North Carolina OSHA FAQs

Almost all private sector businesses in North Carolina must comply with the safety and health requirements set forth in the North Carolina State Plan. Wherever North Carolina OSHA standards differ from federal OSHA standards, North Carolina employers must comply with state-specific rules.

Some employees are outside of NC OSHA’s jurisdiction and therefore must comply with federal OSHA regulations. Workers who are exempt from NC OSHA training include:

• Federal employees
• USPS workers
• Offshore maritime workers
• Workers employed on Indian reservations
• Railroad employees
• Workers employed on military bases
• American National Red Cross employees

Our North Caroline OSHA courses are designed to satisfy North Carolina’s occupational safety and health standards included in 29 CFR 1952.5. Workers and supervisors are required to complete OSHA training in order to satisfy state regulations and work for employers that are legally obligated to comply with North Carolina safety and health requirements.

OSHA is the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. At the federal level, OSHA creates standards that ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers all over the country.

Some states, such as North Carolina, have created State Plans. These plans are OSHA-approved workplace safety and health programs that the state individually operates. North Carolina operates a state plan with additional requirements not covered by federal OSHA standards.

North Carolina follows all federal OSHA standards with the exception of some unique standards found in the North Carolina State Plan. A list of industry-specific standards unique to North Carolina’s State Plan can be found below.

General Industry

• Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution
• Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response
• Communication Towers

Construction

• Personal Protective Equipment and Life-Saving Equipment
• Steel Erection
• Bloodborne Pathogens
• Communication Towers
• Blasting and Use of Explosives
• Non-Ionizing Radiation

Agriculture

• Field Sanitation

The NC OSH Division of the North Carolina Department of Labor is responsible for enforcing all OSHA standards in North Carolina. Compliance officers inspect workplaces and issue citations for violations of standards. For more information about NC OSH and the work they do, visit the North Carolina OSHA State Plan page.

According to the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Act, employees have the right to file complaints about workplace safety and health hazards. You can file a complaint online, by phone or by mail.

Employees have the right to file a complaint without being subject to discrimination associated with the complaint. For more information, visit the NC DOL’s Safety and Health Complaint or Concern page.

The North Carolina OSHA portion of the course includes nine end-of-module quizzes and a final exam. Each quiz has five questions, and you have an unlimited number of attempts to score an 80% or higher.

The final exam contains 20 questions. To pass the exam, you must earn a score of 70% or higher. Like the quizzes, you can retake the exam as many times as needed until you pass, without having to pay or re-register.

This training program also includes a 10- or 30-hour OSHA-authorized course on safety and health topics under federal OSHA.

Once you have successfully completed your North Carolina OSHA courses, your certificate of completion will be available for instant download. You will also have instant access to your OSHA Outreach training certificate, which you can provide to your employer as proof of training while you wait for your OSHA 10 or 30 card to arrive in the mail.

The North Carolina OSHA training takes at least three hours to complete. In addition to the state-specific portion of the course, you will also complete 10 or 30 hours of OSHA Outreach training, which covers federal safety and health topics and provides an official OSHA DOL card.

The 10-hour OSHA course is designed for entry-level workers, and the 30-hour program is designed for supervisors and workers with safety responsibilities. Because OSHA requires students to spend no more than 7.5 hours per day in Outreach training, it will take you at least two days to complete 10-hour training and at least four days to complete 30-hour training. Time you spend in the NC OSHA portion of the course is not counted toward your daily limit.

Yes. You must complete North Carolina OSHA training within 90 days of registering for the course. You have up to 180 days to complete the OSHA Outreach portion of your training. To find the exact dates that your courses will expire, check your course dashboard.

The OSHA Outreach Training Program teaches workers how to identify and avoid common safety and health risks in the workplace. It also explains employer responsibilities and workers' rights under OSHA. This training is available in industry-specific versions for construction and general industry.

OSHA 10-hour courses are designed for entry-level workers, and 30-hour courses are designed for supervisors and workers with safety roles or responsibilities.

Each course module ends with a brief quiz. To continue to the next section, you need to score at least 70% on the quiz. You have up to three attempts to pass each quiz.

If you do not pass any given quiz in three tries, you will be locked out of the course. You will need to repurchase the course and start over.

After you complete all course modules, you must pass the 20-question final exam. You have up to three attempts to pass the final exam with a score of 70% or higher. If you do not achieve a passing score after three attempts, you will need to repurchase for the course and start from the beginning.

Whether you are taking 10- or 30-hour OSHA training, OSHA has mandated that students spend no more than 7.5 hours per day in the course. This means it will take you at least two days to complete 10-hour OSHA training and at least four days to complete 30-hour OSHA training.

There is no time limit for NC OSHA training, so any time you spend in that course will not count toward your 7.5-hour daily limit.

Once you have successfully completed OSHA-authorized Outreach training, you can instantly download and print your certificate of completion. You can provide the certificate to your employer as proof of training completion while you wait for your OSHA card to be printed and delivered.

Your official OSHA DOL wallet card will arrive by mail approximately six to eight weeks after you complete the course and successfully pass the final exam.

No, your NC OSHA certificate and OSHA DOL card will never expire. Some employers may require you to complete refresher training every few years to ensure you are up to date on workplace safety and health protocols. You should speak to your employer to learn more about specific requirements for refresher training.