Is Safety Training for College Employees Mandatory according to OSHA?
by rogercarr
Question by mikekennedy342: Is Safety Training for College Employees Mandatory according to OSHA?
Hi,
Is a liberal arts college required to give its employees safety training? If so, where can I find information to back it up?
Best answer:
Answer by rickinnocal
ALL employers are required to provide safety training for their employees.
Since 1991, all CA employers have been required to develop and implement a written and effective “Injury and Illness Prevention Program”.
Training is just one of the required facets of such a program.
Richard
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All employers are required to give safety training for their employees and no exception exists for employees of a liberal arts college. Try out the OSHA 1910 which is the safety rules for employees and gives specifics on certain industries, jobs (climbing a ladder for example) and also has some of the required instructions listed.
OSHA is not set up to just require training. It is set up such that the requirement is that you do a safety analysis of each job function and then based on that see which OSHA programs apply and then which safety training is needed.
Now the reality, the types of jobs that do not require training is very small. In those cases, it is that we have done the safety analysis and determined training is not needed.
Where most people are caught is HAZCOM, which requires training if any unsafe chemicals are used. Even personnel workers are caught by this. Of course all maintenance, housekeeping, and groundskeeping people are covered.
You mention colleges, but don’t say what kind. I believe that there are some state colleges that may be covered by state laws, not OSHA, but the result is the same.
Underneath line, the General Duty Clause of OSHA covers everyone (see references) with the listed exceptions. Since one of the parts says employees have duties, then you have to train them. It is very hard to make any justification to not train everyone. For example, if you employee voucher takers at a football game, they may not require OSHA training, but I bet they get training for crowds (for which there are OSHA programs for Civil Disobedience). Even the guy filling the vending machines needs training (chemical exposure). ANyone making copies is exposed (ozone, toner). There may be jobs like bus drivers where the DOT training may suffice for OSHA also.
Underneath, underneath line. Train them all and cover your backside.