A certified OSHA trainer who plead guilty to selling fake OSHA training cards faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
According to the Department of Justice, training agent Mark Dropal sold more than 100 fraudulent training cards for about $200 each to carpenters in New York and New Jersey between Feb. 21 and March 11, 2018.
OSHA 10 training provides construction industry workers with knowledge and skills in occupational safety standards. A training card is issued to prove that the cardholder has completed and passed, a 10-hour Outreach Training Program (OTP).
The OTP trains workers on the recognition, avoidance, abatement, and prevention of workplace hazards. The voluntary program also provides information on workers' rights, employer responsibilities, and how to file a complaint.
"Falsifying documents not only undermines the program, it fails to protect workers on the job,” said OSHA Regional Administrator Richard Mendelson. "OSHA's outreach training serves to educate workers about safety issues they will encounter on the jobsite."
Mendelson said any other trainers caught falsifying information will also be subject to criminal prosecution.