OSHA safety training requirements and guidelines are often overlooked at many workplaces and companies that aren’t necessarily seen as dangerous. However, you’ll find that some health and safety requirements simply cannot be ignored, no matter what line of work you’re in:

1. The most important topic to talk about with your employees is what they need to do when a crisis situation arises. These types of situations can appear due to many different types of problems, from fires to chemical spills and everything in between. Your employees need to know the proper hierarchy of response and how they are expected to behave during such a situation.
2. Hazard communication and response is also a big one, and it doesn’t have to do simply with notifying your supervisor about a possible hazard. In some cases, you have to act quickly to prevent the problem from getting worse, if you are trained to do so, or to at least help get others out of harm’s way, if possible.
3. Dealing with fires should also be included among these three topics, since fires can occur just about anywhere. Whether you’re working in a factory, in an office building, construction site, or in a restaurant or at a doctor’s office, there is always a chance of fire, and you and your employees need to know what to do in such an event, which type of extinguisher to use, and at what point to flee and call for help, as there might be nothing more that can be done without the intervention of the firefighter teams.

COVID-19 safety practices have evolved a lot since last year, when the first lockdowns started to be set in place. While today, the use of lockdowns is far more selective, depending on the area and function associated with the businesses that are being shut down versus those that aren’t, the complexity of health and site safety staffing practices for 2021 is expected to grow. This is especially true regarding the measures that businesses will be expected to set in place when it comes to dealing with the novel coronavirus.

Everyone already knows about wearing masks and practicing social distancing. What you might not know is that the OSHA is planning to add new details to recommendations and requirements regarding the use of certain disinfectant methods and products for keeping the workplace safe. As research is being conducted on these measures, it’s expected that the OSHA will get more an more specific regarding their use.

The guidelines associated with both low and high exposure tasks are also changing the  way most jobs are being performed. If you’re in a job that requires tasks associated with a higher probability of being exposed to the virus, the length of the list of requirements will just continue to grow. At this point, we’re not just talking about increased worker screening, but also educating employees about COVID-19 response plans that focus on minimizing the spreading of the disease during probable exposure and protecting those who may have likely not been exposed to the virus just yet.

OSHA safety is in a state of constant change. As new hazards are discovered, the OSHA publishes new documents, lists and web posts featuring what new safety issues have to be addressed in various industries and why they require attention. The trends discussed below will likely be given increasing attention throughout this year as well as in 2022.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic introduced many new safety and health issues that the OSHA had to address. Social distancing and wearing masks are procedures that only represent some of the bigger issues. Other concerns have to do with disinfecting the workplace, using proper disinfecting methods for various surfaces and following procedure in case an employee tests positive for the virus. All of these trends and requirements are continuing to be observed, adjusted and improved in 2021 OSHA 10 training and other programs.

Additional OSHA trends that are expected to get bigger as we progress through 2021 and beyond also include the predictive use of safety data, the adoption of a more holistic view of safety and health in the workplace and the reinforcing of organizational safety culture. Additionally, many new companies are talking about the use of smart PPE and its incorporation with advanced data collecting and AI practices for processing collected information and making decisions towards minimizing risks.

There are literally hundreds of different topics that are part of the OSHA requirements and guidelines for topics that have to be learned in certain, specific industries. Depending on which industry you work in, you might be required to provide your employees with requests to learn some of these topics. Of course, while the actual guidelines from OSHA are important, you also have to think about the practical aspect of choosing the right topics.  Each industry, including construction field has their own OSHA 30 training programs for their employees doing the work.

Some areas of industry are less dangerous than others. For instance, working in a factory that only has a small number of machines, crates of materials or shelves or products will minimize the need to learn about hazards such as those involving falling from high places, using forklifts or dealing with the dangers of using large and powerful robots and machines.

On the other hand, some areas of practice can require learning about the negative impact of high electric voltages, as well as understanding robotics, or learning about emergency preparedness and responsiveness. All of these topics are on the OSHA’s list of topics for employees, and each manager, team leader or supervisor will at some point have to read up on these topics and talk to their teams about them. Failing to comply with OSHA standards and the discovery of such a failure during an OSHA inspection can result in dire consequences.

While big companies also have their own safety staff, smaller companies often need to search for such experts outside their business. But the good news is that many safety consultancy enterprises focus primarily on small businesses.

Employers need to hire someone with the necessary competence and skills for the job. A contracted consultant may often be the best solution, for several reasons.

Apart from an external safety consultant, the company should also have most of their employees be informed about safety issues, especially the ones working with hazardous substances or operating special equipment.

Another good reason why a small company should consider hiring a safety consultant is the fact that he/she can get the job done much faster and also cheaper than if it had been done by an internal team. With the help of safety staffing services, you can find out about potential risks that you may have missed.

Safety consultants assess if your safety program is in accordance with local, federal or state safety regulations. They usually find issues with various levels of severity. Your safety team may have taken months to notice such issues, or maybe only after an unwanted accident or injury occurred. It is best to get a safety consultant check on your workplace in due time.

We may think that all safety consultants are the same, but that is not true. Some focus on safety issues, while others on environmental concerns. While some function on an individual level, others work in teams. Therefore, depending on your exact safety needs, you can start searching for your specific consultants such as Trivent Safety Consultants in the construction industry.

Some consultant companies get paid by the hour, while others function based on fixed costs and fees. At the same time, while some safety consultants prefer project-based kind of work, others choose service agreements. Some safety consultants work with big companies, while other focus on small enterprises. By these small enterprises, they usually understand the ones with less than one hundred employees. The reason why some safety consultants prefer to work with small companies is because they usually need it the most. Thus, small businesses usually do not have the necessary expertise, resources and the amount of time for staying in tune with the most recent regulations.

At any rate, the reason why many companies prefer to work with an outsourced safety team is the fact that they can thus stay focused on their internal issues, working to make their business grow.

Regardless of the type of safety consultancy, it is best to work with a company which complies with OSHA standards.

OSHA 30 refers to a special type of training provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The students need to attend 30 hours of training, in which they learn how to recognize, prevent and respond to hazards at the workplace.

The 30 hours of training ensure an in-depth study of various subjects related to the hazardous situations that are often encountered while working with certain materials, equipments, substances or on certain construction sites.

At the end of each class, students have to take a quiz. They can take the quiz three times, and in order to pass it, they need to get at least 70% grading. At the end of the course, students are required to take the final exam. This exam is made up of 30 questions and, again, it needs at least 70% of correct answers in order to be successful. The students have 3 attempts to pass the final OSHA 30 exam. In case they fail all three attempts, they have to restart the entire training.

If they pass the final exam, students receive a temporary card to certify that they have successfully graduated from the course. The official card is issued within 6-9 weeks from the successful completion of the course and passing of the final exam.