Completed entirely online.
Who Should take this course?
This 24 Hour EM 385-1-1 training is a course that covers select topics from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Safety and Health Requirements Manual. This training is intended for employees in a supervisory position, such as managers, supervisors, or team leads employed on projects contracted with the US Department of Defense.
All workers who are contracted to work on US Department of Defense projects must be trained in the EM 385 training elements determined by the Site Safety and Health Officer (SSHO).
Depending on the work site where you are employed, supplemental training may be required, and will be determined by the SSHO.
The objectives of this 24-hour EM 385 course are to meet the general training requirements for employees and contractors in a supervisory position, including managers, supervisors, and team leads, to work on sites that require US Army Core of Engineering (USACE) EM-385 training for work contracted by the US Department of Defense (DoD).
Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Following the completion of all training content and achievement of passing scores on all exams, students must complete a brief course evaluation and confirm his/her identity. After doing so the student will have access to the course completion certificate.
This course has 1 final exam.
This course has one final exam following the completion of all of the course sections. Students must complete all sections before they can access the final exam.
The final exam consists of 25 questions randomly selected from a large pool of questions. A 70% score or better is required to pass each exam. Students who do not pass the exam the first time may retake the exam as many times as necessary in order to pass.
This course is intended to help workers meet the basic training requirements for work on sites contracted with the US Department of Defense (DOD), which are addressed in the US Army Corps of Engineers manual, EM-385-1-1.
Depending on the work site where you are employed, your specific role on the work site, or additional requirements specified in EM 385, supplemental training may be required.
The Site Safety and Health Officer is responsible for informing you of any training you may need for your specific job.
Workers must receive additional training, when required by Federal, State, or local regulations, on the specific hazards of their job. Additional training in the use of any personal protective equipment or clothing used as part of emergency response is required and should be provided by your employer.
Training Providers should be used to ensure credibility and augment a company’s training program. Therefore, in addition to the training provided by an outside party, a student should receive site-specific training supplied by his or her employer. This training should target the company’s unique approach to hazard prevention, including the use of site-specific equipment, health and safety policies, and emergency procedures. This company-specific training should be well documented.
To be qualified as a Site Safety and Health Office (SSHO), one must complete one of the following, depending on whether the worksite is considered a General Industry or Construction Industry site:
In addition, an SSHO must have the following proof of employment, depending on whether the worksite is considered a General Industry or Construction Industry site:
* This training may be web-based if the student is able to directly ask questions of the instructor by chat or phone.
‡ Appendix Q of the EM 385-1-1 document provides a list of qualifying certifications.
Completion of EM-385 training is one element of several required for a Collateral Duty Safety Officer (CDSO). Additional training requirements include:
Alternatively, one can take a USACE-instructed or provided (e.g., Prospect classes) 30-hour OSHA General Industry safety class or 30-hour Construction Industry safety class. This will satisfy all training material in the bullet points above, except for local SOPs and information.
We're excited to announce that this course is now available in HTML 5, making it more compatible with the browser on your mobile device (e.g., smartphone or tablet). This course requires only the most recent version of your mobile device's web browser.
Mobile versions of this sort of training are new, but below are some Pros and Cons that we have noticed during our extensive testing.
During our testing we really noticed that tablets work much better than smartphones, simply due to their screen size.
Because this is a Beta Version of our course, you may encounter some issues as we work out the kinks.
While HTML5 makes taking this course on mobile devices possible, not all mobile browsers are optimized for HTML5, meaning you may not have complete functionality. If you have difficulty taking this course using the browser on your mobile device, you may need to use a different browser.
Test the functionality of your browser using HTML5 and compare it to the performance of other browsers. If you find other browsers are more compatible than your own, you may want to make the switch.
Below are some frequently asked questions specific to this course.
The EM 385 training can be taken online. Keep in mind that you may require additional, site-specific or hazard-specific training as required by your employer prior to working at the job site. This is the case regardless of whether a student takes the course online or in the classroom.
Some students may progress through the course quickly, while others may take longer to complete the training. The course should take around 40 hours to complete.
Students have 12 months to start their training from the time they enroll in an online course.
Take up to 12 months to complete your online training, at your own pace and schedule.
No, our courses are designed so you can start and stop as needed, allowing you to break the training up over a longer period of time. Our system will keep track of your progress, enabling you to resume where you left off upon your next login. It is important that once you start a section, you complete that section or you will need to start that section over from the beginning upon your return.
Yes, you can take the online portion by signing in with your username and password from any location and computer with high-speed internet access. However, each computer does need to meet our Basic System Requirements for viewing our online courses.
Yes, once you have completed a course, you are able to download, save or print a certificate of completion from your student account. Certificates are created in a pdf format. Users must have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader before attempting to download the completion certificate.
Yes, in addition to the pdf certificate, this course also comes with a PVC wallet ID card with optional photo. ID cards are mailed from our Main Office in Southern California via U.S. Postal Service to anywhere in the United States. Addresses outside the U.S. may incur additional postage fees. Wallet ID cards are created and mailed either the same or next business day, depending on what time the course is completed. Please allow for appropriate mail time, as this may vary by location.