New OSHA Training focuses on Workers' Rights

"Introduction to OSHA," a new training program emphasizing workers' rights, is the latest required content in every OSHA 10- and 30-hour Outreach Training Program class. According to the agency, it developed the information in support of the Secretary of Labor's goal of strengthening the voice of workers.

The information in the program affects all the workers who complete Outreach Training Program classes each year, and more than 50,000 authorized OSHA Outreach Trainers. It mainly focuses on the importance of workers' rights and advises them of their right to:

• Know about the presence and effects of hazardous chemicals;

• Review information about illness and injuries in their workplaces and receive training;

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

• Be free from retaliation to exercise their safety and health rights.

"For too long workers have avoided making claims of unsafe work conditions out of fear of losing their jobs," said David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA . "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 co-workers."

The OSHA Outreach Training Program is a voluntary program that will be teaching workers about their rights and how to identify, reduce, avoid, and prevent job-related hazards. The program includes 10 hour OSHA course and - and 30-hour OSHA course in construction, general or maritime industry safety, and health hazard recognition and prevention that is taught via a network of OSHA-authorized trainers. Over the past three years, some two million students have received training through this program.