Required Safety Training

Every year in the U.S. more than 800 construction workers die and nearly 137,000 are seriously injured while on the job. Construction workers engage in many activities that may expose them to serious hazards, such as falling from rooftops, unguarded machinery, being struck by heavy construction equipment, electrocutions, silica dust, and asbestos. Watch these helpful videos to learn about how to prevent injuries and deaths on the jobsite.

Required Safety Training – OSHA 10

The Construction Safety Training Act, Section 292.675 RSMo, requires all contractors and subcontractors who enter into contracts with public bodies for construction of public works to train their on-site employees regarding the potential hazards they may encounter. The training may be accomplished by providing a standard OSHA 10-hour construction program (taught by an OSHA-authorized instructor) or a similar program approved by the Division of Labor Standards.

On-site employees include:

Workers directly engaged in construction at the project site
Workers at nearby or adjacent facilities used by the contractor or subcontractor for construction
Workers engaged in the transportation of materials, fuel, or equipment from one place on the site of construction to another place on-site
Drivers who deliver materials, fuel, or equipment to the site if they assist in loading or unloading the delivery vehicle once at the project site, or engage in any other work at the site.

Noncompliance and Penalties

On-site employees who have not completed required safety training within 60 days of beginning work on a project at the latest must be removed from the project and the employer will be subject to penalties as described in the Act. On-site employees who cannot provide proper documentation of completion of required safety training when requested will be given 20 days to produce the documentation before being removed from the project and before their employers will be subject to penalties.

Training programs may be conducted without prior Division approval. Any training program found to be non-compliant by the Division will result in disqualification of all employees who attended the training program and the penalties for non-compliance will apply.

The penalty for violation of the Act is $2,500 plus $100 for each calendar day, or portion of a day, that any non-compliant employee worked on the site. Additionally, each contractor and subcontractor is jointly liable for the penalties incurred by its subcontractors that have non-compliant employees.

Frequently Asked Questions about Required Training

Do the terms contractors and subcontractors exclude architects, engineers, etc., who do not have any on-site employees?: Contractors and subcontractors, as defined in the statute, only include businesses that employ on-site employees. If a contractor or subcontractor does not employ on-site employees, then that contractor and/or subcontractor is not subject to the Construction Safety Training Act. If an architect, engineer, etc., does not employ any on-site employees, the architect, engineer, etc., is not subject to the Construction Safety Training Act. If an architect or engineer is assigned to the project on a daily basis, he/she is considered an on-site employee. An architect or engineer who visits the site periodically and engages in any construction activity is also considered an on-site employee.
Do on-site employees have to complete required safety training each time the employee works on a public works project?: No. OSHA completion cards for 10-hour construction programs do not expire. Documentation that an employee successfully completed required safety training or a Division-approved training program within 60 days of beginning on-site work is compliant with the law. If an on-site employee completed a non-OSHA 10-hour construction program specifically designed to fit the employee’s on-site duties for a previous project, that employee may have to complete further training if he or she is not engaged in the same job function for which the employee received non-OSHA 10 training.
What is needed for a training program other than an OSHA 10-hour construction program to be approved by the Division?: Non-OSHA training programs must be similar to, and at least as stringent as, an OSHA 10-hour construction program. Non-OSHA 10-hour construction programs may be specifically structured to fit the on-site duties of an employee. Programs, particularly customized training programs, should be submitted to the Division for approval at: Missouri Division of Labor Standards P.O. Box 449 Jefferson City, MO 65102.; Approved alternatives to the OSHA 10-hour construction program include:; OSHA 30-hour construction program
MSHA Part 46 New Miner Training
MSHA Part 48 New Miner Training
PEC Core Compliance
My employees work on public works projects, but they work away from the areas of the site where the primary construction is occurring and therefore are not exposed to most of the hazards found on a construction project. Do my employees have to be trained on hazards they will not encounter?: All on-site employees of a contractor or subcontractor must complete required safety training. Employees are not limited solely to the standard OSHA 10-hour construction program to fulfill the training requirements of the Construction Safety Training Act. If the contractor or subcontractor determines that the standard OSHA 10-hour construction program would not be beneficial for a particular employee or class of employees, it may find or structure a safety training program that is specifically tailored to the on-site duties of those employees and submit it to the Division for approval. The Division simply requires that any alternative training program be as stringent as an OSHA 10-hour construction program. The Division will not accept proof that an employee successfully completed a customized alternative safety training program as a fulfillment of the training requirement of the Act unless the employee is engaged in the same job functions for which he or she received customized alternative training.
Can employees credit training hours from previous courses toward the 10 hours of required safety training?: Prior training courses targeted at specific topics may count toward the 10 hours of required safety training. Upon the provision of appropriate documentation, the Division will make an assessment as to how much credit will be given.
What happens if an on-site employee completes a training program that the Division later decides not to approve?: Proof of training from a program that the Division does not approve will not be compliant with the law. Any on-site employee who received training through a program that was not Division-approved must be removed from the project and the employer will be subject to penalties as described in the Construction Safety Training Act.
If an employee received training prior to August 28, 2009 (the effective date of the Construction Safety Training Act), will it be acceptable?: OSHA completion cards for 10-hour construction programs do not expire. The Division will accept proof that an on-site employee successfully completed 10 hours of OSHA training prior to August 28, 2009, as a fulfillment of the safety training requirement of the Construction Safety Training Act. Proof of other training may also be submitted to the Division for review to determine whether the other training will fulfill the training requirement of the Act.
Should contractors and subcontractors attach proof of successful completion of required safety training to the first certified payroll submitted to the contracting agency and on succeeding payrolls when a new employee is listed?: Submission of proof of successful completion of training is not required until requested by the Division.
What happens if the Division approved a training program, but later learned the attendees did not receive a full 10 hours of training?: On-site employees must receive 10 hours of required safety training. If an on-site employee has documentation that he or she successfully completed required safety training from a program that did not actually provide 10 hours of training, the documentation is fraudulent. The Division will not accept fraudulent documentation, as it is not compliant with the law. On-site employees providing such documentation must be removed from the project and the employer will be subject to penalties as described in the Construction Safety Training Act.
Where can employees get the required training?: View a list of authorized OSHA training programs.