ASSP Updates Standards on Safety Training and Hazardous Energy

Dec. 17, 2024

Update includes both in-person and virtual training, vital since start of pandemic.

To help companies better protect workers and improve daily operations, on Dec. 16 ASSP announced it has revised two workplace safety standards. One standard guides the development of effective safety training while the other helps control hazardous energy that can seriously harm workers.

ANSI/ASSP Z490.1-2024, “Criteria for Accepted Practices in Safety, Health and Environmental Training,” explains how to develop and manage safety training programs while providing criteria for incorporating key learning principles. The standard helps an organization evaluate the application and outcomes of training on the job, and document programs to maintain compliance with company policies and regulatory mandates.

“It may sound obvious, but all workers should be trained specifically on safety procedures, and that doesn’t always happen,” said ASSP President Pam Walaski, in a statement “A significant update to this standard is that it now includes both in-person and virtual training, which has become vital since the start of the pandemic.”

ANSI/ASSP Z244.1-2024, “The Control of Hazardous Energy – Lockout, Tagout and Alternative Methods,” establishes requirements that protect workers from the unexpected release of hazardous energy by machines and equipment. The standard calls for the use of lockout, tagout and alternate methods. Examples of hazardous energy include electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal, chemical, stored and gravitational, impacting many work environments across all industries.

“It’s important to isolate or control hazardous energy so the equipment is safe for operation, maintenance and repair,” Walaski said. “There are too many risks that workers are unnecessarily facing.”

Organizations that make worker safety a core value can avoid the economic and reputational costs of incidents involving their workers. Those costs may include medical care, equipment repair, liability, lost productivity, environmental impacts and damage to the company’s reputation.

Voluntary consensus standards provide the latest expert guidance and fill gaps where federal standards don’t exist. Companies rely on them to drive improvement, prevent injuries and support business sustainability. With government regulations being slow to change and often out of date, federal compliance is not sufficient to protect worker well-being.

“Our standards-development committees provide a technical expertise that ensures our standards reflect the latest industry advancements and best safety practices,” Walaski said. “The end result is fewer injuries, illnesses and fatalities on the job.” In its last fiscal year, ASSP created, reaffirmed or revised 15 standards, technical reports and guidance documents, engaging 1,400 safety experts who represented 500 organizations.