OSHA General Industry Training Requirements

Many standards promulgated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) explicitly require the employer to train (or instruct, or communicate, or inform . . .) employees in the safety and health aspects of their jobs. Other OSHA standards make it the employer’s responsibility to limit certain job assignments to employees who are “certified,” “competent,” or “qualified” – meaning that they have had special previous training, in or out of the workplace. Also, the term “designated” personnel means selected or assigned by the employer or the employer’s representative as being qualified to perform specific duties.

The OSHA training requirements listed below have been excerpted from Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 1910 for General Industry. Some Administrative standards (Parts 1903 and 1904) apply to General Industry as well (see list at bottom of this page).  Note that additional training requirements may appear in certain other consensus standards (ANSI, NFPA, etc.) incorporated by reference in the various parts of the OSHA CFR, and are therefore mandatory.

NOTICE – IMPORTANT INFORMATION: 

• The OSHA training requirements listed on this website are only intended to provide users with a generic, non-exhaustive overview of the OSHA training requirements for specific standards-related topics. Most requirements for posting information, warning signs, labels, and the like are excluded from this information, as are most references to the qualifications of people assigned to test workplace conditions or equipment.

• This website is not the official or final authority to determine OSHA compliance responsibilities, which are set forth in OSHA standards themselves, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. Because OSHA regulations are constantly being added, deleted, and/or revised, you must not rely on this website as the official or final authority of OSHA training requirements; refer to the official OSHA regulations available on OSHA’s website (osha.gov).

• Moreover, because interpretations and enforcement policy may change over time, the reader should consult administrative interpretations and decisions by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and the courts. This information is also available on the OSHA website (osha.gov).

• Some states have implemented their own OSHA-approved state plan OSHA program with regulations affecting employee training that could differ from Federal OSHA’s, so consult your state regulations where applicable.

• In the absence of applicable training requirements for a particular work activity, hazardous substance, tool or piece of equipment or machinery, employers are encouraged to refer to manufacturers’ recommendations for safety training, where available, as well as those listed in applicable voluntary consensus standards.

• The information contained in this website is for informational purposes only, and should not be used to replace professional advice. Users of this website and their employers are responsible for how they choose to utilize this content, and OSHA Training Services Inc. assumes no liability for the use or misuse of the information contained herein. 

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