Frequently Asked Questions

In general yes, but we strongly recommend to run the courses on a laptop or a desktop computer to minimize the chance of not being able to follow either the narrative or properly see the graphics, especially on courses with videos on demand.

It depends. For PDH courses there is no time limit to complete the course. For OSHA and other safety courses, you have 6 months to complete the training. For SST and other NYC DOB training, you have 12 months to complete the courses.

You must have an internet enabled device to complete any of the training. Some of our training uses facial biometric recognition software to ensure that the person taking the training is the one who will receive the Certificate of Completion. If asked, you must allow access to your device camera or the training will be stopped. Not having access to a device with a camera is not a valid reason to request a refund. You also must have a high speed internet connection to access the courses that use videos on demand, or Zoom webinars.

We recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome web browser, but the software will work on any latest revision browser. Please note that Internet Explorer is no longer a supported browser and some features may not work.

Please double check your credit card and other details. In case your payment is still not going through, please contact us so we can arrange other form of payment

At the checkout there is a box to enter the coupon discount code. In case the code is not active please contact us and we will arrange for another code to be issued to you

For PDH courses: In an unlikely case your PDH credit is not accepted by your state licensing board, please send us a copy of the rejection letter and we will arrange for you to take another course up to the same value / PDH credit

For other online and in-person courses, please see our Refund and Cancellation Policy

You are able to preview most of our on-demand courses and decide if a specific course meets your learning goals before purchasing. Once you have purchased a course, you will be able to take the quiz and, after successful completion of the course, will receive a Certificate of Completion

Please retain all your Certificates of Completion for the duration as mandated by your state. In case you misplace your certificates, you can always log in to your PDH STAR account and retrieve the certificates for the courses you have completed. We also keep a copy of your certificates for the duration of time mandated by your state or licensing authority.

All your purchased courses should be showing in your account profile page. In case there are some courses missing please get in touch with us and we will investigate and correct any errors from our side. To help us rectify any errors in a more efficient manner please forward the confirmation email you have received after purchasing and taking the course and the quiz

In case you are interested in becoming an instructor please get in touch with us via email at contact@pdhstar.com. In general, we are always looking for qualified instructors. For PDH courses you must be a licensed Professional Engineer with minimum 15 years of experience, and have your own original course material. For SST, OSHA and other safety courses, you must be an OSHA Authorized Outreach Instructor, and have any other required certification to teach the courses you want to apply for.

PDH refers to Professional Development Hours, educational units used to fulfill continuing education requirements for licensure. 1 PDH hour means that an activity that the trainee is undertaking lasts for one hour. Most of state engineering boards define 1 PDH hour as a 50 minute minimum learning activity

Continuing Education typically refers to additional learning activities as means to stay on top of latest developments and trends in an industry. For Professional Engineers, Continuing Education is required by most state Engineering Boards with varying minimum annual requirements. You can see the state by state requirements on our State Requirements page.

CEUs are Continuing Education Units created in the 1970 after IACET (International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training) and the U.S. Department of Education task force studied the measurement of non-credit continuing education activities. The continuing education unit (CEU) was designed to:

• Provide a standard unit of measurement for continuing education and training,
• Quantify continuing education and training (CE/T) activities, and
• Accommodate for the diversity of providers, activities, and purposes in adult education.

1 CEU is equivalent to 10 PDH hours, so a 2 PDH course would equal 0.2 CEUs.

Yes and no. CPD, or Continuous Professional Development is a term some engineering Boards used interchangeably with PDH. However, CPD refers to a professional’s development while PDH is the duration of that Continuous Professional Development, or CPD. CPD Hours or CPD Credits are generally the same as PDHs, and are terms used by some engineering licensing Boards.

According to NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering), CPC or Continuing Professional Competency is any qualifying course or activity with a clear purpose and objective which will maintain, improve, or expand the skills and knowledge relevant to the licensee’s field of practice. So, while PDH refers to Professional Development Hours, CPC refers to a competency, or an activity that will help develop a competency.

Yes. All states allow online courses, although to a varying degree. Most states allow on-demand online courses and educational activities, as long as they contribute to the professional practice of professional engineering or land surveying. The course topic must be related to professional practice and contribute to the development or maintenance of professional knowledge. PDH STAR on-demand online PDH courses satisfy this requirement. Some state, like New York, require that part of the required PDHs be obtained through live or interactive learning activities, with access to the instructor. PDH STAR live and interactive webinars satisfy this requirement.

