OSHA is the federal agency responsible for administering the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, as amended (OSH Act), which was enacted to assure safe and healthful working conditions for the nation’s workers. As authorized by the act, OSHA sets and enforces occupational safety and health standards, which are regulations that set forth specific safety and health requirements with which covered employers must comply. Among its other responsibilities under the OSH Act, OSHA is also required to provide for the establishment and supervision of training programs to help workers and employers recognize, avoid, and prevent workplace safety and health hazards. The Outreach Training Program is the agency’s primary way to offer training for workers in the basics of occupational safety and health, according to OSHA. Outreach Training includes voluntary 10-hour and 30-hour safety courses designed to provide basic hazard awareness training for workers in construction, maritime, and general industry, and a 15-hour course for workers at disaster sites. The training covers how to recognize and prevent hazards on a jobsite, workers’ rights, employers’ responsibilities, and how to file a complaint. The 30-hour courses are intended to provide more in-depth training to workers who have some safety responsibility. Workers that successfully complete an OSHA Outreach Training Program course receive a student course completion card. The student course completion cards in Construction, General Industry, and Disaster Site do not have an expiration date; however, the Maritime Outreach Training student course completion cards expire 5 years after completing the training. While OSHA does not require workers to take its Outreach Training courses, depending on their jobs and where the workers are located, they may be subject to other requirements to show an OSHA course completion card to demonstrate they completed the training. For example, some states, municipalities, unions, and employers may require workers to take an OSHA Outreach Training course as a condition of employment for certain jobs, and OSHA maintains a list of states and municipalities that have such a requirement. According to OSHA’s list, seven states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island), and three municipalities (Miami-Dade County, New York City, and Philadelphia) require certain workers to take some form of OSHA Outreach Training or an equivalent training. For example, all of these states and municipalities require certain workers on public construction projects to take a 10-hour construction safety course. Some, including Nevada and Philadelphia, also require this training for workers on private construction projects. Outreach Training courses are delivered by OSHA-authorized external training providers that receive no funding from OSHA, but instead, rely on tuition and fees from training participants to cover the cost of the training. The types of training providers include Education Centers, which train Outreach trainers to deliver in-person Outreach Training courses to workers, and online training providers. Education Centers: OSHA has nonfinancial cooperative agreements with 27 Education Centers–which are typically universities–to provide occupational safety and health training to workers and employers on behalf of OSHA. The Education Centers have two main roles under the Outreach Training Program: (1) conduct in-person train-the-trainer courses to qualified individuals interested in becoming authorized Outreach trainers; and (2) act as an authorized training organization for the Outreach trainers by monitoring Outreach trainers through records audits and training observations and by processing course completion cards that Outreach trainers request on behalf of the workers who take their courses. OSHA selected the Education Centers through a formal competitive application process. Successful applicants entered into 5-year nonfinancial cooperative agreements with OSHA. Outreach trainers: For in-person training, Education Centers authorize Outreach trainers to provide the training to workers. To become an authorized Outreach trainer, individuals must meet industry safety experience requirements, complete a training course on the applicable OSHA standards, and successfully complete a train- the-trainer course at one of the Education Centers. Outreach trainers are authorized to provide in-person training to workers for 4 years from the date that the trainer course is completed and must successfully complete an update course at an Education Center to maintain authorization. Currently, there are approximately 30,000 authorized Outreach trainers, according to OSHA officials. Online training providers: Online training is provided by nine OSHA- authorized online training providers, including eight companies and one Education Center. OSHA used a multi-phase process to select the current online training providers that is described in OSHA guidance. The guidance provided the requirements for establishing an online Outreach Training course and a process for OSHA authorization. The phases of the process included: (1) submission of a description of the online training program, target audience, and expected impact of the program; (2) submission of a detailed written description of the online training plan; (3) self-verification audit where the online training provider reviews the training against OSHA’s guidance; and (4) OSHA’s review of the completed online training to verify that the program is consistent with OSHA’s guidance. In recent years, OSHA has attempted to change its process for selecting the online training providers, but those attempts have been challenged in court. In 2011 and 2014, the agency issued public solicitations, intending to enter into nonfinancial cooperative agreements or contracts with selected providers. Both solicitations were found to have procedural deficiencies by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims after online training companies challenged them in court. According to OSHA officials, the agency has revised the solicitation to address the court rulings, but no date has been set for issuing the revised solicitation. Currently, the nine online training providers provide OSHA Outreach Training under their 2009 authorization. Participation in the Outreach Training Program has grown substantially over time. The number of workers trained more than quadrupled from 200,522 in fiscal year 2000 to 900,010 in fiscal year 2016. The vast majority of participants take the courses in-person; however, the number of participants taking the courses online has increased in recent years (see fig. 1). In fiscal year 2016, 70 percent of participants took the Outreach Training courses in person, and 30 percent took the courses online. The number of participants taking the courses online increased from 19 percent in fiscal year 2011 to 30 percent in fiscal year 2016. The courses tailored to the construction industry are the most popular. In fiscal year 2016, about 75 percent of the Outreach Training participants took the construction courses, and 24 percent took the general industry courses (see fig. 2). OSHA’s Outreach Training Program reflects attributes of a well-designed training program. GAO’s training guide identifies attributes of a well- designed training program and suggests the kinds of documentation to look for that indicate that a training program has a particular attribute in place. OSHA is not required to follow GAO’s training guide, however, we found that the program’s design reflected at least one indicator for six of the seven attributes of a well-designed training program described in the guide (see table 1). OSHA took steps to design the Outreach Training Program so that workers receive consistent and quality training by using data to identify the content of the training, developing training materials, and issuing detailed requirements for training providers. According to OSHA officials, the content of the training was selected after the agency reviewed data on the leading causes of worker deaths and the most frequently cited OSHA standards. OSHA also developed training materials that training providers can use, including presentations, lesson plans, fact sheets, and tests. In addition, OSHA developed detailed requirements regarding the content and delivery of the training that apply to all Outreach Training providers to improve the quality of the courses and ensure the integrity of its authorized trainers. Specifically, in 2011, OSHA replaced its previous program guidelines with a revised policy document establishing requirements that apply to all Outreach Training providers, including in- person and online training providers. OSHA issued general Outreach Training Program Requirements and separate Industry Procedures for the Construction, General Industry, Maritime, and Disaster Site courses. The requirements and industry-specific procedures identify the learning objectives for the courses, the topics that must be covered, and the amount of time training providers must spend on each topic, among other things. OSHA most recently revised the Outreach Training Program Requirements and industry-specific procedures in January of 2017. OSHA used a combination of centralized and decentralized approaches to design the Outreach Training Program. GAO’s training guide suggests agencies consider the advantages and disadvantages of using centralized and decentralized approaches to designing training programs. Centralizing design can enhance consistency of training content whereas a decentralized approach to training design can enable agencies to tailor training programs to better meet the unique needs of the intended audience. OSHA used a combination of approaches by centrally setting the learning objectives and establishing detailed content requirements, while also allowing training providers to supplement the curriculum to meet the specific needs of their audience. For example, while OSHA requires all Outreach Training courses to include 2 hours of introductory information about OSHA, training providers have some flexibility to develop the rest of the curriculum as long as they cover the required topics and meet the time requirements. Table 2 provides a summary of OSHA’s topic and time requirements for the 10-hour construction Outreach Training course. In addition, although OSHA does not require any accreditation for Outreach Training providers, OSHA’s Directorate of Training and Education, which designed the Outreach Training Program, and several of the online training providers, reported that they are accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET). IACET accreditation involves an audit of the organization’s training program that benchmarks the organization against a national standard called the IACET Standard for Continuing Education and Training.