How to Find Your OSHA Certification: Replace and Verify Your Card

To find your OSHA card, go back to the trainer or online provider who taught your 10-hour or 30-hour course. That trainer keeps your student records for five years and is the only party who can request a replacement, because OSHA itself keeps no central database of students and cannot issue you a new card.¹

What the Card Actually Is

The card most people call an “OSHA card” is a student course completion card from the Outreach Training Program. OSHA is explicit that none of these courses count as a certification.² The 10-hour class covers basic hazard awareness for workers. The 30-hour version goes deeper and is aimed at supervisors and people with safety responsibilities. Maritime and Disaster Site Worker versions exist as well.

Not a certification, but often required anyway. Several states and municipalities require an outreach card as a condition of working certain jobs, especially in construction. Losing it can keep you off the site until you replace it.

Pull Together These Details First

Before you contact anyone, gather what you remember about the class. The more you have, the faster the trainer can locate your record:

The trainer’s name or the training organization. If the course was online, the website name works.
The course type: 10-Hour Construction, 30-Hour Construction, 10-Hour General Industry, 30-Hour General Industry, Maritime, or Disaster Site Worker.
The month and year you finished.
The full legal name you used when you enrolled.

If you still have the original card but it’s damaged, the card itself carries most of what you need: your name, the course name, the trainer’s name, the issue date, a unique card number, and the OTI Education Center that processed it. Even a partially readable card is enough to start.

Requesting the Replacement

Contact the trainer directly. Trainers are required to keep student records for five years after the class ends, and they submit the replacement request to their Authorizing Training Organization, which processes and ships the new card.³

For a classroom course, dig through old emails, employer records, or the receipt to find the trainer’s name. Many training organizations have a dedicated replacement request form on their website. For an online course, go back to the provider’s site and look for a “lost card” or “replacement card” page, or contact their support team.

Trainers can charge a fee for the replacement. Expect somewhere in the range of $60 to $90, with delivery taking several weeks.

If You Can’t Find Your Trainer

Trainers retire, companies close, and five years is a long time. Work through these options in order.

Start with OSHA’s online trainer directory at osha.gov/training/outreach/find-a-trainer, which lists currently authorized classroom trainers and online providers.⁴ Seeing the names in one place often jogs the memory. The directory also shows which courses each trainer is authorized to teach.

If the trainer is no longer listed, or the organization has closed, contact the OTI Education Center in your OSHA region. These regional centers process the cards on behalf of trainers and may have records even after a trainer is gone. OSHA’s website maps each state to a regional Education Center, with locations in cities including Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, and Birmingham.⁵

As a last step, email the Outreach Training Program directly at outreach@dol.gov.¹ Include every detail you have: the trainer’s name, where the class took place, the date, and what you’ve already tried. OSHA will not issue the card, but it may be able to point you to the right party.

The Two Rules That Decide Whether You Can Replace It

Two hard limits apply, and both are absolute:

Five-year window. A replacement can be issued only if the training was completed within the last five years. After that, trainers no longer have to keep your records, and you have to retake the course.¹
One replacement per course. You get exactly one replacement card for each class you completed. Lose the replacement and you retake the whole class.¹

The one-replacement rule is the part that catches people off guard. When your new card arrives, photograph both sides and store the images somewhere you won’t lose them.

Maritime Cards

As of April 1, 2019, Maritime student course completion cards do not expire, and cardholders are not required to get a replacement for training completed before that date.² If you do want a replacement, the same five-year window applies and you still contact the original trainer.

Disaster Site Worker Cards

The 7.5-hour and 15-hour Disaster Site Worker courses follow the same replacement procedure. Contact the trainer or online provider, and the same five-year and one-replacement limits apply.²

Proof You Can Use While You Wait

If you need to start a job before the replacement arrives, check whether you kept the training certificate. OSHA encourages trainers to provide a certificate at the end of the class, separate from the official card, so students have proof of completion while the card is processed.¹

Whether the certificate is accepted in place of the card is up to the employer or general contractor. Ask before you assume. Some sites accept only the official card.

Verifying a Card Is Real

If an employer questions whether your card is genuine, there’s a built-in check. Plastic OSHA cards have a QR code on the back. Scanning it brings up contact information for the OTI Education Center that processed the card, and that center can confirm the training happened.¹

OSHA does not operate or recognize any national database website for verifying cards.¹ If a site offers online verification, be skeptical. The QR code and direct contact with the Education Center are the only legitimate methods. You can also confirm whether a trainer was actually authorized through OSHA’s public trainer list.⁶

When Retaking the Course Is the Only Option

If the training is more than five years old, if the trainer has closed and no records can be found, or if you have already used your one replacement, you retake the course. There is no appeal or hardship exception to either rule.

Retaking a 10-hour course is relatively quick. Online options from authorized providers are widely available, and a 10-hour course typically runs about $50 to $90. The 30-hour course costs more and takes longer. OSHA limits daily training to 7.5 hours, so even an online 10-hour class spans at least two days.

When you finish, photograph both sides of the new card and save the trainer’s name and contact information. With the one-replacement limit in place, that backup is the difference between a phone call and paying for the whole course again.

1
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA Outreach Training Program FAQs
2
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Outreach Training Program (OSHA 10-Hour and 30-Hour Cards)
3
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OTP Requirements 2024
4
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Find a Trainer
5
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OTI Education Center Locations
6
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The Facts About Obtaining an OSHA Card