Asbestos training teaches the competent person who has to classify the work. The 5-hour online course covers scope, characteristics, mineral types, health hazards and the four job classes under 29 CFR 1926.1101, the construction standard.
Covers all four classes of asbestos work the standard defines, from removal jobs down to custodial cleanup.
Explains the diseases asbestos causes: asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer and digestive tract cancers.
Includes each of the six asbestos minerals by name, plus a 40-term glossary of the words the standard uses.
The course works through asbestos as a material first, then the four classes of construction work, then what the standard puts on the person your company designates. Short knowledge checks run along the way, and a final exam closes it.
Scope of the asbestos construction standard.
Asbestos characteristics.
The six types of asbestos.
Health hazards of asbestos exposure.
The four classes of asbestos work.
Asbestos terms and definitions.
Exposure limits and assessment.
Medical surveillance.
Regulated areas and engineering controls.
Methods of compliance.
Respiratory protection.
Training requirements.
Clean-up and disposal.
Competent person responsibilities.
OSHA Standard
OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1101
Course Duration
5 hours
Format
100% online, narrated with photos, video, and interactivity
Passing Score
70% on final exam
Certificate
Personalized certificate, printable immediately upon passing
Languages
English and Spanish
Device Compatibility
Desktop, tablet, and smartphone
Progress
Progress saved automatically, stop and restart without losing your place
Accepted
Our courses meet federal standards, but state requirements may vary. Please verify before purchase.
This training is written for the person a company puts in charge when asbestos-containing material turns up on a job, and for the crew working around them.
Construction supervisors and foremen working where asbestos-containing material is present.
The employee your company has designated as competent person for asbestos work.
Safety managers who review asbestos work plans and job site conditions.
Project managers running demolition, renovation or building maintenance jobs.
Crew leads who need to tell Class III repair work from Class I removal.
Maintenance and custodial staff who clean up debris left by asbestos work.
Facility and property managers responsible for buildings with presumed asbestos.
General contractors who need to recognize asbestos work happening on their own site.
Anyone new to the competent person role who needs the asbestos vocabulary first.
Any operation that opens up an older building runs into asbestos eventually. These are the ones that keep a designated competent person on the job.
Demolition contractors taking down commercial and residential structures
Renovation and remodeling firms opening walls and ceilings in older buildings
General construction working in buildings put up before 1981
Industrial plant maintenance crews servicing insulated pipe and equipment
Property management teams maintaining occupied buildings with known asbestos
School district and university facilities departments
Municipal and government construction programs
Manufacturing sites with legacy asbestos in floors, roofing and insulation
Asbestos Competent Person Course or Awareness Course?
What your crew actually does with the material decides which asbestos course they need. Class IV cleanup work and Class I removal are not the same job.
Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person. The page you are on. Five hours, all four classes of asbestos work, and what the standard puts on the person your employer designates. Buy this one for supervisors, foremen and safety managers who have to classify the job.
Asbestos Awareness Course. Two hours, scoped to Class IV work: recognizing asbestos-containing material, staying clear of it and reporting it. Buy this one for maintenance and custodial crews who contact asbestos but are not directed to disturb it. View the Asbestos Awareness Course
Asbestos for the Competent Person – Spanish. The same five-hour competent person course, delivered in Spanish. Buy this one when the person your company designates works in Spanish on site. View the Asbestos for the Competent Person – Spanish
Competent Person Series. Eighteen competent person courses across trenching, scaffolding, fall protection, confined space and more. Start here when one supervisor holds several designations. View the Competent Person Series
The dividing line is whether your crew is directed to disturb asbestos-containing material or only to work around it. Your scope of work should say which classes are in play.
Why Asbestos Training Starts With the Four Job Classes
The four classes are how the standard sorts asbestos work, and where your crew lands decides what the job needs.
Removal work sits in Class I and Class II. The two removal classes split on the material coming out, and that split changes what the job requires. This course draws the line for both.
Repair and maintenance sits in Class III. The class most facility crews live in, where somebody is fixing something else and asbestos is disturbed on the way.
Custodial work sits in Class IV. The lightest-contact class. Working out whether your crew is actually in it is the first thing a supervisor has to settle.
The class decides the rules. Inspection frequency and who has to supervise the work both change with the class. Getting the class wrong changes both at once.
This course defines all four classes so a supervisor can place the job before deciding anything else.
Complete your Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person at your own pace, on any device, with an instant certificate when you're done.
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English
Unlocked progress. Complete modules in any order.
