OSHA annual refresher training: A complete guide

If you have a team working in construction or general industries, take note that it’s never too early to start planning and implementing their annual OSHA refresher training.

With this guide, you won’t have to worry about where to start. We’re here to help you understand OSHA standards, the importance of annual refresher training, and the courses your employees can take. This way, they’ll be able to brush up on their safety knowledge and skills and stay compliant.

What is OSHA?

Before we delve into OSHA standards and annual refresher training requirements, here’s a quick recap of what OSHA is.

OSHA, short for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is a key part of the U.S. Department of Labor. It was created in 1970 through the Occupational Safety and Health Act, with the main goal of helping keep workplaces safe and healthy for employees.

Apart from enforcing safety standards and offering regular training and support, a big part of OSHA’s responsibility is making sure companies comply with annual safety refresher training requirements, especially under specific OSHA standards.

What are OSHA standards?

OSHA standards, also known as OSHA regulations, are guidelines that U.S. employers must follow to create a safe working environment and protect their employees from workplace hazards.

These standards are set and implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They fall into four categories: general industry or manufacturing, construction, maritime, and agriculture.

Over time, OSHA has developed these standards based on extensive research and data analysis, often consulting with experts and stakeholders in different industries. Compliance with these standards is mandatory and enforced through regular inspections and penalties for violations. Some OSHA standards even require annual refresher training.

OSHA annual refresher training

OSHA annual refresher training helps U.S. employees stay up-to-date on safety protocols, recognize hazards, and know what to do in emergencies.

By conducting training yearly, employers can help keep their workers’ knowledge and skills sharp and fresh. This allows companies to address problems or safety concerns more effectively, helping their workers feel more confident while doing their work.

Organizations can conduct annual OSHA refresher training in different ways, whether that’s through group training sessions, seminars, or online refresher courses.

A common problem employers face when conducting refresher training through traditional methods like lectures and seminars is that they can be monotonous, repetitive, and even boring for some employees. These often lead to a lack of engagement and unsatisfactory performance after training, which is far from what employers want.

If you want something engaging, interactive, and easily accessible on mobile devices, opting for bite-sized online OSHA refresher training courses can be your best bet.

Who is required to take the training?

OSHA annual refresher training is designed and recommended for safety professionals and workers in Construction, Manufacturing, and General Industries who had their last OSHA training over a year ago. This includes:

• Carpenters
• Electricians
• Laborers
• Masons
• Plumbers
• Welders
• Any worker who needs general workplace safety training

Deliver OSHA refresher training with SC Training and ASSP

If you’re looking for easily digestible refresher programs, look no further than the free OSHA refresher training courses created by SC Training in partnership with the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).

SC Training is an online training platform that empowers organizations to onboard, train, and upskill employees with ease, allowing them to put training in the hands of every worker.

With over 10 years of experience, SafetyCulture has helped thousands of safety professionals across America understand and track their OSHA compliance. They've used that experience to show teams how helpful OSHA refresher training courses are for safety compliance and how they can help reduce workplace risk.

The American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) has been supporting safety professionals since 1911 in keeping people, property, and the environment safe. They're well-known for offering top-notch education and resources for the safety community and are accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET).

Together, they built 27 bite-sized OSHA refresher courses with topics that include:

1. Fall Prevention
2. Ladder Safety
3. Scaffolding Safety
4. Eye and Face Protection
5. General Safety and Health Provisions
6. Head Protection
7. Specific Excavation Requirements
8. Hazard Communication (Construction)
9. Hazard Communication (General Industry)
10. Lead in Construction
11. Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/Tagout)
12. Troubleshooting / Machinery and Machine Guarding
13. Respiratory Protection Awareness
14. Powered Industrial Trucks (PIT)
15. Portable Fire Extinguishers (General Industry)
16. Portable Fire Extinguishers (Construction)
17. Exit Routes, Emergency Action, and Fire Prevention Plans
18. Asbestos (General Industry)
19. Asbestos (Construction)
20. Bloodborne Pathogens
21. Noise and Hearing Conservation
22. Worker Right to Know
23. 13-Carcinogens
24. Vinyl Chloride
25. Inorganic Arsenic
26. Cadmium
27. Coke Oven Emissions

These SC Training OSHA refresher courses have been verified by ASSP for compliance and are aligned with OSHA standards. Apart from being interactive, they’re also designed to be completed in under 15 minutes and accessible on any device. This makes it easier for your workers to comply with training requirements.

And the best part? You can digitally remind your team and track their progress and completion through the platform to make sure everyone stays compliant.

OSHA standards & recommended courses for annual refresher training

Here, we’ve noted several OSHA standards requiring annual refresher training, including some recommended courses. They cover a variety of important workplace safety and health topics and these are just some of the key ones to note:

1. Respiratory Protection

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.134
• Recommended Course: Respiratory Protection Awareness (US) by SC Training

Under this regulation for personal protective equipment, employers in general industry and construction are required to administer annual respiratory protection training to their workers. This is especially applicable to situations where workplaces regularly change their type of respiratory protection equipment or when employees have not yet properly retained knowledge on how to use the equipment.

Generally, training under this standard should cover topics such as:

• Respiratory hazards
• Types of respirators
• Selection of respirators

2. Bloodborne Pathogens

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.38
• Recommended Course: Bloodborne Pathogens (US) by SC Training

According to OSHA’s standard on bloodborne pathogens, employers are required to give annual OSHA bloodborne pathogens training to any employee exposed to blood or other infectious materials. The courses should include topics like types of bloodborne diseases, decontamination, exposure prevention measures, control methods, and personal protective equipment, among others.

