What’s the 4-Letter Word (equivalent) of Safety?

The nails on the proverbial chalk board?

The eye-roller?

This two word combo: “OSHA-Approved”

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

“Is this ladder OSHA-Approved?”

“My safety glasses are OSHA-Approved!”

“Is this workplace safety training OSHA-Approved?”

“Are these OSHA 10/30 hour training courses OSHA-Approved?”

Nope! Never!

In fact, there is never a scenario where such phrasing is accurate.

Yet...people say it. All. The. Time.

It’s occupational safety’s equivalent of the ‘urban myth’. A plain untruth.

You see, a division of federal government’s Department of Labor (DOL) known as the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) does not now, nor has it ever, operated an approval body.

There is no approval infrastructure for manufacturers who ask: “Will you approve this product and put an OSHA sticker on it?”

There is no physical address or testing facility where manufacturers may send ladders, scaffolds, power tools, personal protective equipment (PPE), punch presses, trench boxes, or extension cords, etc.

There are zero OSHA employees traveling to factories or software companies like ours, and approving workplace safety training or electrical safety equipment.

So, what words are true and accurate?

Two phrases to recognize...

“Meets OSHA Requirements”

“OSHA-Compliant”

Manufacturers and online training providers like us CAN and DO look first to OSHA standards when creating safety products—it’s essential know-how.

OSHA has standards associated with compliance and many companies—not all— in the safety industry do build to support compliance with OSHA standards. In those cases, promotional statements such as “Meets OSHA Requirements” or “OSHA-Compliant” are faithfully applicable.

Just know that OSHA doesn’t pass out stickers or seals of approval! So the appropriate consumer attitude in those examples is, rightfully, ‘buyer beware’—manufacturers are on a limb of the honor system.

There is one other word to know when it comes specifically to the OSHA 10/30 hour training courses for Construction and General Industry, and the word is “Authorized”.

For popular OSHA Outreach Training program, the agency is quite particular, allowing a select number of online training providers and live OSHA training instructors to offer that content for sale with authorization.

To earn authorization from OSHA, all training providers are subjected to a process orchestrated by OSHA involving comprehensive training on subject matter, techniques, and testing, all to ensure that the material is delivered to OSHA’s uniform standard.

Employees who have successfully finished safety training will be given completion cards by authorized training providers. So, there are no OSHA certifications at the end of their training, instead they are provided with completion cards.

Learn more about OSHA training.