Yes, we follow the lab standard with an initial training for all within 30 days of appointment. We keep detailed records (sign in sheet, quiz, and acknowledgement form) and also a spread sheet to work from so we are not accessing the original records.

 

If someone is reassigned, leaves and returns, or transferred to another area, they take a “refresher” (which up until now has just been a repeat initial training). We are finally past the planning stages and in the production stages of creating an online Haz Com refresher that will track progress and results of trainees (using Blackboard) – essentially automating the process for refresher training. Initial training will always be live classroom training.

 

It took a long time to make a different course for a refresher, but after one or two years (I’ve been doing this for 16 years) I realized how important it really is and much it is needed. The Lab Standard does not discern between content of initial and refresher (I suppose it is up to the employer).

The same is true with the frequency of training, the refresher interval is up to the employer. We do not state this interval in any of our plans or SOP’s, but we do a encourage folks to retrain (most will say once a year). This is what the excel sheet I mentioned earlier is for, we can search the sheet to see when an individual was last trained. We announce training sessions publicly, it is up to individuals and PI’s to ensure that their training and that of their staff is up to date, but we do not force anyone to refresher training, unless there is a cause (accident, change in position or promotion, etc.).

 

We ensure that everyone gets initial training, visitors and Distinguished Faculty alike. Many have had at least one refresher (or two initials as it were) since their initial training, now that we have the refresher, with a current events module that will change every year (to keep it interesting), I am sure that our training #’s will go up.

 

Be Well,

 

 

A quick poll of any who care to answer:  how often do you require training for personnel in areas that fall under OSHA’s Laboratory Standard?  Do you follow what the regulation says (upon hire, when hazards change, etc.), do you train everyone annually, or do you do something else?  If you require refresher training, does it look different than the initial training?

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Dr. Karalyn (Karen) Humphrey

 

Chemical Hygiene Officer

Department of Environmental, Health & Safety

Baylor University

 

Office: BSB E.111

Phone:  254-710-2002

 

Birkett's hypothesis: "Any chemical reaction that proceeds smoothly under normal conditions, can proceed violently in the presence of an idiot."