Choosing a Reputable Online Training Provider

It seems it happens every time a natural disaster happens. Companies pop up overnight to take advantage of the tragedy. Before you buy any training, please do some research on your prospective training provider. You will notice on the internet today that many companies advertise their training as being OSHA accepted or approved. As a matter of policy, OSHA does not approve nor endorse training programs from any training provider. We did some research ourselves and noticed many of the online training providers simply published a website but are not businesses. They resell training and may not have qualified instructors at the ready for assistance. Also, some clients sent us certificates from these companies as they were looking to upgrade their training. These certificates were not signed by the instructor but by the student. This cleary does not agree with the OSHA regulations where the instructor and employer will certify an individual. These companies offer their training at substantially reduced prices but their training and certificates do not fullfill the OSHA regulation.

Here are a few tips in checking out your prospective training provider.

1. Client list. Do they show a list of clients? If not, they should as any reputable company is proud to show you who they have trained.

2. OSHA interpretation letters. Have they contacted OSHA for interpretations regarding their course offerings?

3. Instructor qualifications. A qualified instructor should have several years experience in the field as well as an undergraduate or graduate degree from an accredited university. A professional designation is also a plus.

4. Make sure your certificate is signed by the actual instructor. A certificate that requires you sign the certificate instead of the instructor is not consistent with the OSHA regulations.

Duration:

(OSHA 40 Hour HAZWOPER Training Requirement) Note: OSHA requires the 40 hour course will take a minimum of 40 hours of actual study time. Anything less will not comply with the OSHA standard. This is true for both classroom and online training. Classroom training cannot exceed the OSHA required 30:1 student to instructor ratio. Also, your certificate must be signed by the instructor not the student.

If you have any questions, please call us at 888.877.7130. You can also email us at cab@natlenvtrainers.com.

Download OSHA HAZWOPER Training Guidance Document for Marine Oil Spills.