- OSHA
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration — the U.S. Department of Labor agency that sets and enforces workplace safety and health standards.
- OSH Act of 1970
- The federal law that created OSHA and requires employers to provide a safe and healthful workplace.
- General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1))
- Requires every employer to keep the workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm, even when no specific standard applies.
- Section 5(b) of the OSH Act
- The duty on each employee to comply with OSHA standards, rules, and orders that apply to their conduct.
- 29 CFR 1926
- OSHA's safety and health standards for the construction industry, organized into subparts A through CC.
- 29 CFR 1910
- OSHA's general industry standards; some provisions are incorporated into construction work.
- OSHA Outreach Training Program
- Voluntary 10- and 30-hour orientation training delivered by OSHA-authorized trainers; completion earns a DOL student course completion card.
- OSHA 30 vs OSHA 10
- OSHA 30 is the supervisor/management-level course (30 hours, more depth and breadth); OSHA 10 is the entry-level course (10 hours) for workers.
- DOL student course completion card
- The card issued after completing all 30 contact hours and passing the course final; documents training — it is not a certification or license.
- Right to a safe workplace
- A core OSHA worker right: employers must provide a workplace free from recognized serious hazards.
- Right to training you understand
- Workers must receive safety training in a language and manner they can understand.
- Right to file a complaint / request inspection
- Workers may file a confidential complaint and request an OSHA inspection of their workplace.
- Protection from retaliation (Section 11(c))
- It is illegal for an employer to fire, demote, or punish a worker for reporting a hazard or exercising OSHA rights.
- Imminent danger
- A hazard that could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious harm immediately; OSHA's highest inspection priority.
- OSHA inspection priority order
- Imminent danger, then fatalities/catastrophes, then worker complaints/referrals, then programmed inspections of high-hazard industries.
- "It's the Law" poster
- The OSHA poster employers must display to inform workers of their rights and responsibilities under the OSH Act.
- Whistleblower complaint
- A complaint a worker can file with OSHA when punished for exercising a protected safety right.
- Safety and health program
- OSHA's recommended proactive system with seven core elements to find and fix hazards before they cause harm.
- Hazard identification and assessment
- The foundational safety-program element: proactively finding and assessing the hazards that exist or could reasonably be expected on a job.
- Worker participation
- A safety-program element: encouraging hazard reporting and involving workers in finding and fixing hazards, without fear of retaliation.
- Management leadership
- A safety-program element: leaders commit resources, set expectations, and lead by example on safety.
- Hierarchy of controls
- Ranking of hazard controls from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE.
- Elimination
- The most effective control — physically removing the hazard from the workplace.
- Substitution
- Replacing a hazard with a less dangerous alternative (e.g., a water-based product for a solvent-based one).
- Engineering control
- A control that reduces a hazard at the source (ventilation, wet-cutting, guardrails); ranks above administrative controls and PPE.
- Administrative control
- A control that changes how people work (training, signage, rotation, procedures); ranks above PPE but below engineering controls.
- OSHA Form 300 Log
- The Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses that covered employers keep for each recordable case.
- OSHA Form 300A
- The annual summary of recordable injuries and illnesses that must be posted (typically February–April).
- OSHA Form 301
- The individual incident report documenting the details of each recordable injury or illness.
- Report a fatality within 8 hours
- A work-related fatality must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours.
- Report hospitalization/amputation/eye loss within 24 hours
- In-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye must be reported to OSHA within 24 hours.
- Foundations for Safety Leadership
- An OSHA 30 elective teaching frontline supervisors to lead by example and engage workers in spotting and fixing hazards.
- Incident investigation
- Investigating an injury or near miss to determine root causes and prevent recurrence.
- Near miss
- An event that could have caused injury but didn't; a free warning that reveals a hazard to correct.
- Focus Four (Construction Fatal Four)
- The four hazard categories causing most construction deaths: falls, electrocution, struck-by, and caught-in or between.
