possesses the necessary qualifications. See OSHA S TANDARDS I NTERPRETATION L ETTER (Feb. 16, 2010) R E : T RAINER Q UALIFICATIONS UNDER THE HAZWOPER S TANDARD (“T RAINER Q UALIFICATIONS ”) available at https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2010- 02-16-0. For some of its Standards, OSHA has prescribed minimum requirements and qualifications for trainers (whether the trainers are employees of the employer, or not). For example, in OSHA’s Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (“HAZWOPER”) Standard, OSHA mandates that:
Trainers shall be qualified to instruct employees about the subject matter that is being presented in training. Such trainers shall have satisfactorily completed a training program for teaching the subjects they are expected to teach, or they shall have the academic credentials and instructional experience necessary for teaching the subjects. Instructors shall demonstrate competent instructional skills and knowledge of the applicable subject matter.
29 C.F.R. §1910.120(e)(5). When asked to opine on how the agency would evaluate compliance with the above requirement, OSHA responded by stating that, as a general matter, “a trainer must be able to demonstrate proficiency and understanding of the material to be transmitted to the trainees and have some credentials or experience in training others.” See T RAINER Q UALIFICATIONS . Because GWO’s CTPs are subject to an in-depth audit process performed by accredited certification bodies, employers should be able to feel confident that GWO CTPs will meet or exceed OSHA’s test for trainer proficiency, credentials, and experience. IV. USE OF INDUSTRY CONSENSUS STANDARDS TO CREATE LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE JOB SAFETY REQUIREMENTS “OSHA has long relied on industry standards to prove its case in enforcement actions.” William J. Wayhoff, T HE G ENERAL D UTY C LAUSE : H OW D OES OSHA P ROVE ITS C ASE AND W HAT R OLE DO I NDUSTRY S TANDARDS P LAY (“I NDUSTRY S TANDARDS ”) available at https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/labor_law/2018/papers/general-duty- clause.authcheckdam.PDF. As discussed in the opening paragraph of Part II of this memorandum, the General Duty Clause of the OS&H Act requires employers to “furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees.” 29 U.S.C. §654(a)(1). OSHA uses the “catch-all” General Duty Clause “where there is no OSHA standard that applies to the particular hazard involved.” I NDUSTRY S TANDARDS ( citing O CCUPATIONAL
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