The OSHA 10 & 30-hour cards will cost you starting in July 2011. I have some VERY RELIABLE information that this is going to happen, and from what I have been able to determine, it is without OSHA’s blessing. It seems that the OTI centers have some type of formal committee that has been discussing this for some time now and it was a UNANIMOUS decision last month to begin charging $5 for each card they issue and this will be a BLANK CARD that the trainer will fill out. it appears the fee will be a “processing and handling fee.”
I can certainly understand the fee and think it is a fair price if it stays at $5. What is bothersome is HOW this came to be…behind closed doors and without OSHA’s input or involvement. In fact, there has been a concerted effort to keep this quiet and away from OSHA. Also, there appears to be a consensus among centers that a fee of $25 for replacement cards will be coming as well. Some centers already charge this or some lesser amount, but there is talk of standardizing the replacement card fee. By the way, with the current number of students doing the 10 and 30-hour courses, the cash raised by this fee will be over $3,000,000/year. I would be willing to take 1/3 of that, set up an online system for testing students, manage the documentation, print certificates, and send cards – ALL WITH LITTLE TO NO HUMAN INTERVENTION. Think about it, a national database of those who have completed the training, certified trainers, etc. And it will not cost $3 million/year!!!!
One-stop shopping for integrity audits of the outreach program. With all the recent changes to the outreach program, the costs of these courses is quickly becoming costly. The 10-hr has to be done over 2 days now, even though most manufacturing facilities now use 12-hour shifts and could easily pull off a 10-hr in one day. Now a class of 20 will cost an extra $100 for the cards. I know this translates to an extra $1100 for a SAFTENG 10-hr Course. I know a lot of our clients are passing up on this training. Not that it was a major part of my business, but Dennis and I would do about 6 a year for clients. Now we are only getting inquiries from companies who have agreed to do a 10-hr as part of an OSHA settlement agreement. Will this new fee be the straw that breaks the camel ‘s back for the OSHA outreach program? I doubt it, but in this economy, I am sure it will not help OSHA reach its goals of getting more workers through the program. It seems sort of counterintuitive in an “outreach program”.