- Falls
- The #1 cause of construction fatalities; protection is required at 6 feet or more above a lower level in general construction.
- 6-foot fall protection trigger
- Under 29 CFR 1926.501, fall protection is required at 6 feet or more above a lower level in general construction.
- Guardrail system
- A fall barrier with a top rail about 42 inches (±3) above the surface, a midrail, able to withstand a 200-pound force.
- 42-inch guardrail top rail
- The required height (±3 in) of a standard guardrail top rail; a 38-inch rail is non-compliant (below the 39-inch minimum).
- Personal fall arrest system (PFAS)
- A full-body harness, connector, and anchorage that stops a worker after a fall begins, limiting arresting forces.
- Safety net system
- A fall-protection method using nets installed below a work area to catch a falling worker.
- Electrocution
- Death by electric shock; in construction most often from contact with overhead or buried power lines.
- 10-foot power-line clearance
- Keep workers, equipment, scaffolds, and cranes at least 10 feet from energized overhead lines up to 50 kV (more for higher voltage).
- GFCI
- Ground-fault circuit interrupter — quickly shuts off power on a ground fault to protect workers from shock.
- Assured equipment grounding program
- A program of inspections and tests for cords and tools, used as an alternative to GFCIs to protect against shock.
- Struck-by hazard
- Forcible contact with a moving, flying, or falling object — a vehicle, a dropped tool, or a load slipping from a sling.
- Caught-in or between hazard
- An injury where a worker is crushed, pinched, squeezed, or buried (e.g., a trench cave-in or unguarded machinery).
- Struck-by vs caught-in/between
- Struck-by comes from the impact of a moving object; caught-in/between comes from being crushed or trapped.
- High-visibility clothing
- PPE worn in roadway work zones to make workers visible and reduce struck-by hazards from vehicles and equipment.
- Suspended load rule
- Never stand or work under a suspended load; struck-by deaths occur when loads fall from cranes or slings.
- PPE
- Personal protective equipment (hard hats, eye/face, hearing, gloves, respirators); the last line of defense in the hierarchy of controls.
- Employer pays for required PPE
- The employer must provide and pay for required PPE at no cost to the worker, with a few narrow exceptions.
- Hard hat
- Head PPE protecting against impact and falling objects; required where overhead or impact hazards exist.
- Hearing protection
- Earplugs or earmuffs used to control noise exposure from power tools and heavy equipment.
- Impact-rated safety glasses
- Eye PPE rated to protect against flying particles from grinding, cutting, and chipping.
- Wet concrete hazard
- Wet cement is caustic to skin; protect with alkali-resistant gloves and waterproof boots.
- Safety hazard
- A hazard that causes immediate, acute injury — a fall, an electric shock, or being struck by an object.
- Health hazard
- A hazard that harms gradually through exposure — silica, lead, asbestos, noise, chemicals — causing illness over time.
- Respirable crystalline silica
- Fine dust from cutting/grinding concrete and masonry; causes silicosis and lung cancer. Construction PEL is 50 µg/m³ (8-hr TWA).
- Silica PEL (50 µg/m³)
- OSHA's construction permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica as an 8-hour time-weighted average.
- Wet methods / vacuum dust collection
- The preferred engineering controls for silica — suppress or capture dust at the source before it becomes airborne.
- Lead exposure
- A construction health hazard from torch-cutting or sanding lead-painted steel; controlled with engineering controls, monitoring, and respirators.
- Asbestos
- A health hazard from disturbing old pipe insulation in renovation/demolition; causes lung disease and cancer.
- Permissible exposure limit (PEL)
- The maximum legal airborne concentration of a hazardous substance, usually as an 8-hour time-weighted average.
- Welding fume control
- Use local exhaust ventilation or respiratory protection for welding/cutting, especially on galvanized steel (zinc fumes).
- Welding eye protection
- A welding helmet or shield with the correct filter-lens shade for the welding process protects against intense light.
