Occupational Safety and Health in Construction
Legal and organisational basis
Occupational safety in construction rests on the employer's duty to provide a safe workplace, instruction and training of workers, and the mandatory availability of protective equipment. Candidates must know the roles of the safety officer, the responsible work supervisor, and the permit-to-work (наряд-допуск) system for high-risk works.
High-risk works
Work at height, excavation, crane operations, electrical work, and hot work require a permit-to-work, a briefing, and defined protective measures. Know the thresholds: work at height is generally above 1.3 m with fall protection required, and excavation deeper than 1.5 m requires shoring or sloping. Crane operation requires a signalman and exclusion zones.
Site safety traps
- Assuming a briefing once given covers all subsequent tasks; each new task needs a fresh briefing.
- Confusing collective protection (guardrails, nets) with personal protective equipment.
- Forgetting that scaffolds must be inspected and tagged before use and after alteration.
- Overlooking electrical safety near overhead lines - defined clearance zones apply.
Worked example
An excavation 2.0 m deep in sandy soil without shoring. Because depth exceeds 1.5 m, the question expects shoring or safe sloping, plus a permit-to-work and daily inspection. The correct answer is not "proceed with caution" but "stop and install protection".
Rule of thumb
For any high-risk task, ask four questions: permit, briefing, protection, supervision. If any is missing, the work must not start.