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Free OSHA Training Files on Respirators, Scaffolds

Monday, September 28, 2009

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration’s (OSHA) Training and Reference Material Library has recently issued downloadable reference materials on scaffold safety and respiratory protection, including protection from silica hazards. The materials come in PowerPoint presentations and pdfs, with text explanations of relevant standards and associated hazards as well as illustrations of hazards in the workplace, related injuries and illnesses, and protective measures.

• OSHA's “New National Emphasis Program: Crystalline Silica,” for Employers and Professional Groups, is downloadable as a Powerpoint or as a text file. Among the topics it addresses are sources of silica exposure in general industry and construction, symptoms of overexposure and types of related illnesses, ways to calculate exposure levels, and inspections related to OSHA’s NEP. Silica exposures addressed in the painting industry include abrasive blasting. The files were issued on September 17, 2009.

• OSHA also issued on September 17 a related downloadable PowerPoint presentation for employees titled “New National Emphasis Program on Crystalline Silica.”

• A third downloadable PowerPoint presentation for training (issued September 17), “Silica,” focuses not only on occupational sources of exposures but also on the factors in the severity of silica-related diseases, including chronic silicosis, accelerated silicosis, and acute silicosis; protective measures; respirator programs; and controls.

• OSHA's Respiratory Protection Standard, 29 CFR 1910.134, is the subject of a fourth training presentation recently issued (September 14, 2009) to the public. It covers the main provisions of the standard in outline form, including permissible practices, types of respirators, atmospheres requiring respiratory protection, respirator selection, assigned protection factors, and fit testing.

• “Scaffolding” in OSHA’s Training and Reference Material collection includes a PowerPoint presentation and pdf that outline the provisions of 1926.450, and a file that illustrates different types of scaffold. The materials were issued September 14, 2009.

The above materials are training and reference aids only. None of them takes the place of a thorough knowledge and application of the provisions of the relevant standards.

To download the above training materials, go to http://www.osha.gov/whatsnew.html and find each of the above by its publication date.

For more information: www.osha.gov.