- 19-inch elevation trigger
- A stairway or ladder must be provided at a break in elevation of 19 inches (about 1.5 ft) or more without a ramp or hoist.
- Ladder extends 3 feet above landing
- A portable ladder must extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing surface so workers can grip it stepping off.
- 4-to-1 ladder angle
- Set a straight or extension ladder so the base is 1 foot out for every 4 feet of working height.
- Three points of contact
- Keep two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand, on a ladder at all times; hoist tools rather than carrying them.
- Scaffold
- An elevated, temporary work platform; must be erected, moved, and dismantled under a competent person's supervision.
- Scaffold inspection before each shift
- A competent person must inspect a scaffold for defects before each work shift and after any integrity-affecting event.
- Scaffold load capacity (4×)
- A supported scaffold must hold its own weight plus at least four times the maximum intended load.
- Fully planked platform
- Scaffold platforms must be fully planked or decked, with gaps no wider than about 1 inch except around uprights.
- Scaffold fall protection above 10 ft
- Fall protection is required on a supported scaffold when the platform is more than 10 feet above a lower level.
- 4× base width rule
- A supported scaffold must be tied, guyed, or braced when its height exceeds four times its minimum base width.
- 5-foot excavation trigger
- Cave-in protection is required in any excavation 5 feet or deeper, unless made entirely in stable rock.
- Sloping and benching
- An excavation protective method that cuts back the walls at a safe angle so soil cannot collapse on workers.
- Shoring
- An excavation protective method using supports (e.g., hydraulic jacks) that brace the trench walls to prevent collapse.
- Trench box (shield)
- A protective structure that shields workers inside an excavation from a cave-in by withstanding the collapse force.
- Soil classification
- OSHA's rating of soil from most to least stable: stable rock, Type A, Type B, Type C.
- Type A soil
- Cohesive soil with high unconfined compressive strength (≥1.5 tsf), such as clay — the most stable soil type.
- Type C soil
- The least stable soil (<0.5 tsf) — sand, gravel, or water-bearing soil; soil with water seeping in is automatically Type C.
- Thumb penetration test
- A manual soil test pressing the thumb into a cohesive soil sample to estimate its strength and classification.
- Egress within 25 lateral feet
- A ladder, ramp, or stair must be within 25 lateral feet of workers in a trench 4 feet or deeper.
- Engineer-designed system over 20 ft
- Protective systems for excavations deeper than 20 feet must be designed by a registered professional engineer.
- Daily excavation inspection
- A competent person must inspect an excavation daily before work begins and as conditions change.
- Competent person
- Someone able to identify existing and predictable hazards and authorized to take prompt corrective action to eliminate them.
- Qualified person
- Someone who, by degree, certificate, or extensive experience, has shown the ability to solve problems in a particular subject or work.
- Confined space
- A space large enough to enter and work in, with limited entry/exit, that is not designed for continuous occupancy.
- Permit-required confined space
- A confined space with a serious hazard — hazardous atmosphere, engulfment, entrapping configuration, or other recognized hazard.
- Authorized entrant
- The confined-space role permitted to enter the space; monitors conditions and exits if a hazard arises.
- Attendant
- The confined-space role who stays outside, monitors entrants, and never enters to attempt rescue.
- Entry supervisor
- The confined-space role who authorizes the written entry permit and verifies conditions are safe before entry.
- Atmospheric testing order
- Test a confined space in order: oxygen first, then flammable gases/vapors, then toxic air contaminants.
- Safe oxygen range (19.5%–23.5%)
- Acceptable oxygen content in a confined space; below 19.5% is oxygen-deficient, above 23.5% is oxygen-enriched.
- Non-entry retrieval
- Rescuing a confined-space entrant using a full-body harness and retrieval line from outside, used whenever feasible.
- Fire triangle
- The three elements a fire needs — fuel, oxygen, and heat; removing any one extinguishes the fire.
- PASS method
- Operate a fire extinguisher: Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side.
