Safety
The foreperson's role
Safety questions test judgment as much as regulation recall. The foreperson is responsible for identifying hazards before work begins, verifying controls are in place, and stopping work when conditions are unsafe. Know the hierarchy of controls: eliminate the hazard, substitute a safer method, engineer the control (guardrails, ventilation), administer it (procedures, training, rotation), and finally rely on personal protective equipment. PPE is the last line, never the first.
Core topics
- Hazard assessment and pre-task planning: identify energy sources, fall exposures, and struck-by risks before mobilization.
- Fall protection: understand when it is required and that anchor points must be rated and inspected.
- Excavation: protective systems for trenches, safe access and egress, and keeping spoils and equipment back from the edge.
- Electrical and lockout: verify zero energy before work on energized systems.
- Housekeeping and access: clear walking paths, controlled material storage.
- Incident response: secure the scene, care for the injured, report promptly, preserve evidence.
Traps
Questions often offer a control that is lower on the hierarchy than the correct one - for example, issuing respirators instead of providing ventilation. Another trap is assuming a hazard is acceptable because "we've always done it this way." A third is treating near misses as non-events; they are free lessons and must be reported.
Worked example
A crew must work near an open excavation edge. The correct sequence is to eliminate the need to approach (reroute access), then engineer a control (barricade and guardrail set back from the edge), then administer (briefing, signage), then PPE. If a worker raises a concern, work stops until the concern is resolved.
Rule of thumb
If you would not let your own crew member do it without a control in place, stop the work.
Quality and Contract Administration
Quality concepts
Quality means conformance to the contract documents: drawings, specifications, and referenced standards. Understand the inspection and test plan, hold points (work cannot proceed until inspection is passed), and witness points. Know the three-phase quality approach: preparatory (review requirements before work), initial (inspect the first work in place), and follow-up (verify ongoing compliance). First-work inspection is the highest-value control because it catches systemic errors before they repeat.
Contract administration
Know the purpose of core documents. An RFI seeks clarification of the contract documents. A submittal demonstrates compliance and is reviewed for information, not as a substitute for design responsibility. A change order modifies scope, price, or time and requires authorization. A daily report records labor, equipment, weather, deliveries, visitors, and events. A nonconformance report documents work that fails to meet requirements and triggers disposition.
Traps
- Proceeding past a hold point because the inspector is late; the hold point still applies.
- Treating an approved submittal as permission to deviate from the specification.
- Performing extra work on a verbal request without written authorization.
- Failing to record verbal direction in the daily report.
- Reworking a defect before documenting it, destroying the evidence needed for disposition.
Worked example
Concrete formwork is ready, but the reinforcing inspection has not occurred and it is a hold point. The correct action is to notify the responsible party, record the delay in the daily report, and wait. Placing concrete to protect the schedule converts a delay into a nonconformance and a potential removal-and-replacement cost.
Rule of thumb
If it is not written down, it did not happen. Document daily, and never pass a hold point.