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Do I need OSHA 10 in New Hampshire?

Only for some jobs. When a state agency, a municipality or an instrumentality of one contracts for public work or a public building and the total project cost is $100,000 or more, whoever signs the contract must have an OSHA 10-hour construction safety program for its on-site employees.

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The rule, fact by fact

Who needs it
An OSHA 10-hour program for on-site employees on public work of $100,000 or moreThe duty sits with whoever signs the contract.
Verified. web.archive.org (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Rule
Completion before beginning workTraining that starts after the first day on site doesn't meet this wording.
Same source and date as above
Course hours
An OSHA-approved curriculum, with a card from OSHA for graduatesThe card certifies that the graduate completed the program successfully.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Check three things. Is a state agency, a municipality or an instrumentality of one the contracting party for public work or a public building? Does the total project cost reach $100,000? And are you an on-site employee, not one of the exempt groups?

  2. Step 2. The training has to use an OSHA-approved curriculum. Before you sign up, ask to see the trainer's current Authorized Trainer card.

  3. Step 3. OSHA says the 10-hour class is meant for workers, and the 30-hour class suits supervisors or workers with some safety responsibility. New Hampshire's statute names the 10-hour program and asks employees to finish it before they begin work.

  4. Step 4. A trainer has to issue your card within 90 days of the class. An employee who hasn't completed the program can be removed from the worksite if no documentation shows up by the fifteenth day after the finding of noncompliance. Proof provided by the employer satisfies the rule.

Before you pay

Ask your employer or the contractor who signed the contract whether it already arranges the program, since the statute puts the program on the person signing the contract.

Trainers work independently, and their fees and schedules vary. Compare more than one.

Questions

Who is exempt?

Among them: law enforcement officers on traffic control or jobsite security, flaggers who completed the Department of Transportation training, and relevant federal, state and municipal government employees and inspectors. People not on the site of work under the federal Davis-Bacon Act, such as delivery personnel, are exempt too.

What happens to an employer that skips it?

The labor commissioner can assess a civil penalty of up to $2,500, and an employer is also assessed $100 per employee for each day of noncompliance.

Does the rule reach work that is only partly state-funded?

Yes. The statute applies to public work or a public building paid for in whole or in part with state funds.

Does the card expire?

No. OSHA says construction student course completion cards have no expiration date.

Does OSHA itself require the class?

No. OSHA says its Outreach program is voluntary, and whoever mandates training decides what it accepts.

What to do next

Ask whoever signed your contract whether the project reaches the cost threshold, then pick a trainer from OSHA's Find a Trainer page. The rule is in New Hampshire's OSHA certification statute.

gc.nh.gov

Sources we read