New OSHA Training Emphasizes Workers' Rights

“Introduction to OSHA” is a new training module that emphasizes workers’ rights. Now don’t shoot the messenger, but it’s required content in every OSHA 10- and 30-hr. Outreach Training Program. The new program focuses on the importance of workers’ rights, specifically to:

• Safe and healthful workplaces;

• Knowledge of the presence and effects of hazardous chemicals;

• Review information about injuries and illnesses in their workplaces;

• Request/file for an OSHA inspection and participate in the inspection; and

• Be free from retaliation for exercising their safety-and-health rights.

“For too long workers have avoided making claims of unsafe work conditions out of fear of losing their jobs,” says Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA David Michaels. “We are confident that this new training will embolden workers to speak up when they find work practices that endanger their lives and the lives of their coworkers.”

The OSHA Outreach Training Program is a voluntary program that seeks to teach workers about their rights and how to identify, reduce, avoid and prevent job-related hazards. The program includes courses in construction, general or maritime industry safety and health hazard recognition and prevention that is taught through a network of OSHA-authorized trainers.

For more information, visit www.osha.gov.

Technologies: Safety

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