OSHA 10 and 30 Hour Training Cards Updated With New Security Features to Deter Fraud

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has quietly incorporated new security features into the OSHA 10 and 30 hour wallet cards issued by trainers to students completing OSHA Outreach training courses. Since several states and many general contractors have made possession of an OSHA 10 hour or 30 hour card mandatory for workers on certain construction sites, there has been an explosion of cases where counterfeit cards were provided or sold to workers or their employers.

To get an explanation of the changes made to the OSHA wallet cards, we turned to Curtis Chambers, Vice President of OSHA Pros, Inc. (http://www.osha-pros.com), a national OSHA training company. According to Mr. Chambers, who is also an OSHA-authorized Outreach Trainer, the wallet-sized cards are the same size and colors as before: medium blue for the general industry courses, and gold for the construction courses. However, the new cards have the OSHA logo in the upper left-hand corner, with blue ink used for the “O” of OSHA. Also, there is now a large number “10” or “30” (depending on the OSHA course completed) placed as a very faint watermark located in the front center of the OSHA cards. These two features should make the original OSHA cards more difficult to copy and issue to people who did not legitimately complete the course, according to Mr. Chambers.

Mr. Chambers also explained another new feature is the serial numbers appearing on the cards. The old cards had a nine-digit serial number printed in red ink (e.g.: 987654321). The newer cards have a two-digit number, followed by a hyphen, followed by a nine-digit number (e.g.: 21-987654321), also printed in red ink. This feature allows the card to be more easily tracked back to the OSHA trainer who issued the card originally. In addition, the OSHA trainers who issue OSHA cards are now required to keep a list of the student names and serial numbers of their cards on file, not previously required.

On the back of the cards, there is now a statement declaring fraudulent distribution or use of the OSHA wallet card is a federal offense. “These updates should help deter the cards from ending up in the hands of people who did not attend the courses, and increase confidence in the OSHA Outreach training program,” said Mr. Chambers.

These changes affect new OSHA 10 and 30 hour wallet cards issued by OSHA authorized trainers in live classes, as well as for online OSHA 10 hour and OSHA 30 hour training courses that have been reviewed and accepted by OSHA. However, OSHA cards never expire, so older versions possessed by trainees who took their courses before these changes took place are also still valid.