State of Ohio requires part of the PDHs to be obtained through “timed and monitored” activities, where ongoing trainee participation is required. PDH STAR Timed and Monitored courses and On-Demand Webinars meet these requirements.

Although not mandatory, OSHA recommends outreach courses as an orientation to occupational safety and health for workers. However, some states (for example New York and Nevada) have enacted laws mandating the training for certain types of projects. Also, some employers, unions, organizations or other jurisdictions may also require this training.

No. There is no minimum age requirement to participate in Outreach Training Program classes.

You will receive your Certificate of Completion immediately upon completing the course. Your certificate will be available for download in your learning account on our web site.

To obtain a replacement 10- or 30-hour student completion card, students must contact their trainer. The trainer will contact the authorizing OSHA training organization. Replacement cards may only be issued for training which took place within the last 5 years.

Outreach Training Program trainers are required to issue student course completion cards directly to the student within 90 days of class completion. If you completed an Outreach Training Program 10- or 30-hour class and did not receive your completion card within 90 days, contact your Outreach trainer.

Although there is no expiry date for an OSHA card, some states and local jurisdiction, as well as some employers may require you to retake the training every 3 to 5 years. In New York City, for the purpose of obtaining a Site Safety Training (SST) card, the OSHA card must be less than 5 years old.

OSHA-authorized trainers issue student course completion cards to individuals that successfully complete an OSHA Outreach Training Program class. The Outreach Training Program offers 10-hour or 30-hour classes for Construction, General industry, Maritime, and a 15-hour class for Disaster Site Worker. In order to obtain an OSHA card, an individual must attend and successfully complete the entire class, including all requisite topics and the minimum number of contact hours. Please note that an OSHA card is not considered a certification or license.

SST Training is a New York City Department of Buildings safety training program required under NYC Local Law 196 of 2017. All construction and demolition workers on a job site that requires a Site Safety Plan are required to have either a Supervisor or Site Safety SST Card.

SST training is a safety training program for New York City construction workers that is required under NYC Local Law 196 of 2017. Construction and demolition workers are now required to have an SST Worker card or SST Supervisor card to enter any NYC jobsite with a Site Safety Plan.

Local Law 196 of 2017 requires that construction and demolition workers on job sites with a Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator, or Site Safety Manager must have a minimum of 40 hours of training.

Workers on construction sites with a designated Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator, or Site Safety Manager need minimum of 40 hours of training to obtain a Site Safety SST or Worker SST card.

Local Law 196 of 2017, requires Site Safety Supervisors at construction sites that require a Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator or Site Safety Manager receive 62 hours of site safety training (SST). This only includes Site Safety Managers, Site Safety Coordinators, Concrete Safety Managers, Construction Superintendents and Competent Persons designated by Construction Superintendents.

NYC Local Law 196 was enacted into law in October 2017. The new Site Safety Training requirements were rolled out in three phases. The final phase, which took effect March 1, 2021, requires workers to have a 40-hour SST Site Safety “Worker” card. Supervisors must hold a 62-hour SST Supervisor card.

To obtain the Supervisor SST card, you must complete the following training:

All of the above training can be done online through an NYC DOB approved SST course provider. PDH STAR is an approved SST course provider with a license number 6M86. Please be aware that the 30-Hour OSHA Construction Industry online training must be actively proctored – PDH STAR online OSHA course satisfies the requirements for active proctoring and is acceptable in New York City and New York State.

Construction workers can earn their SST card in several ways. The list of required courses will vary depending on your training history and when you started work in the NYC construction industry.

If you were employed in the NYC construction industry before December 1, 2019, the DOB considers you a current worker. Workers who started after that date are called new entrants.

Site Safety Training Course List for Current Workers

Current workers have two options for getting their SST card. If you already have an OSHA 30 card, you must complete 10 additional hours of DOB-approved Site Safety Training. A separate course curriculum is available to workers who have an OSHA 10 card.

Site Safety Training Course List for New Entrants

New entrants include any workers who joined the NYC construction industry after December 1, 2019. These workers must complete the OSHA 10-Hour course before they start the job. And within six months of starting work, they need to complete an additional 30 hours of Site Safety Training courses to get an SST card.

