How to Check If You Have OSHA 10: Verify, Replace, or Retake

To check if you have an OSHA 10 card, you work through the authorized trainer or OSHA Training Institute (OTI) Education Center that issued it, because OSHA does not keep student records for the Outreach Training Program and has no national database you can search.¹ If the class was within the last five years, the trainer or OTI center can verify your completion and issue a replacement card. If it has been longer than that, or the trainer cannot be located, you will need to retake the course.²

Why OSHA Can’t Look It Up for You

OSHA does not operate or acknowledge any national database for verifying student course completion cards.¹ Each authorized outreach trainer is personally responsible for keeping class records, and that obligation runs for only five years.² Verification always runs through the trainer or the OTI Education Center that processed the card, never through OSHA or the Department of Labor directly.

One related point is worth knowing before you start calling around. The Outreach Training Program is voluntary at the federal level and is not considered a certification by OSHA.² States, cities, and employers may require the card as a condition of employment, but that requirement comes from those bodies, not from OSHA. That is why calls to OSHA about a missing card get redirected to the trainer.

What to Pull Together Before You Ask

The more you can tell a trainer or OTI center, the faster they can find you. Try to gather:

An approximate date of the training, at least the year.
The trainer’s name. The authorized outreach trainer who taught the class is the primary record-keeper.
The training provider or OTI Education Center. OTI Education Centers serve as the Authorizing Training Organizations (ATOs) that process and distribute completion cards to trainers.³
Which track you took. The 10-hour course covers either construction or general industry.
Whether the class was in person or online. Only OSHA-authorized online providers may teach asynchronous outreach classes, and their records are kept separately from in-person trainers.⁴

Check email archives for a registration receipt or confirmation from the provider. If the class was online, your account on the provider’s site may still show your completion record.

If You Still Have the Card

Look at the back of a plastic card. Plastic cards began replacing paper cards in 2016 and carry a QR code.⁵ Scanning it does not open a government database. It shows the contact information for the OTI Education Center that processed the card, and that center can confirm whether the card is authentic.¹

That is useful in two situations. If you have a card and want to know it is real, scanning the code gives you the contact to call. If a site inspector or safety manager needs to check your credentials on the spot, they can do the same. Paper cards do not carry the code, so you would need to reach the trainer or OTI center by other means.

If You Don’t Have the Card

For a lost card or a written record of your training, contact the trainer or OTI Education Center directly. OSHA’s site has a search tool at osha.gov/training/outreach/find-a-trainer that lists authorized trainers for construction, general industry, maritime, and disaster site worker courses.⁶ The same page lists authorized online providers. You can also find OTI Education Centers on the OSHA website.⁷

When you reach them, ask for verification of your completion record or a copy of your training documentation. OTI Education Centers are permitted to charge fees for card-related requests.³ Costs and turnaround times vary, so ask up front.

Replacement Card Rules

Two strict limits apply to replacements. A replacement can only be issued if you completed the class within the last five years.⁸ And only one replacement card may be issued per student per class.⁹ OSHA itself does not issue replacements. That request goes to the original trainer or the ATO.

When the Trainer Is Unreachable

If the trainer has retired, changed careers, or cannot be located, contact the OTI Education Center that authorized them. As the ATO, the center keeps its own records of classes processed through its program.³ If the class was within the last five years, the center may still verify your completion and issue a replacement. If it was longer than five years or the trainer cannot be found, retaking the course is the only path.²

Checking With Your Employer or Union

A current or former employer’s HR department is often the fastest route to a copy of the card. OSHA’s own guidance notes that keeping records of all safety training is a good practice, especially because incident investigators will ask whether affected employees received adequate training.¹⁰ Ask for a review of your personnel file or safety training log.

Union members can ask a local training coordinator or apprenticeship office. Those offices typically keep detailed member training records to meet job-site safety requirements, and a written request can often produce a verified statement of your 10-hour completion.

When You’ll Have to Retake the Class

If more than five years have passed and you cannot locate the trainer or OTI Education Center, OSHA’s guidance is direct: retake the class to receive a new student course completion card.⁹ The same rule applies to the 30-hour course. The five-year window exists because trainers are only required to keep student records for that period; once the records are gone, there is no way to verify the class took place.

Even if you can produce other evidence, an old photo of the card, an employer’s file, or your own copy, card issuance is tied to the trainer’s class records. Without those records, no one is authorized to issue a new card.

A Note on Expiration

OSHA 10 cards do not carry a printed expiration date, and at the federal level the card remains valid indefinitely. Many employers and some local jurisdictions set their own retraining policies, commonly asking for a new card every three to five years. If you work on sites governed by that kind of rule, your card may be treated as outdated for their purposes even though OSHA does not impose an expiration. Completing the 10-hour course also does not satisfy or replace any hazard-specific training requirements OSHA imposes under separate standards.²

Spotting a Fake Card

Fraudulent cards do circulate. Because only OSHA-authorized trainers may teach outreach courses and issue completion cards, the first check is whether the trainer’s name appears on OSHA’s published list of authorized trainers. A training provider that advertised guaranteed employment after completing the course is a red flag for fraud.¹¹

Other practical warning signs include misspellings on the card, missing or non-functional QR codes on what appears to be a plastic card, formatting that does not match legitimate examples, or a cardholder who cannot recall basic details of the training. If you have a plastic card, scanning the QR code and contacting the listed OTI center to confirm the card number is the most reliable check. Suspected fraud can be reported to the Outreach Training Program by emailing outreach@dol.gov or calling 847-725-7804.¹

1
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Outreach Training Program FAQs
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Outreach Training Program – OSHA 10-Hour and 30-Hour Cards
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Training Institute Education Centers Program – Frequently Asked Questions
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OTP Requirements 2024
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. I Recently Completed an Outreach Training Program Class
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Find a Trainer
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Training Institute Education Centers
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. How Do I Get a Replacement Card
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Outreach Training – Where Can I Get a Replacement 10-Hour or 30-Hour Card
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Training Requirements in OSHA Standards
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Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Facts About Obtaining an OSHA Card