The “OSHA 10 card” is a course-completion card for the 10-hour class of OSHA’s Outreach Training Program — and under federal law it is voluntary. OSHA’s own program page says it plainly: “It is important to note that this is a voluntary program and does not meet the training requirements for any OSHA standards.” No OSHA standard requires a worker to hold one. Where the card is legally required, the requirement comes from a state statute (usually for public-works projects) or from an employer or contract — the table below lists the state laws we have verified against their official text.

What the class is

OSHA’s program overview defines the audience: “The 10-hour training program is primarily intended for entry level workers.” It is awareness-level training — the same page family is explicit that the program “does not fulfill an employer’s requirement to provide training under specific OSHA standards” — completing it does not make anyone “OSHA certified” for a specific task, forklifts included (see forklift certification , which is a different legal duty entirely).

Classes are delivered by OSHA-authorized outreach trainers — in person or through authorized online providers. The authoritative lists are OSHA’s own: the trainer directory for in-person classes and OSHA’s list of accepted online training providers for online ones; we do not rank or recommend providers (editorial policy ).

The card: who issues it, and the 90-day rule

The card is issued through the student’s trainer, not by an OSHA office, and there is a deadline on trainers: “Outreach Training Program trainers are required to issue student course completion cards directly to the student within 90 days of class completion” — “regardless of who paid for the training.”

Two consequences of the program’s design are worth knowing in advance:

  • There is no FEDERAL register of outreach cards. “OSHA does not keep records of Outreach training classes conducted by authorized trainers.” Verification runs through the trainer who issued the card, or the QR code on plastic cards — OSHA’s FAQ: “The QR code will provide contact information for the OTI Education Center who processed the card and can provide verification of the card.” — and, for Nevada’s construction program, a public completion registry the state is required by statute to keep (NRS 618.977; the other three Nevada programs require provider registries only; we do not link the registry because we have not verified its URL).
  • Replacement is limited. “To obtain a replacement 10-hour or 30-hour card, contact your Outreach trainer.” “A replacement card can only be issued if the class was taken within the last five years and only one replacement card may be issued per student per class.”

Does the OSHA 10 card expire?

Federally, no — OSHA’s outreach FAQ answers this directly: “The student course completion cards in Construction, General Industry, Maritime and Disaster Site do not have an expiration date.”

Two separate limits still matter in practice: the five-year replacement window above (an unreplaceable lost card is not an expired one, but it behaves like a problem all the same), and state law, which can impose its own currency rules on top of the federal program — Connecticut accepts only proof “dated no earlier than five years before the commencement date of such public works project”, and Nevada’s entertainment and convention-services program cards expire 5 years after issuance (NRS 618.9911(4), 618.9929(3)). Some of the mandate statutes below set their own currency rule; most set none. In this table it is Connecticut’s five-year proof rule and Nevada’s entertainment and convention-services five-year card expiry.

Upgrading a 10-hour card to a 30-hour card

OSHA’s FAQ allows it only under narrow conditions: “the same trainer must conduct all of the training, all the training must be completed (from the start of the 10-hour class, to the end of the 30-hour class) within six months, and the student must return the 10-hour card to the trainer”. Otherwise the 30-hour class is taken in full.

Where the card is required by law

Federally the class is voluntary — the mandates below are state statutes, each read from the state legislature’s own publisher on the date shown. Most apply to public-works projects over a dollar threshold, not to all construction; the scope column is the part to read carefully.

StateWho must have itScopeStatute
Nevada (construction)Every non-supervisory construction worker, within 15 days of hire; without a current card the employer “shall suspend or terminate” employment (NRS 618.987)All construction work, public and private — no dollar threshold. Statutory carve-outs: NDOT and its employees (NRS 618.970) and upkeep/maintenance of property holding a certificate of occupancy (NRS 618.957(2)). Supervisors need OSHA 30 insteadNRS 618.983
Nevada (entertainment)Workers (non-supervisory), within 15 days of beginning work on a site; exempt when employed by a single employer under 15 consecutive days (618.9911(1)); the whole program does not apply “to a volunteer or any other person who is not paid to perform work on a site” (618.9907)Entertainment industry — the card is a GENERAL-INDUSTRY OSHA-10 (NRS 618.9902), and it expires 5 years after issuance (618.9911(4))NRS 618.9911(2)
Nevada (convention services)Workers (non-supervisory), within 15 days of hire; volunteers/unpaid persons are outside the program (618.9926), and the “worker” definition excludes persons whose primary occupation is catering, janitorial services, photography, security, or floral decoration (618.9925(1))Convention services — card expires 5 years after issuance (618.9929(3)); accepts a construction-industry OR general-industry course (618.9921/.9922)NRS 618.9929(1)
Nevada (cannabis)Employees (non-supervisory) of cannabis establishments, within 1 YEAR of hire; the establishment pays the cost (618.9948(3)); suspension or termination without a current card (618.9949); “employee” excludes persons whose primary occupation is photography, media, marketing or legal services, and shareholders/officers/board members without an active day-to-day role (618.9942(2))Cannabis establishments — no expiry subsection in the statute; GENERAL-INDUSTRY courses only (618.9943/.9944)NRS 618.9948(1)
New YorkAll laborers, workers, and mechanics on the public work site — “certified prior to performing any work”Public-work contracts where total cost is at least $250,000N.Y. Labor Law § 220-h
ConnecticutEach mechanic, laborer or worker — satisfied by an OSHA 10, an MSHA new-miner program (30 CFR 46), or 10 hours under 29 CFR 1910.268 for telecom employees; ALL proof must be dated within 5 years of the project’s commencement (§ 31-53b(c)), and plumbers/electricians with a 5+-year-old card need an additional 4-hour refresher; proof with the first week’s certified payroll, removal by day 15 without it. Exempt: public service company employees and cargo-only delivery drivers (§ 31-53b(d))Public works only — $1,000,000+ new construction or $100,000+ remodel/repair (per § 31-53(h))Conn. Gen. Stat. § 31-53b
MassachusettsAll employees at the worksite, completed “at the time the employee begins work”; without documentation, “subject to immediate removal”Public works and public-agency building work estimated over $10,000 — the lowest dollar threshold in this table (Missouri and Nevada construction set none at all)M.G.L. c. 30, § 39S
MissouriOn-site employees of contractors and subcontractors, within 60 days of beginning work; contractor forfeits $2,500 plus $100 per employee per calendar day of noncomplianceAll public-works construction — NO dollar threshold. Excluded: public-utility work under PSC jurisdiction and rail grade-crossing projects (§ 292.675.8–.9)§ 292.675 RSMo
Rhode IslandOn-site employees of all contractors; the card must be carried “on their person at all times” while work is performed. Administrative penalty $250–$950 per offense per day (§ 37-23-8). Outside the program: sales representatives, vendors and materials/product deliverers (§ 37-23-3(a)); exempt: law-enforcement traffic/security and government inspectors (§ 37-23-4)Municipal and state construction projects of $100,000 or moreR.I. Gen. Laws § 37-23-1
West VirginiaAny person used, employed or assigned to the work site, within 21 calendar days — and anyone on site fewer than 21 consecutive days is exempt entirely (§ 21-3-22(c)); also exempt: law-enforcement traffic control, government employees/inspectors, and material suppliers/delivery-only personnel (§ 21-3-22(i)). $100–$1,000 civil penalty per violation; presenting a falsified card is a misdemeanorPublic-improvement contracts over $50,000W. Va. Code § 21-3-22
New HampshireAll on-site employees, “prior to beginning work”; removal by day 15 of noncompliance; up to $2,500 plus $100 per employee per day. Exempt (RSA 277:5-a IV): law enforcement on traffic/security, DOT-trained flaggers, government employees/inspectors, and persons not on the site of work under Davis-Bacon rulesState-funded public work or building projects of $100,000 or moreN.H. RSA 277:5-a