3. Portable Fire Extinguishers

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.157
• Recommended Course: Portable Fire Extinguishers - General Industry (US) by SC Training

OSHA’s portable fire extinguisher standard states that general industry workplaces with portable fire extinguishers must give employees initial training on how to use fire extinguishers and continue with refresher training every year.

These are just some important topics that should be covered in OSHA fire extinguisher training programs:

• Types and classifications of portable extinguishers
• Do’s and don’ts of using a portable fire extinguisher
• How to use a portable fire extinguisher

4. Fixed Extinguishing Systems

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.160
• Recommended Course: Fixed Extinguishing Systems by SC Training

Under this standard, employers must train and review workers annually on operating, maintaining, inspecting, and repairing fixed extinguishing systems. This helps them make sure that their workers’ skills are up to date.

5. Mechanical Power Presses

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.217
• Recommended Course: Machine Guarding (US) by SC Training

According to this OSHA regulation, employers must train their mechanical power press operators before they start operating the press and at least once a year after that to make sure they stay competent. Machine guarding training courses should effectively discuss machine hazards, guarding methods, and machine safety practices.

6. Occupational Noise Exposure

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.95
• Recommended Course: Noise and Hearing Conservation by SC Training

This standard entails that workers in the general industry or manufacturing industry must receive annual training on noise exposure awareness. It also states that the information in hearing conservation training programs must be updated to match any changes in protective gear and work procedures.

Employers can touch on topics like hearing protectors, audiometric testing, and the effects of noise exposure.

7. Asbestos (General Industry)

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.1001
• Recommended Course: Asbestos for General Industry (US) by SC Training

Simply put, this standard requires employers to train employees exposed to asbestos levels at or above the safety limits. More specifically, it states that training must start when workers begin the job and continue annually. A good asbestos training program should be able to discuss what asbestos is, its hazards, and risk reduction methods.

8. Control of Hazardous Energy (Lockout/TagOut)

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.147
• Recommended Course: Control of Hazardous Energy - Lockout/Tagout (US) by SC Training

Although the Lockout/TagOut (LOTO) standard doesn't specifically require annual retraining, it does mandate an annual inspection of the LOTO procedures used by an employer. If this inspection reveals any knowledge gaps, or if an employer suspects there are gaps in their workers’ knowledge, refresher training must be implemented.

9. Lead Awareness in Construction

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1926.62
• Recommended Course: Lead in Construction by SC Training

This OSHA standard protects construction workers exposed to lead at or above safety limitations. Employers must give them annual refresher training so they have the knowledge and skills to handle working in such conditions.

The training programs are designed to help workers understand general information and guidelines related to lead exposure. Lead awareness training courses usually tackle topics like:

• Permissible exposure limit (PEL) for lead exposure
• Action level (AL) for lead exposure
• Adverse health effects of lead exposure
• Hazard controls and safe work practices

10. 13 Carcinogens

• OSHA Standard: 29 CFR 1910.1003
• Recommended Course: 13 Carcinogens (US) by SC Training

Carcinogens are chemicals that can cause tumors and increase cancer risk. For workplaces that have these chemicals, there are strict regulations to prevent employee exposure. With proper training, workers will learn how to protect themselves when working with or around carcinogens.

According to the regulation on 13 carcinogens, employers must train new general industry workers exposed to the 13 carcinogens specified by OSHA. After their initial training, employees should then receive refresher training at least once a year.

Tips to improve safety training in the workplace

Effective safety training takes a lot of knowledge, careful planning, proper compliance, and a dedicated effort to make it successful. To continue making your workplace safe for employees, it's important to keep looking for things you can improve. Here are some helpful tips you can use to improve your organization’s safety training practices.

Identify common workplace hazards

One of the best ways to make your safety training more effective is to identify the hazards in your workplace. You can do this by performing a job hazard analysis (JHA), where safety professionals will inspect the workplace and look for risks associated with specific jobs. This makes it easier for you to train your team on how to avoid said hazards.

Common hazards in the workplace

To give you some examples, we’ve listed down the different types of safety risks that employees in various industries face in the workplace:

• Construction hazards: Falls from heights, struck-by objects, caught-in/between hazards, electrocution
• Manufacturing hazards: Machine-related injuries, ergonomic risks, exposure to hazardous substances
• Healthcare hazards: Biological hazards, needlestick injuries, workplace violence,  ergonomic risks
• Agriculture hazards: Equipment accidents, pesticide exposure, animal-related injuries, heat stress

Understand and comply with safety training regulations

Before implementing your team’s safety training, remember to find out what safety training requirements OSHA has for your workplace.

Apart from complying with the law and avoiding penalties, these regulations can help you identify important safety issues that you may have overlooked otherwise. They also set a minimum standard for the safety training you need to give your team.

Having a good understanding of safety training regulations also allows you to go above and beyond and offer even more comprehensive training for your workers.

Take advantage of mobile-friendly OSHA refresher courses

Mobile learning and the rise of safety training platforms like SC Training have made it much easier to give teams access to OSHA refresher training courses directly on their mobile devices. 

Unlike old-school toolbox talks that usually require more time and resources to set up every year, mobile-friendly refresher courses allow employers to deliver bite-sized and interactive OSHA compliance training content at no extra cost and with less time wasted!

Having mobile access to refresher courses also makes it more convenient for workers to complete their training since they only need their phone and internet access.

Make sure your team is compliant and dialed in on the latest safety standards. Check out SC Training’s mobile-accessible OSHA annual refresher courses today!