Soap Warehouse Blog

This was the a talk I gave last year at some local and National industry events. I wanted to give a short outline of the steps and then give a link where you can ask for and get my eBook taken from that talk.

First why do you have to have training at all. Well OSHA, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, was given the power back in 1970 by the United States Government to put in place rules and guidelines, called standards that all employers must follow to insure the safety & health of their employees while on the job.

There are over 100 standards in the OSHA Act of 1970 and many of these concern training. OSHA wants employers to give 10 to 30 hours of safety training to employees depending on the type of work they do. Most only need to have 10 hours of basic training in the General Industry category but with pressure washing contractors many job tasks would also fall under the Construction category with even a few falling under the advanced designation and needing to complete 30 hours instead of 10. The best way to know where your business falls would be to contact your local OSHA office and speak with an agent. Go to www.OSHA.gov to find the closest location to you.

Here are the main steps.

1. Create a written Safety Program.
2. Have and provide any and all needed PPE, Personal Protective Equipment, to employees.
3. Have individual training materials for each employee.
4. Hold training as needed and directed by the OSHA standards.
5. Have employees sign that they have received training and take tests to evaluate what they learned.
6. Keep sign in sheets, testing results and records up to date.
7. Post and make accessible any required materials, including Right to Know posters, SDS binders, etc. to employees during work hours.

Types of training to cover in the basic 10 hour or extended 30 hour training sessions for General Industry or Construction:

• Employee Right to Know
• SDS's and labels
• Equipment Safety - Can be general or specific, ex: Ladder Safety
• Chemical Safety - Can have different levels to this, ex: Chemical Spills
• Fork Lift Safety
• Scissor Lift Safety
• Confined Spaces
• Defensive Driving 

To get a copy of our 17 page eBook please go here. http://info.soapwarehouse.biz/how-to-set-up-osha-training

Although it was a little later in the year for the annual Power Washers of North America convention, so that it could coinside with CETA in Orlando, FL, it was a good event.

We again were a sponsor, an exhibitor and this year a speaker for not one but two breakout classes.

This year on Saturday November 1st was the day for the paid PWNA certification classes to be held. There were seven different classes in all covering many aspects of pressure washing; Wood Restoration, Fleet Washing, Roof Cleaning, House Washing, Kitchen Exhaust Cleaning, Flatwork and even an OSHA Lift Certification.

Held again for the third year at the Embassy Suites Orlando – Lake Buena Vista South hotel, attendees enjoyed, nighty happy hours, good food, great accomidations and of course pleanty of local activities for the families of the attendees.

The two classes I gave were on "Chemical Safety" and "How to set up for OSHA training".

Both of which are often overlooked and interconected topics. I hope to give these classes again next year and at other events. We also had little supprise gifts for the attendees of corded safety ear plugs, and a mini container of bandaids. 

Soap Warehouse gave to the PWNA auction two 10 lb pails of the product of the winners choice to help raise funds for the PWNA general fund. The bidding winners were; Jonathan Fister who chose our Truck Wash Powder and Jay Jenkins who chose our Hard Surface Cleaner Powder.

Our Booth Drawing Prize was a professional 1 minute video valued at $795 that was won by Bill Mahan of Liquid Corp Services.

 I hope to get to see and meet more Soap Warehouse customers at our next event.