What is OSHA 10 Certification?

People in construction, manufacturing, and other industries use the terms "OSHA Certified" or "OSHA Certification" to mean that you've completed OSHA Outreach training (and earned a "certificate of completion").

OSHA 10 is a 10-hour safety course designed by OSHA to cover safety basics for workers in high-risk industries. The point is to make workers aware of common safety and health hazards they may find on the job, as well as their right to work in a safe and "healthful" environment.

What's the Right Type of OSHA 10 Certification For Me?

OSHA's Outreach courses are divided up into a few categories by the type of work – by "industry." You need to make sure you take the right type. OSHA designed their Outreach Training Program to be consistent but flexible, which means trainers have to cover certain topics but they can pick and choose with others.

OSHA doesn't put an expiration date on DOL cards. As far as they're concerned, there's no OSHA 10 expiration.

Posted on: February 13, 2025

How Long Is OSHA 10 Good For?

If you're job hunting in certain states or within certain industries, you'll see job listings that say "Must have up-to-date OSHA 10 Training." Sometimes they'll call this a "DOL card," because the Department of Labor (DOL) issues plastic wallet cards you can use as proof of training.

So, what is OSHA 10 and how long does it stay "up to date"?

What Is OSHA 10 Training?

OSHA 10 is a 10-hour, entry-level OSHA Outreach course that builds baseline awareness of common jobsite hazards and how to prevent them. There are multiple versions, including Construction and General Industry, so workers learn safety concepts tailored to their work environment.

OSHA 10 training is delivered by OSHA-authorized trainers online or in person, spans a minimum of 10 instructional hours, and typically includes module quizzes and a final assessment.

Upon finishing the course, participants receive a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) card that many employers recognize for site access.

What's the Right Type of OSHA 10 Training For Me?

OSHA's Outreach courses are divided into a few categories by the type of work, also known as “industries.” You need to make sure you take the right type. OSHA designed its Outreach Training Program to be consistent but flexible, which means trainers have to cover certain topics, but they can pick and choose with others.

There are a few different categories of OSHA 10 training:

OSHA 10 Construction which covers core construction hazards and controls and OSHA 10 General Industry, which covers every other type of work.

General Industry tends to be the trickiest for picking the right curriculum because it can be tailored for so many different jobs. Most focus on manufacturing and various industrial work, but you can find courses designed for others, like healthcare workers.

If you need a course, especially in General Industry, pay attention to the topics covered. OSHA 10 training will be most valuable if it focuses on safety concerns relevant to you.

Is OSHA 10 Required?

That depends.

OSHA considers its Outreach Training to be voluntary. By themselves, Outreach courses don’t fulfill an employer's safety and health training obligations, though, in practical terms, they give a head start.

Certain jurisdictions and employers, however, will require a DOL card. This is actually why the Outreach Program exists. Bureaucrats wanted a clear-cut standard for safety training they could set as a minimum requirement.

In terms of state or local regulations, OSHA 10 mandates are almost exclusively in the construction industry. The biggest exception is that Nevada requires all entertainment industry workers to get an OSHA 10 General Industry card.

Even when a DOL card isn't legally required, your employer may make it a hiring requirement or give hiring preference to candidates with OSHA Outreach course completion.

Why and Where is OSHA 10 Required for Construction?

Legal requirements for OSHA 10 Construction make sense because the construction and demolition industry is one of the most dangerous in the U.S.

The construction industry employs only 5-7% of the U.S. workforce, but it accounts for 20% of worker deaths. This comes out to over 1000 a year. Injury and illness rates are also significantly higher than the workforce average, and that's after a quarter of construction workers admit they've failed to report a work-related injury for the official stats.

Only a few jurisdictions, like Nevada and Philadelphia, require OSHA 10 outright for all construction workers. Usually, this requirement is tied to public works funding. Contractors have to provide proof that all workers have completed OSHA 10.

Often, the requirement only kicks in for projects over a certain value. A $100,000 minimum is popular. That's the threshold in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. New York State and West Virginia have even higher minimums, while in Massachusetts, the minimum is just $10,000. States such as Missouri have no minimum at all. If a project has any public funding, the requirement stands.

Then there are the oddballs. Miami-Dade County in Florida requires OSHA 10 training on any contract (public or private) worth over $1 million. New York City used to require a DOL card, but they now require their own 40-hour training for any project bigger than a 3-family home.

The only way to know for sure if OSHA 10 is required for you is to check with local employers or search for relevant laws in your state, county, or city. These laws change all the time, so we're just giving examples.

Does OSHA 10 Expire?

So, how long does OSHA 10 last? Technically, OSHA DOL cards don't have an expiration date.

However, the parties that require an OSHA 10 card, including state and local governments or employers, will usually also specify how often the training needs to be renewed.