OSHA 10 vs OSHA 30: What Each Covers & State Mandates

The Card Everyone Has, and Misunderstands

Walk any construction site and you'll find OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 cards in a lot of wallets — and a lot of confusion about what they actually mean. The two most common myths: that the card is legally required, and that having it checks the box on your training obligations. Both are wrong, and getting them straight matters.

At a glance: OSHA 10 and 30 are voluntary courses in OSHA's Outreach Training Program. OSHA says plainly they do not meet the training requirements of any OSHA standard — site- and task-specific training is still required. The 10-hour gives entry workers hazard awareness; the 30-hour is for supervisors or workers with safety responsibility. Federal OSHA doesn't require or expire them, but some states and cities mandate them for certain work. OSHA 10 and 30-hour cards come from OSHA's voluntary Outreach program and do not by themselves satisfy any employer training requirement; the 10-hour is for entry workers and the 30-hour for supervisors, and some states require them.

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What the Outreach Program Actually Is

The OSHA Outreach Training Program delivers basic safety and health instruction through OSHA-authorized trainers, who issue a 10-hour or 30-hour completion card to students who finish. It exists to spread baseline hazard awareness across the workforce — not to certify anyone to a standard.

Crucially, OSHA is explicit that "this is a voluntary program and does not meet the training requirements for any OSHA standards." It adds that none of the courses is considered a certification, and that workers must receive additional training on the specific hazards of their job. The card is education, not compliance.

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OSHA 10 vs OSHA 30, Side by Side

The Focus Four (falls, struck-by, caught-in or -between, and electrocution) are the hazards OSHA's construction Outreach curriculum is built around. Falls lead them: OSHA's Fall Prevention Campaign reports 389 fatal falls to a lower level out of 1,034 construction fatalities in 2024 (BLS data).

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The Caveat That Trips Up Employers

Because a worker has a 10 or 30 card, employers sometimes assume the worker is "trained." They are not — not for compliance purposes. Federal OSHA standards impose their own training duties that the Outreach card does not satisfy:

• HazCom training at initial assignment and when a new chemical hazard is introduced (29 CFR 1910.1200(h)(1), applied by 29 CFR 1926.59)
• Fall protection training for each employee who might be exposed to fall hazards, by a competent person, with a written certification record (29 CFR 1926.503(a) and (b))
• Ladders and stairways (29 CFR 1926.1060(a)) and scaffolds (29 CFR 1926.454(a)) for the workers who use them
• Respirators, before the employee is required to use one (29 CFR 1910.134(k)(3), applied by 29 CFR 1926.103)
• Confined spaces, before the employee is first assigned duties under Subpart AA (29 CFR 1926.1207(b)(2))
• Site- and task-specific training for the equipment and hazards the worker will actually face, under the general duty to instruct each employee in recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions (29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2))

Think of the 10/30 as foundation, not certification. It raises baseline awareness; your standard-specific and site-specific training still has to happen on top of it. (For the full picture of what OSHA actually requires by standard, see OSHA safety training requirements.)

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A 30-Hour Card Is Not a Competent-Person Designation

Several construction standards assign duties to a competent person: one "capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them" (29 CFR 1926.32(f)). A competent person inspects scaffolds before each shift (29 CFR 1926.451(f)(3)), inspects excavations daily (29 CFR 1926.651(k)(1)), and trains workers on fall protection (29 CFR 1926.503(a)(2)).

An OSHA 30 card does not confer that role. The definition turns on two things a card cannot show: knowledge of the hazards of the specific work, and the employer's authorization to correct them on the spot. The employer designates the competent person for each task. The same holds for a qualified person, whose standing rests on "a recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing" or "extensive knowledge, training, and experience" in the subject (29 CFR 1926.32(m)). A foreman with a 30-hour card may well be the right choice; the card is simply not what makes the choice.

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Where OSHA 10 / 30 Is Required

Voluntary federally doesn't mean voluntary everywhere. OSHA itself notes that "some states, municipalities, employers, unions, and other organizations have enacted requirements mandating training," often for public-works or large building projects, and that "any determination on what will be accepted in order to meet mandatory training requirements must be made by the organization mandating the training." A card from an authorized trainer satisfies such a mandate only if the mandating body says it does.

These state and local requirements vary, overlap with different deadlines, and change over time, so this article can't stand in for your jurisdiction's current rule. Before you bid or staff a project, verify the requirement with your state OSHA plan or the project owner. If a contract or a state law requires the card, that requirement is real and enforceable even though federal OSHA's program is voluntary.

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Cards, Expiration, and Replacements

• Expiration: OSHA says the student course completion cards in Construction, General Industry, Maritime and Disaster Site do not have an expiration date. A state, an employer, or a project owner that mandates the training may still require renewal, so treat "does it expire?" as a question about who's asking.
• Replacement: Lost your card? Contact the trainer who taught the class, or the online provider. A replacement can only be issued if the class was taken within the last five years, and only one replacement per student per class. OSHA keeps no records of the classes and cannot issue a card itself.
• New cards: trainers have 90 days after the course to issue the card, according to OSHA's Outreach page.

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The standard, tools & related reading

• The source: OSHA Outreach Training Program · Outreach for construction · Training requirements hub
• On the job: HazCom Training Record · Toolbox Talk Generator · Job Hazard Analysis Builder
• Related reading: OSHA safety training requirements · Building a training file that survives an inspection · Running HazCom training on a construction crew

Treat the 10 and 30 as what they are — valuable baseline awareness — and never as a substitute for the site-specific training OSHA standards actually require.