- Class A fire
- A fire involving ordinary combustibles — wood, paper, cloth, trash, and most plastics.
- Class B fire
- A fire involving flammable liquids and gases — gasoline, oil, grease, solvents, propane.
- Class C fire
- A fire involving energized electrical equipment; use a Class C extinguisher, never water.
- Fire watch
- A trained person stationed during hot work (welding/cutting) near combustibles, equipped with an extinguisher to catch fires.
- Lockout/tagout (LOTO)
- The control of hazardous energy: isolate sources, apply locks and tags, release stored energy, and verify zero energy before servicing.
- Stored (residual) energy
- Hydraulic, pneumatic, spring, gravity, or capacitor energy that must be relieved or restrained during LOTO even after power is off.
- Verify zero energy
- The LOTO step of attempting to start the equipment (then returning controls to off) and testing with instruments before work.
- Crane shift inspection
- A competent person must inspect a crane before each shift it is used.
- Crane operator certification
- Operators of most cranes used in construction must be certified or qualified to operate the equipment.
- Qualified signal person
- One qualified person who directs a crane operator with standard signals when the operator cannot see the load.
- Rated capacity (working load limit)
- The maximum load a sling or rigging hardware may safely carry; never exceed it, and inspect rigging before each use.
- Power tool guarding
- Guards on power tools must be kept in place; removing or disabling a guard exposes the operator to the blade or wheel.
- Powder-actuated tool
- A tool that drives fasteners with an explosive charge; only trained, licensed/qualified operators may use it.
- Bench grinder wheel guard
- A guard enclosing an abrasive wheel to contain fragments if the wheel breaks at high speed.
- Excavation soil egress hazard
- A reminder: workers in deep trenches need safe egress and protection, not just hazard awareness.
- Water, rest, shade
- OSHA's core heat-illness prevention: provide cool water, rest breaks, and shade, and let workers acclimatize.
- Acclimatization
- The body's gradual adjustment to working in heat over days; new and returning workers must rebuild it to avoid heat illness.
- Heat stroke
- A medical emergency marked by hot, dry skin or confusion; cool the worker immediately and call 911.
- Hypothermia (early signs)
- Uncontrollable shivering, fatigue, and fumbling hands signal early hypothermia from cold stress.
- Emergency action plan
- A plan covering how to report emergencies, evacuation routes and exits, and accounting for all employees.
- Head count at assembly point
- After an evacuation, take a head count at the designated assembly area to confirm everyone got out safely.
- Lightning / severe weather response
- Stop outdoor work and move workers to a safe enclosed shelter when lightning or severe weather threatens.
- Control bleeding (direct pressure)
- First aid for a bleeding wound: apply firm direct pressure to control the bleeding.
- Universal precautions (bloodborne)
- Treat all blood and body fluids as if infectious and wear protective barriers (gloves) when giving first aid.
- Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD)
- An injury to muscles, nerves, or joints from awkward posture, repetition, and force; an ergonomic risk.
- Ergonomic engineering control
- Redesigning the task or workstation to fit the worker — the preferred way to reduce musculoskeletal-disorder risk.
- Safe manual lifting
- Lift with the legs, keep the load close to the body, avoid twisting, and use mechanical aids or help for heavy loads.
- Housekeeping
- Keeping walkways clear of debris and clutter to reduce slip, trip, and fall hazards on the jobsite.
- Site safety orientation
- Briefing new workers on the specific hazards and safety rules of a particular jobsite before they start work.
- Distraction / cell-phone policy
- A jobsite rule limiting phone use because distraction can cause workers to miss hazards and lead to accidents.
- Substance-abuse policy
- A jobsite policy addressing impairment from drugs or alcohol, which raises the risk of serious accidents.
- Near-miss reporting
- Reporting events that could have caused serious injury, because they reveal hazards to correct before harm occurs.
- Training in a language workers understand
- OSHA requires safety information and training to be delivered in a language and manner workers can understand.
