What "OSHA approved" actually means, and why nobody can claim it
OSHA authorises providers. It does not approve courses and it does not certify workers. Anyone telling you otherwise is confused or hoping you are.
You will see "OSHA approved" on a lot of training websites. It is not a thing.
OSHA runs an Outreach Training Program and authorises trainers to deliver it. What it does not do is approve individual courses, certify individual workers, or issue a stamp that a provider can put on a landing page. A worker who completes an authorised 10-hour or 30-hour course receives a Department of Labor card. That card is evidence of training; it is not a licence, and OSHA does not describe the holder as certified.
The reason this matters commercially is that the phrase gets used to paper over exactly the gap that should worry you. A provider claiming their course is OSHA approved is usually not lying about the content — they are avoiding telling you which parts of it are actually recognised, and by whom.
The UK has the same problem in a different accent. "HSE approved" appears on plenty of course pages, and the Health and Safety Executive approves a narrow set of qualifications — offshore first aid, for instance — and almost certainly not the course you are looking at. In practice, UK trust is carried by RoSPA, CPD, IOSH and IIRSM, none of which is the regulator.
None of this means online training is worthless. It means the wording on the tin is doing less work than it appears to. Look for the awarding body by name, and the legislation the course is written against. If a provider will only tell you a regulator's name, they are showing you the wrong thing.