OSHA Iowa Online Training
To prevent accidents and injuries at your workplace, you need to understand OSHA standards. With differences on a federal and state level, it can be difficult to navigate your rights and responsibilities. To ensure you're prepared, we’ve put together this guide of the different OSHA standards in Iowa for training, why you need training, and how safety training benefits both employees and employers.
Occupational Safety and Health Jurisdiction in Iowa
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) allows states to assume their own occupational safety and health responsibilities as long as they're "at least as effective" as the federal program.
Iowa has an official state plan that covers all state and local government workers in Iowa, as well as most private sector workers. It adopts OSHA's federal standards and adds the following state-specific standards:
- Sanitation and Shelter Rules for Railroad Workers
- Hazardous Chemical Risks Right to Know - General Provision
The Iowa Occupational Safety and Health Enforcement (Iowa OSHA) is part of the Department of Workforce Development and is responsible for enforcing the state plan. That includes inspections, citations, fines, and investigating complaints on behalf of the people under its jurisdiction.
A small number of Iowans remain under federal OSHA jurisdiction, instead. Specifically:
- Federal employment
- The U.S. Postal Service plus private contractor-operated facilities engaged by USPS
- Maritime operations (ie, shipyards, marine terminals, longshoring)
- Certain agricultural employees and operations
- Federal government-owned and contractor-operated military/munitions facilities
- Bridge construction projects spanning the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers between Iowa and other states
- Working conditions of aircraft cabin crewmembers onboard aircraft in operation
- Any hazard, industry, area, operation, or facility where the State Plan is unable to effectively exercise jurisdiction
OSHA Iowa Training Requirements
Since Iowa adopted most federal standards identically, Iowans will follow similar training requirements regardless of jurisdiction.
OSHA (and therefore IOSHA) requires training on specific safety standards, based on the employee's industry and job. Employers under Iowa jurisdiction will need to train employees in the state's Hazardous Chemical Risks Right to Know provision, while those under federal jurisdiction only need to follow federal OSHA's Hazard Communication rules.
Those in the railroad industry under state jurisdiction may also need to train on Sanitation and Shelter Rules for Railroad Workers.
OSHA Iowa also provides consultation on compliance—including training requirements—for any employers who aren't sure of their training program needs.
Federal OSHA also has Outreach courses (sometimes referred to as "DOL cards") that cover common requirements for your industry. Even though OSHA doesn't require OSHA Outreach training, some employers might. In that case, you’ll either need an OSHA 10-Hour course for entry-level workers or an OSHA 30-Hour course for supervisors.
Benefits of OSHA Iowa Training
While the main goal of OSHA training has always been to reduce workplace injuries and fatalities, employees aren’t the only ones that will benefit from an investment in safety training. Employers can also expect to reap financial benefits when they encourage their employees to complete safety training. Businesses can:
- Avoid penalties from OSHA inspections
- Lower workers’ compensation costs
- Increase productivity and financial performance
If you don’t quite yet believe us that safety training works in reducing jobsite injuries, take a look at the statistics from OSHA, the Department of Labor, and other Iowa agencies.
Fatal Occupational Injuries in Iowa
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were a total of 72 fatal occupational injuries in Iowa in 2017, while nationally there were 5,147 fatal occupational injuries.
Of the 72 fatalities:
- 40 were the result of transportation incidents
- 16 were the result of contact with objects and equipment
- 8 were the result of falls, slips, and trips
- 6 were the result of violence and other injuries by persons or animals
- 1 was the result of fires and explosions
The industries with the greatest number of fatalities were:
- 21 in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting
- 12 in transportation and warehousing
- 10 in construction
2019 Top OSHA Enforcement Cases in Iowa
As you can see, workers in Iowa, especially those in construction, are at a high risk for injury and death. However, employees aren’t the only ones that will benefit from safety training; employers can reduce their risk of OSHA inspection enforcement penalties.
While the federal OSHA website has the top enforcement cases by state on their website, to give you a quick preview of the heavy fines businesses can face, here are the top enforcement cases in Iowa for 2019.
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|State||Inspection Number||Employer||City||Issuance Date||Initial Penalty|
|IA||1371326.015||American Pop Corn Company||SIOUX CITY||04/04/2019||$47,513.00|
|IA||1407698.015||Larson Construction Company, Inc.||CEDAR RAPIDS||07/12/2019||$66,512.00|
|IA||1387005.015||Daybreak Foods Inc.||EAGLE GROVE||08/21/2019||$42,680.00|
|IA||1421180.015||Department of Human Services, State of Iowa||INDEPENDENCE||09/13/2019||$72,770.00|
|IA||1388268.015||Hull Trailers, Inc.||BRADDYVILLE||09/19/2019||$45,065.00|
|IA||1370220.015||O'Neal Manufacturing Services||CEDAR FALLS||02/11/2019||$64,670.00|
Federal and State OSHA Offices in Iowa
Since Iowa employers and workers are divided up into federal and state jurisdiction, there are separate local area offices for state and federal OSHA.
Federal OSHA's local area office in Des Moines covers federal employees, the USPS and its private contractors, private-sector maritime employees, contractor-operated military facilities owned by the federal government, and any bridge construction projects between Iowa and other states.
The rest of the private sector, along with state and local government employees, should contact the state plan office (also in Des Moines), instead.
You can find the most up-to-date contact information for either type of Iowa OSHA office on OSHA's website.
Additional Iowa Resources for Safety Information
In addition to the information we have provided, you can visit additional Iowa state agency and association websites for more information on safety resources.
Iowa Workforce Development (IWD): The IWD provides employment services for job seekers, in addition to helping employers post jobs. The agency also administers several other services, such as workers’ compensation and unemployment.
Iowa Division of Labor: This division is focused on protecting the health, safety, and security of Iowans and manages a variety of programs, including Iowa OSHA, elevators and escalators, asbestos abatement, amusement park rides, and child labor.
Iowa Division of Workers' Compensation: This division provides benefits to employees, as well as general information about workers’ compensation to help workers understand the benefits provides to them.
Enroll Now in OSHA Iowa Training Courses
Now that you understand the importance of OSHA Iowa safety training, all that’s left to do is sign up for your appropriate training course!
You don’t have to look any further than 360training.com for your OSHA training needs. We have over 20 years of experience as an OSHA-authorized training provider, and we offer OSHA 10-Hour Construction, OSHA 30-Hour Construction, OSHA 10-Hour General Industry, and OSHA 30-Hour General Industry to satisfy your OSHA training needs.
Simply select the best course for your needs and start your online course today!