Elimination of trainers’ 90-day grace period among revisions to OSHA Outreach Training Program

Washington — OSHA has revised requirements for authorized trainers in an effort to enhance its Outreach Training Program, the agency recently announced.

The Outreach Training Program is intended to help workers and supervisors recognize and mitigate safety and health hazards on the job, as well as understand workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities.

Among the 18 changes, which are scheduled to go into effect April 1, is eliminating the 90-day grace period after a trainer card expires, as well as updating the trainer code of conduct and responsibilities.

OSHA notes that if an authorization card expires, that trainer will be unable to conduct training sessions and receive student course completion cards. However, a 90-day exception still will be granted to military service members returning to the continental United States after an overseas assignment.

“Elimination of the grace period is intended to reduce confusion regarding trainer authorization status, and to encourage trainers to maintain their trainer authorization(s),” OSHA states.

In addition to these changes, OSHA has made minor content, grammatical and typographical changes to the program’s Requirements document. For more information on the revisions, trainers can contact their Authorizing Training Organization or the Outreach Training Program at [email protected].