by Brianna Crandall — October 28, 2013—The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a new government-focused program last month to promote workplace safety and health. Public Sector Safety and Health Fundamentals is a certificate program that provides public sector employees training on occupational safety and health to reduce injuries, illnesses and fatalities among workers in state and local governments.
The certificate program is available in construction and general industry. Students can choose from a variety of courses, including occupational safety and health standards for construction or general industry, safety and health management, accident investigation, fall hazard awareness and recordkeeping.
To earn a certificate, participants must complete a minimum of seven courses, consisting of three required courses and additional elective courses, totaling at least 68 hours of in-class training.
OSHA has created a new Web page dedicated to the Public Sector Safety and Health Fundamentals Certificate Program. The page provides course descriptions and prerequisites, program information, and instructions on how to apply to the program.
The certificate program is administered by OSHA Training Institute (OTI) Education Centers, which are nonprofit organizations authorized by OSHA to deliver occupational safety and health training. All courses required to complete the program are available at OTI Education Centers nationwide. Students can use OSHA’s searchable course schedule to find training courses for the certificate program. Courses taken at different OTI Education Centers are transferrable and can count toward the certificate program, notes OSHA.
