The Importance of Properly Trained Employees

OSHA can fine employers, and those fines can add up quickly. If employees aren’t properly trained, or if there are PPE violations, OSHA can issue a citation for each employee violation. While not every case will warrant a per-employee citation, those fines and citations can be issued as the agency sees fit.

If your company doesn’t always have all its employees wearing their PPE, it can mean serious financial problems. As an example, the rule was enacted because a company hired 11 undocumented workers from Mexico. These employees were put to work handling asbestos, but they weren’t provided respirators.

At that time, before the regulation was enacted, OSHA wanted to enact 11 different citations, but the court consolidated them into one single citation. With the new rule, 11 citations would be 11 times the cost of one citation.

Ensuring Employees Are Properly Trained

As an employer, you are responsible for making sure your employees have undergone popular training and have access to the required PPEs. The violation could be financially devastating to your business, and it could cost you significantly in the long run because you could lose employees who have already been trained to do the job.

The cost of paying the OSHA fines and then hiring and retraining new employees can set your operation back significantly, so it isn’t worth the risk. You should make sure your employees have all the proper certifications and training so they will know how to handle their job duties and the proper safety protocol and procedures required for the job.

Proper Training

At ATS Specialized Training School, we offer all the necessary certifications and training programs to ensure your employees understand the processes and know the requirements. Call us today to learn about the different training programs.

As you should be aware, OSHA’s new crane requirement rule became effective on November 10, 2018. Part of that rule involves the requirement for the employer to train and evaluate its crane operators in addition to those operators being certified. 

• To be a “Qualified Operator” under the new OSHA rule, the operator must be certified and evaluated.
• Operators who have not been certified and evaluated are considered “Operators-in-Training.”
• Operators-in-Training cannot operate without supervision.
• Operators-in-Training must be monitored at all times by a trainer who meets established criteria.

Associated Training Services (ATS) and ATS Specialized can help you meet both of these requirements. ATS has been training, certifying and evaluating equipment operators since 1959. Let ATS help you develop your operator certification and evaluation programs to ensure you are in compliance with all of the requirements of the new OSHA crane rule.

For more information, please contact Peter at 608-354-0723 or peter.k@atsdigs.com.  Thank you for your time and consideration.

On February 7, 2014, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a proposed rule to extend the compliance date for crane operator certification requirements. This would give three more years to both the certification and phase-in requirements that ensure crane operators are qualified to operate the equipment. It is a good thing, but it’s better to just go ahead and get your crane operator certification now.

Associated Training Services offers training for the CCO certification exams and we endorse the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) national certification program. The NCCCO program is designed to provide a complete assessment of knowledge and skills for those who work in, with, and around cranes. It shows you are a recognized professional crane operator.

We think you should get your NCCCO Certification if you are going to operate a crane, pure and simple. It shows you know what you are doing, it keeps everyone safer on the job, and employers are more likely to choose you over other job applicants. Even though the OSHA deadlines are extended, you know they are coming so why wait?

Crane operators are in high demand and those who are well-trained make very good money. We are one of the biggest crane operator schools in the country and our Certified Crane Operator Program will give you the experience and training you need to get that higher wage. Our training includes experience with fixed cab and swingcab mobile hydraulic cranes and a whole lot more. You learn how to operate a crane professionally, and you get your NCCCO Certification by the time you complete your training. You will be ahead of the pack scrambling to meet the new OSHA deadline and in a good position to be hired.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is one of the most powerful U.S federal agencies, charged with inspecting businesses and ensuring that the workforce is a safe place to work. Richard Nixon signed the OSH Act into law in 1970. Since then, work-related deaths and injuries have been reduced by nearly 65 percent. Learn more on Obtaining OSHA training and qualifications.

One of the important functions of OSHA is to approve training programs like ATS’s Rigging and Signalperson qualification and certification courses.

The most important certification you can have in the heavy equipment industry is certification in safety.

We at ATS feel that safety is a top priority on the job site because if workers can’t be protected from accidents and unsafe working conditions, then it will be difficult to fill important and essential jobs. Employers will find it harder to keep well-qualified personnel on the machinery they need to complete important work.

The nation’s roads and bridges are built and maintained by heavy equipment operators. If working conditions are not safe, how long will it be before the national infrastructure crumbles?

OSHA fulfills a very important function. That’s why we’re proud to offer OSHA-compliant training that teaches the best and safest practices on the job site. We wouldn’t have it any other way.