Nevada is the outlier to understand: it alone reaches private work, through four separate programs (construction, entertainment, convention services, cannabis) with different card types, deadlines and expiry rules — every other statute here reaches only public projects. Its construction program sets no dollar threshold but does carve out NDOT work and occupied-property upkeep (NRS 618.970, 618.957(2)). Missouri is the other boundary case: public-works only, but with no dollar threshold at all.

Statutory exemptions are summarized in the who-column where the statute states them — they are part of the rule, not fine print (West Virginia’s under-21-days carve-out removes many short-stint workers entirely). Always read the linked text before concluding coverage either way.

Every row is verified against the official statute text as of the date shown. This is a verified list, not a proof of absence elsewhere: a state’s absence means we have not verified a mandate there from an official source — the table only ever grows from fetched statutes, never from secondhand lists.

Searched 2026-08-07: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, Delaware, Maryland, California, Texas and Florida — no statewide OSHA-outreach mandate verifiable from an official source was found for any of them. A state joins the table only when its statute is fetched from the official publisher.

Where city and county law requires it

State statutes are not the whole story — city and county codes are a separate layer, and the three below are each verified against the jurisdiction’s own official code text. (New York City’s older rule 1 RCNY § 3321-01 was repealed in June 2025; the Building Code section is the live requirement.)

JurisdictionWho must have itScopeProvision
New York CityEach construction or demolition worker at building sites requiring a construction superintendent, site safety manager or site safety coordinator (BC 3321.1); the first phase accepted an OSHA 10-hour class, “an OSHA 30-hour class or (iii) a 100-hour training program”; the steady-state requirement is the Site Safety Training (SST) card — “minimum of 40 hours”, valid 5 years — toward which the OSHA classes are creditable components (the 100-hour route stands on its own)Public AND private permitted work meeting the site-safety trigger — the trigger is the superintendent/site-safety designation, not a dollar thresholdNYC Building Code § 3321 (Local Law 196 of 2017)
Philadelphia“all workers performing duties at a construction or demolition site, regardless of their position, shall have completed a course of OSHA 10 training, and carry the card at all times” (A-1001.4(1)); does not apply to delivery persons, design professionals and their staff, special inspectors and similar persons (A-1001.4(3))All PERMITTED construction/demolition work, public and private — no dollar threshold (amended by Bill 180175, approved June 6, 2018)Phila. Code § A-1001.4
Miami-Dade CountyContractors bidding County Construction Contracts must verify by Responsible Contractor Affidavit that “all persons employed by the contractor to perform construction shall have completed, the OSHA 10 Hour safety training course” — the training is due before persons work on the project, not at bid time (§ 2-11.17(5)(a)(i)). Separately, the affidavit requirement itself gates the contract: it “shall not be executed until all requirements of this Section have been fulfilled” (§ 2-11.17(4)(d))County Construction Contracts only. The dollar threshold is recorded BOTH WAYS: Ord. 22-144 (2022) sets the contract definition above $10,000,000 while its proviso applies a $1,000,000 value to the OSHA-10/local-hire duties — the text is genuinely ambiguous about which prong keeps which number. Federally-funded/Davis-Bacon and emergency contracts exemptMiami-Dade Code § 2-11.17 (Ord. 14-26, am. Ord. 22-144)
  • OSHA 30 card — the supervisor-depth class in the same program
  • Forklift certification — a different, mandatory duty under 29 CFR 1910.178 that an OSHA 10 does not satisfy

Sources