$89.00
Español
Desbloqueado. Completa los módulos en cualquier orden.
$89.00
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Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person.
Yes. Upon passing the final exam with a score of 70% or higher, you can immediately print a certificate of completion. This certificate serves as proof of training for your employer.
Yes. The course is accessible on desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Progress saves automatically on the same device, so you can stop and resume where you left off.
Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person training is an OSHA-compliant safety education program covering OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1101. It provides approximately 5 hours of instruction on asbestos characteristics, health hazards, exposure limits and assessment, types of asbestos, medical surveillance, regulated areas, engineering controls, methods of compliance, respiratory protection, training requirements, job classes, clean-up and disposal, and competent person responsibilities. Upon completion, participants receive a certificate of completion.
OSHA requires that a competent person be present on all job sites where asbestos work is performed. Workers who need this training include supervisors and foremen on demolition, renovation, or construction projects involving asbestos-containing materials, designated competent persons for asbestos operations, safety officers overseeing asbestos work, and anyone responsible for implementing and enforcing asbestos safety protocols on construction sites. Employers must designate a competent person capable of identifying asbestos hazards and taking prompt corrective action.
The course requires approximately 5 hours of instruction time. Because it is self-paced, you can complete it over multiple sessions at your convenience. Most students finish within one to two weeks. Progress is saved automatically, so you can stop and resume on the same device at any time.
The course covers asbestos characteristics and health hazards, exposure limits and assessment procedures, types of asbestos and where they are found, medical surveillance requirements, establishing and maintaining regulated areas, engineering controls and work practices, methods of compliance for all job classes, respiratory protection requirements and programs, OSHA training requirements by job class, Class I through Class IV asbestos work classifications, proper clean-up and disposal procedures, and comprehensive competent person responsibilities including hazard recognition, exposure assessments, inspection requirements, and negative exposure assessments. The course is divided into 10 parts covering these topics in depth.
Yes. eTraining’s Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person course is built directly from OSHA standard 29 CFR 1926.1101 and covers all required competent person responsibilities and knowledge areas. You receive a certificate of completion upon passing that documents your training. The course is accepted by employers and meets OSHA’s requirements for competent person training on asbestos work sites.
According to OSHA 29 CFR 1926.1101, a competent person for asbestos is someone capable of identifying existing asbestos hazards in the workplace and selecting the appropriate control strategy for asbestos exposure, who has the authority to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate hazards. For Class I and Class II work, the competent person must be specially trained in a training course which meets the criteria of EPA’s Model Accreditation Plan for supervisor, or its equivalent. For Class III and Class IV work, the competent person must be trained in a manner consistent with EPA requirements for local education agency maintenance and custodial staff.
Yes. The course covers Class I asbestos work (activities involving the removal of thermal system insulation and surfacing asbestos-containing material), Class II work (activities involving the removal of asbestos-containing material which is not thermal system insulation or surfacing material), Class III work (repair and maintenance operations where asbestos-containing material is likely to be disturbed), and Class IV work (maintenance and custodial activities during which employees contact asbestos-containing materials and debris). Each class has specific requirements and work practices covered in the training.
Yes. This Asbestos Safety for the Competent Person course is designed for supervisors and designated competent persons who need in-depth knowledge of OSHA standards, exposure assessment procedures, all four job classes, and competent person responsibilities. It is approximately 5 hours long. eTraining also offers a shorter Asbestos Safety Awareness Course (approximately 2 hours) designed for workers who need basic asbestos safety awareness but do not have competent person responsibilities. The competent person course goes beyond basic awareness to provide the detailed knowledge necessary to create a safe working environment for others.
The asbestos competent person is responsible for conducting exposure assessments before or at the initiation of asbestos operations, performing or supervising the setup of regulated areas and containment, ensuring the integrity of enclosures and containment through onsite inspection, setting up procedures to control entry and exit from regulated areas, conducting frequent and regular inspections of the job site and equipment, determining if employee exposure monitoring is feasible, identifying jobs likely to exceed permissible exposure limits, supervising all asbestos work performed within regulated areas, and taking prompt corrective action when hazards are identified. The competent person must be present on all asbestos work sites as required by OSHA.
You must score at least 70% on the final exam to pass and receive your certificate of completion. The course includes knowledge-check quizzes that do not count toward your final grade but help prepare you for the exam. If you do not pass on your first attempt, you can retake the exam.
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Used by EHS managers, general contractors and federal site supervisors to keep crews certified on time.
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