Regulatory Update: OSHA Expands Training Education Centers

On Oct. 4 OSHA announced the addition of a new organization to its OSHA Training Institute Education Center network and the renewal of 25 existing education centers.

Since 1992, the OTI Education Center program has provided training nationwide to private sector and federal personnel from agencies outside OSHA and trained more than 42,000 people in fiscal year 2022. OTI Education Centers are non-profit organizations that offer training courses on OSHA standards and occupational safety and health topics to workers and employers across the country.

The centers also help administer OSHA’s Outreach Training Program and fulfill the program’s monitoring requirements. They are the sole distribution channel for Outreach Training Program trainer courses, including OSHA standards and update courses. The program trained more than three million people from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2022. This voluntary program is not a training requirement of any OSHA standard.

Following a national competition, the new and renewed OTI Education Centers were announced on April 18, 2022. The competition evaluated applicants on the following criteria:

organizational commitment, experience and qualifications;
staff experience and qualifications; location and training facilities;
marketing and administrative capabilities;
Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility; and
language accessibility.

OSHA does not fund OTI Education Centers. The centers are supported through established tuition and fee structures and provide instructors and facilities. For more information on the OTI Education Centers Program, the Outreach Training Program, and the Office of Training and Education, please visit the OSHA Training webpage.

The new and renewed OTI Education Centers are listed below. An asterisk indicates the new center for 2022:

Region I

Keene State College – Manchester, NH

Region II

Atlantic OSHA Training Center, a consortium that includes Rutgers School of Public Health – Somerset, NJ (lead organization);Universidad Ana G. Mendez – Bayamon, PR; and University at Buffalo – Buffalo, NY
Rochester Institute of Technology – Rochester, NY

Region III

National Resource Center, a consortium that includes West Virginia University – Morgantown, WV (lead organization); and CPWR – Center for Construction Research & Training – Silver Spring, MD
Mid Atlantic, a consortium comprised that includes Chesapeake Region Safety Council – Baltimore, MD (lead organization); and Northampton Community College – Bethlehem, PA

Region IV

Eastern Kentucky University – Richmond, KY
University of South Florida – Wesley Chapel, FL
Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, GA
Southeastern OTI Education Center, a consortium that includes North Carolina State University – Raleigh, NC (lead organization); and University of Tennessee – Nashville, TN
The University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, AL
Volunteer State Community College - Gallatin, TN

Region V

Mid-America OTI Education Center, a consortium that includes Ohio Valley Construction Education Foundation – Springboro, OH
Great Lakes OSHA Education Center, a consortium that includes University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine – Cincinnati, OH (lead organization); Eastern Michigan University – Ypsilanti, MI; and UAW Health & Safety Department – Detroit, MI
National Safety Education Center, a consortium that includes Northern Illinois University – DeKalb, IL (lead organization); and Construction Safety Council – Hillside, IL

Region VI

Texas A&M University Engineering Extension (TEEX) – College Station, TX
University of Texas at Arlington – Arlington, TX
Mid-South OTI Education Center, a consortium that includes Alliance Safety Council – Baton Rouge, LA (lead organization); and Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge, LA
Oklahoma State University – Stillwater, OK

Region VII

Great Plains OSHA Education Center, a consortium that includes Metropolitan Community College – Independence, MO (lead organization); Barton County Community College – Grandview Plaza, KS; and Saint Louis University College for Public Health & Social Justice – St. Louis, MO