December 4, 1991
Mr. C. K. Shufflebarger
Nassef Engineering and Equipment Company
Health and Safety Department
Post Office Box 1046
Gonzalez, Florida 32560
Dear Mr. Shufflebarger:
This is in response to your inquiry of October
9, concerning the Occupational Safety and
Health Administration's (OSHA) Hazardous
Waste Operations and Emergency Response final
rule (29 CFR 1910.120).
Your specific question relates to certification
for employees who work at hazardous waste
sites and must take the training course required
by 1910.120.
The purpose of 1910.120 is to improve
the ability of employees and employers to
respond to emergencies caused by releases
of hazardous substances. There are several
options to meet the training requirements
of 1910.120. In addition to the following
suggestions you may want to contact OSHA's
consultation service (please see enclosed
material).
An in-house training program, among
other options, may be developed. Please refer
to paragraph 1910.120(e)(6), which defines
credential requirements for trainers. We
encourage you to read through 1910.120(e)
carefully with your company in mind to develop
a training program that ensures employee's
are provided with instruction and will meet
the standard's requirements.
OSHA does not certify individuals;
it is the employer who must show by documentation
or certification that an employee's work
experience and/or training meets the requirements
of 1910.120. There must be a written document
which clearly identifies the employee, the
person certifying the employee, and the training
and/or past experience which meets the requirements.
One possibility would be to include this
information in the employee's personnel file.
The preferred method is to include this information
on a separate certificate for each employee.
OSHA does not currently approve or
certify training programs either. 29 CFR 1910.121, a notice of proposed rulemaking,
will address certification of 1910.120 training
programs. Enclosed is a copy of the proposed
rule. You may want to monitor the progress
of this new standard and anticipate needed
changes in your training and certification
programs to insure continued compliance.
We hope this information is helpful.
If you have any further questions please
feel free to contact [the Office of Health
Enforcement at (202) 693-2190].
Sincerely,
Patricia K. Clark, Director
[Directorate of Enforcement Programs]
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