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OSHA Hazmat Training

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires all employees who potentially will work around or be exposed to hazardous materials (Hazmat) be trained before they begin working. Training includes an explanation of the hazards, how to handle hazardous materials, how to use personal protective equipment (PPE), how to minimize risks from hazards and medical surveillance requirements (monitoring and recognition of exposure symptoms). To aid trainers, OSHA has provided Publication 2254, Training Requirements in OSHA Standards and Training Guidelines.

  1. Initial training

    • Employees, such as equipment operators, who are regularly at a work site determined to have hazardous materials present, must receive a minimum of 40 hours of classroom training, and a minimum of three days of "field experience" (work site) training. This work site training must be closely monitored by experienced supervisors.

      Workers, such as delivery people, who are occasionally at a work site with hazardous materials, and are unlikely to be exposed to excessive levels of hazardous material, are required to receive 24 hours of class room training and one day of onsite training under experienced supervision.

      Workers who regularly work at a site where hazard levels are below permissible exposure limits (PEL) are also required to receive 24 hours of class room training and one day of supervised work site training.

    Management Training

    • Managers and supervisors of employees who work with or around hazardous materials are required to receive the initial 40 hours of classroom and one day of supervised work site training. In addition, they must have eight hours of specialized training. This additional training includes the knowledge to monitor the employer's PPE program, the "spill containment program, and health hazard monitoring procedures and techniques."

    Trainer Qualifications

    • Qualified OSHA trainers must have five years of industrial or construction safety experience, or a college degree in occupational health and safety, and three years of experience. In addition, trainers must be certified through the OSHA Outreach Training Program.

    Training Certification

    • Employees, supervisors and managers who have successfully completed training are considered certified. A written certificate is given to each student and a copy is placed into their personnel file. People who have not or cannot complete the appropriate training will not be allowed to work in an area where hazardous materials are present. It is at the employer's discretion to retrain those individuals.

    Refresher Training

    • Eight hours of refresher training is required annually for all employees. Topics of refresher training include the same subjects from initial training. Many employers also use the past year's incidents to illustrate training points.

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