Training and Development

BOS 3751, Training and Development 1

Course Learning Outcomes for Unit II Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Explain safety and health training requirements specified by standard setting organizations. 1.1 Discuss the role of the Environmental Protection Agency and non-regulatory organizations in

establishing safety training requirements. 1.2 Identify organizational safety training required by EPA standards. 1.3 Identify non-regulatory training needs.

Reading Assignment Chapter 2: EPA Safety and Health Training Requirements Chapter 3: NIOSH, ANSI Z490, and Additional Training Requirements

Unit Lesson

A Conversation on the Safety Manager’s Last Day

Click here to access a video.

Unfortunately, there are still safety professionals who do not want anything to do with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. For some, it might be due to not understanding that Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and EPA have been working together for several decades to create a seamless set of training requirements to help protect workers. It is not too difficult to understand. If EPA has adopted a rule that exposes workers to hazards, like the requirement to contain hazardous material spills (40 CFR 262), then OSHA establishes the specific training requirements for the protection of workers, as in the HAZWOPER standard (29 CFR 1910.120). Safety professionals need to be familiar with EPA standards in order to fully understand the reasons for the OSHA training requirements. In addition to the hazardous waste rules, OSHA and EPA have worked together on asbestos and lead worker training. For some workers, such as infectious waste incinerator operators and pesticide applicators, EPA is the source for the specific training requirements (Stanfill, 2012).

UNIT II STUDY GUIDE

EPA, NIOSH, and Non-Regulatory Training Requirements

BOS 3751, Training and Development 2

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

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Non-Regulatory Training Needs In the first unit, we noted that in addition to regulatory training requirements, organizations should also look to the specific hazards in the organization that may not be covered by any standards, yet can still result in serious injury or illness. Hazard surveys and accident reports are two sources for this information. For example, if an organization is experiencing a significant number of musculoskeletal injuries, it may be an indicator that training in workplace ergonomics is needed. Do workers know how to adjust their workstations to fit their body size? Do workers know how to recognize discomfort or injury caused by ergonomic issues? OSHA has not established a standard that requires ergonomic training, but it is well recognized among safety professionals that training employees in ergonomic principles is important for preventing serious injuries (Asfahl & Rieske, 2010; OSHA, n.d.). NIOSH The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) was created, along with OSHA, by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHAct). Based on its research findings, NIOSH may recommend new or revised standards to OSHA, including standards for workplace training. NIOSH is a good source to find training recommendations for hazards that are not currently regulated. NIOSH has established 12 Education and Research Centers (ERCs) that provide continuing education courses for safety professionals (Coble, 2012). Many organizations also send their supervisors and workers to these courses. Since 2001, NIOSH has also been involved with the training of emergency responders. National Consensus Standards Before the OSHAct, many industries had established their own sets of voluntary safety standards. Some of these standards were adopted directly into the OSHA standards and immediately went from voluntary to mandatory. Today, organizations like ANSI, ISO, and NFPA continue to work with industry leaders to develop and improve safety standards. While consensus standards do not have the force of law, they do provide an excellent source for the most up-to-date recommendations for workplace safety. Often, the requirements in current consensus standards exceed the requirements in OSHA, since it takes OSHA many years to issue new or revised standards. Consensus standards can be updated quickly, as industry and technology evolve. ANSI Z490.1-2009, Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health and Environmental Training, was developed with the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) to help safety professionals design and implement effective workplace safety training (Coble, 2012). ANSI Z-490.1 does not contain specific safety training requirements, but rather outlines a process for administering, developing, and implementing an organizational safety training program. Since the course textbook was also developed by ASSE, it should not be a surprise that the process described in the standard is very close to the one outlined in the textbook. In the first two units of the course, we discussed how to identify training needs. In the next two units, we will examine how adults learn and discuss some training theories that will lead us to the next steps in our training program development.

References Asfahl, C. R., & Rieske, D. W. (2010). Industrial safety and health management (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River,

NJ: Prentice-Hall. Coble, D. (2012). NIOSH, ANSI Z490, and additional training requirements. In J. Haight (Ed.), Hazard

prevention through effective safety and health training (pp. 29-44). Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers.

Occupational Safety & Health Administration. (n.d.). Ergonomics. Retrieved from

https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/ergonomics/training.html Stanfill, C. (2012). EPA safety and health training requirements. In J. Haight (Ed.), Hazard prevention through

effective safety and health training (15-28). Des Plaines, IL: American Society of Safety Engineers.

BOS 3751, Training and Development 3

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE

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Suggested Reading The following resources provide training requirements and guidance from standard setting organizations: Environmental Protection Agency. (2015). Asbestos training. Retrieved from

http://www2.epa.gov/asbestos/training Occupational Safety & Health Administration. (1991). Memorandum of understanding between the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the American National Standards Institute. Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=MOU&p_id=239

Learning Activities (Nongraded) Most individual states and many local jurisdictions have their own environmental regulations that match or are more restrictive than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulations. Conduct some research into what regulations your local community has regarding hazardous waste operations and emergency response. Prepare a report for your boss that outlines what your organization needs to do to comply with the local requirements for emergency response training. Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information.