---
kind: "section"
citation: "29 C.F.R. § 1915.508"
title: "29"
number: "1915.508"
heading: "Training."
url: "https://uscodex.org/cfr/29/1915.508"
---

# §1915.508. Training.

- (a) The employer must train employees in the applicable requirements of this section:
  - (1) Within 90 days of December 14, 2004, for employees currently working;
  - (2) Upon initial assignment for new employees; and
  - (3) **When necessary to maintain proficiency for employees previously trained.**
- (b) **Employee training.** The employer must ensure that all employees are trained on:
  - (1) The emergency alarm signals, including system discharge alarms and employee evacuation alarms; and
  - (2) The primary and secondary evacuation routes that employees must use in the event of a fire in the workplace. While all vessels and vessel sections must have a primary evacuation route, a secondary evacuation route is not required when impracticable.
- (c) **Additional training requirements for employees expected to fight incipient stage fires.** The employer must ensure that employees expected to fight incipient stage fires are trained on the following:
  - (1) The general principles of using fire extinguishers or hose lines, the hazards involved with incipient firefighting, and the procedures used to reduce these hazards;
  - (2) The hazards associated with fixed and portable fire protection systems that employees may use or to which they may be exposed during discharge of those systems; and
  - (3) The activation and operation of fixed and portable fire protection systems that the employer expects employees to use in the workplace.
- (d) **Additional training requirements for shipyard employees designated for fire response.** The employer must:
  - (1) Have a written training policy stating that fire response employees must be trained and capable of carrying out their duties and responsibilities at all times;
  - (2) Keep written standard operating procedures that address anticipated emergency operations and update these procedures as necessary;
  - (3) Review fire response employee training programs and hands-on sessions before they are used in fire response training to make sure that fire response employees are protected from hazards associated with fire response training;
  - (4) Provide training for fire response employees that ensures they are capable of carrying out their duties and responsibilities under the employer's standard operating procedures;
  - (5) Train new fire response employees before they engage in emergency operations;
  - (6) At least quarterly, provide training on the written operating procedures to fire response employees who are expected to fight fires;
  - (7) Use qualified instructors to conduct the training;
  - (8) Conduct any training that involves live fire response exercises in accordance with NFPA 1403-2002 Standard on Live Fire Training Evolutions (incorporated by reference, see [§ 1915.5](/cfr/29/1915.5.md));
  - (9) Conduct semi-annual drills according to the employer's written procedures for fire response employees that cover site-specific operations, occupancies, buildings, vessels and vessel sections, and fire-related hazards; and
  - (10) **Prohibit the use of smoke generating devices that create a dangerous atmosphere in training exercises.**
- (e) **Additional training requirements for fire watch duty.**
  - (1) The employer must ensure that each fire watch is trained by an instructor with adequate fire watch knowledge and experience to cover the items as follows:
    - (i) Before being assigned to fire watch duty;
    - (ii) Whenever there is a change in operations that presents a new or different hazard;
    - (iii) Whenever the employer has reason to believe that the fire watch's knowledge, skills, or understanding of the training previously provided is inadequate; and
    - (iv) **Annually.**
  - (2) The employer must ensure that each employee who stands fire watch duty is trained in:
    - (i) The basics of fire behavior, the different classes of fire and of extinguishing agents, the stages of fire, and methods for extinguishing fires;
    - (ii) Extinguishing live fire scenarios whenever allowed by local and federal law;
    - (iii) The recognition of the adverse health effects that may be caused by exposure to fire;
    - (iv) The physical characteristics of the hot work area;
    - (v) The hazards associated with fire watch duties;
    - (vi) The personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to perform fire watch duties safely;
    - (vii) The use of PPE;
    - (viii) The selection and use of any fire extinguishers and fire hoses likely to be used by a fire watch in the work area;
    - (ix) The location and use of barriers;
    - (x) The means of communication designated by the employer for fire watches;
    - (xi) When and how to start fire alarm procedures; and
    - (xii) **The employer's evacuation plan.**
  - (3) The employer must ensure that each fire watch is trained to alert others to exit the space whenever:
    - (i) The fire watch perceives an unsafe condition;
    - (ii) The fire watch perceives that a worker performing hot work is in danger;
    - (iii) The employer or a representative of the employer orders an evacuation; or
    - (iv) **An evacuation signal, such as an alarm, is activated.**
- (f) **Records.** The employer must keep records that demonstrate that employees have been trained as required by [paragraphs (a) through (e)](#a..e) of this section.
  - (1) The employer must ensure that the records include the employee's name; the trainer's name; the type of training; and the date(s) on which the training took place.
  - (2) The employer must keep each training record for one year from the time it was made or until it is replaced with a new training record, whichever is shorter, and make it available for inspection and copying by OSHA on request.

## Notes

### Source

Source: 69 FR 55702, Sept. 15, 2004, unless otherwise noted.

### Authority

Authority: 33 U.S.C. 941; 29 U.S.C. 653, 655, 657; Secretary of Labor's Order No. 12-71 (36 FR 8754); 8-76 (41 FR 25059), 9-83 (48 FR 35736), 1-90 (55 FR 9033), 6-96 (62 FR 111), 3-2000 (65 FR 50017), 5-2002 (67 FR 65008), 5-2007 (72 FR 31160), 4-2010 (75 FR 55355), 1-2012 (77 FR 3912), or 8-2020 (85 FR 58393); 29 CFR part 1911; and 5 U.S.C. 553, as applicable.

### Source

Source: 47 FR 16986, Apr. 20, 1982, unless otherwise noted.