New entrants can earn their SST card with the following courses:

• 10-Hour OSHA Outreach Training for Construction
• 8-Hour Fall Prevention
• 8-Hour Site Safety Manager Refresher/Chapter 33
• 4-Hour Supported Scaffold User and Refresher
• 2-Hour Drug and Alcohol Awareness
• 4 hours of General Electives
• 4 hours of Special Electives

Yes. All SST courses can be taken online through an NYC DOB approved course provider (PDH STAR is an approved course provider by the New York City Department of Buildings). Be careful, only actively proctored courses are acceptable – all of PDH STAR courses satisfy the NYC DOB requirements.

All SST cards are valid for five (5) years from date of issue. After five years, the cardholder must take a refresher course to obtain a new SST card.

SST card acronym stands for Site Safety Training Card. Full SST, also known as Worker SST card, is officially called Site Safety SST card. Local Law 196 of 2017 requires that construction and demolition workers on job sites with a Construction Superintendent, Site Safety Coordinator, or Site Safety Manager must have a total of 40 hours of training. The 40 hours of required training can be obtained in two ways:

• Workers with a valid OSHA 30 card need to complete the following training:

A training program is required under the safety and health program and is also part of the site Health & Safety Program (HASP). This training must be provided to all employees who will work on the site such as equipment operators, general laborers, and supervisors or managers who may have exposure to hazardous substances.

Before performing any work on a hazardous waste site, the employer must provide its employees with initial training based on the tasks and operations that employees will perform and the exposures they are anticipated to experience.

Training makes employees aware of the potential hazards they may encounter and provides the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their work with minimal risk to their own, and other employees’, safety and health. Both supervisors and employees must be trained to recognize hazards and to prevent them; to select, care for, and use respirators properly, as well as other types of PPE; to understand engineering controls and their use; to use proper decontamination procedures; to understand the emergency response plan, medical surveillance requirements, confined space entry procedures, spill containment program, and any appropriate work practices. Employees also must know the names of personnel and their alternates responsible for site safety and health. Site personnel who are expected to respond to emergency situations at the site must receive additional training in how to respond to anticipated emergencies (e.g., fires/explosions, hazardous spills, etc.).

Below is the training requirements for workers, as per the OSHA 1910.120(e)(3) rule:

General site employees (e.g., equipment operators, general laborers, etc.):

• 40 hour Initial training (HAZWOPER 40)
• 8 hours annual refresher (HAZWOPER 8 HOUR REFRESHER)

Employees occasionally on site for a limited task (e.g., groundwater monitoring, land surveying, etc.) with minimal exposure

• 24 hours initial training (HAZWOPER 24)
• 8 hours annual refresher (HAZWOPER 8 HOUR REFRESHER)

Employees regularly on site who are not exposed to health hazards

• 24 hours initial training (HAZWOPER 24)
• 8 hours annual refresher (HAZWOPER 8 HOUR REFRESHER)

For Supervisors/Managers, the training requirements per the OSHA 1910.120(e)(4) rule is as follows:

Supervisors of general site employees (e.g., equipment operators, general laborers, etc.)

• 40 hours initial training (HAZWOPER 40)
• 8 hours annual refresher (HAZWOPER 8 HOUR REFRESHER)

Supervisors of employees occasionally on site for a limited task (e.g., groundwater monitoring, land surveying, etc.) with minimal exposure

• 24 hours initial training (HAZWOPER 24)
• 8 hours annual refresher (HAZWOPER 8 HOUR REFRESHER)

Supervisors of employees regularly on site who are not exposed to health hazards

• 24 hours initial training (HAZWOPER 24)
• 8 hours annual refresher (HAZWOPER 8 HOUR REFRESHER)

In addition to the above minimum training requirements, both Workers and Supervisors/Managers require additional site based training provided by their employer. For additional details please refer to OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120(e)(3) and 1910.120(e)(4).

If you are required to complete the 40 hour HAZWOPER training or 24 hour HAZWOPER training, you must take the 8 hour HAZWOPER Refresher training course annually as required by OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120.

Workers and Supervisors must complete 8 hours of HAZWOPER Refresher training within 12 months of the date of their previous HAZWOPER training. Employees who fail to complete the refresher training on time may need to repeat their initial training.