration provide regulations for the safety and health of workers in construction, maritime and general industry. Standard 29 Part 1910 gives a summary of the OSHA General Industry Standards. Subpart D deals with Walking-Working Surfaces that are a chief source of injuries and provides regulations regarding the guarding of floor and wall openings, fixed industrial stairs and ladders, portable wood and metal ladders and safety requirements for scaffolding. Specifications regarding the design and construction requirements of exit routes, emergency and fire prevention plans are outlined under Means of Egress.


Other standards include those for Powered Platforms, Manlifts, and Vehicle-Mounted Work Platforms, Occupational Health and Environment Control, Hazardous Materials, Personal Protective Equipment like eye, face, head and respiratory protection, General Environmental Controls like specifications for sanitation and accident prevention signs and tags, Medical and First Aid, specifications for Fire Protection, Compressed Gas and Compressed Air Equipment, Handling and Storage of Materials, Machinery and Machine Guarding, Welding, Cutting and Brazing, Special Industries, and Electrical Safety Requirements.


OSHA 10-hour Training for General Industry orients students to OSHA policies, standards and procedures and also acquaints them with the safety and health regulations for General Industry. Topics like Introduction to OSHA, OSH Act, Citations and Inspections, Walking and Working Surfaces, Electrical Safety, Means of Egress and Fire Protection, Personal Protective Equipment, Machine Guarding, Hazard Communication, Introduction to Industrial Hygiene and Bloodborne Pathogens and safety and Health Programs are covered in the 10 hour training module.


Those desirous of obtaining a comprehensive idea about the OSHA compliance issues should undergo the OSHA 30-hour Training for General Industry. Apart from the topics included in the 10-hour module, it provides an in-depth analysis of issues like, HAZWOPER, Confined Spaces, Lockout/Tagout, Hazardous Materials, Materials Handling, Recordkeeping, Workplace Violence, Basic Safety Orientation, Lead safety in the Workplace, Hazards of Asbestos in the Workplace, Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation in the Workplace, Non-Office Ergonomics, Formaldehyde Awareness, Use of Explosives in the Workplace etc. If required, additional training on some particular hazardous aspects of the job will serve as a bonus.


The OSHA 501 Trainer course in OSHA Standards for General Industry is recommended for the workers interested in imparting training in the OSHA 10 or 30-hour General Industry Outreach courses. It emphasizes on acquainting them with the use of visual aids and handouts, and the use of different instructional approaches that enhances understanding and comprehension of OSHA standards. It helps in locating OSHA safety and health standards pertaining to General Industry, using these regulations to reinforce the existing health and safety programs, discovering violations of OSHA standards, like hazardous materials, lockout/tagout, walking and working surfaces etc, and keeping of records. After successfully completing the course, workers become authorized trainers.


OSHA 511 specifically emphasizes on the major hazardous areas of the workplace, is guided by the OSHA standards and is recommended as a prerequisite for the OSHA 501. After finishing the course, students are supplied with a 30-hour course completion card. It enables personnel to identify appropriate OSHA standards, general causes of accidents and deaths in hazardous locations, violations of OSHA standards, and abatement methods to deal with them. OSHA 511 is for those workers who will not be conducting the training sessions.


Hence Safety Training in the OSHA standards for General Industry is a precursor to the prevention of work-related accidents, injuries and deaths and maintenance of safety and health of workers.