by jbs082909b3 — September 2, 2009—The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), in an effort to crack down on fraudulent trainers, is continuing to strengthen the integrity of its 36-year-old Outreach Training Program by publishing an “Outreach Trainer Watch List” of those who have had their trainer authorizations either revoked or suspended.
The Watch List will be updated weekly. OSHA is monitoring training programs, partly through undercover investigation, and has provided a hotline at (847) 297-4810 for individuals to file complaints about fraud and abuse. Trainers face civil and criminal penalties under federal law if reports or certifications are found to have been falsified.
Trainers are authorized by completing a one-week OSHA trainer course through an OSHA Training Institute Education Center. The trainers are then eligible to teach 10-hour programs that provide basic information to workers and employers about workplace hazards and OSHA, and 30-hour courses in construction, maritime, and general industry safety and health hazards.
The voluntary Outreach Training Program has grown to a national network of more than 16,000 independent trainers eligible to teach workers and employers about workplace hazards and provide OSHA 10-hour course completion cards. The program’s success has prompted some states and cities to legislate a requirement that workers complete training to earn an OSHA 10-hour card as a condition of employment.
