Hazard Identification and Control
Content area 1 tests how a technician finds hazards on a construction site, ranks them, and selects controls that hold up during an inspection and after an incident. Items draw on 29 CFR 1926 Subpart C, job hazard analysis, and the hierarchy of controls.
Core rules
- 1926.20(b)(1) requires an accident prevention program; (b)(2) requires frequent and regular inspections of job sites, materials, and equipment by a competent person.
- A competent person (1926.32(f)) identifies existing and predictable hazards and is authorized to take prompt corrective action. A qualified person (1926.32(m)) has a recognized degree, certificate, professional standing, or extensive knowledge. Not interchangeable.
- Hazard inputs: walk-arounds, JHAs, near-miss and first-aid logs, worker reports, pre-task plans, deficiency tags.
- Hierarchy: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, PPE. PPE is last - it protects one worker and depends on fit and correct use.
- Rank by severity times likelihood. Reinspect after controls go in; an unverified control is not a control.
Worked example
A crew frames a two-story addition with a pneumatic nailer, and the air hose crosses the work deck. Hazards: falls, struck-by, puncture wounds, hose trip, noise. Falls and struck-by rank first on severity. Hierarchy applied: build wall panels flat on the deck and tilt them up - that eliminates most elevated nailing. Swap to a battery-powered nailer to delete the hose trip hazard. Add a sequential-actuation trigger as an engineering control, rotate tasks administratively, and issue Z87.1 eye and hearing protection for the residual risk. PPE is added last by design, not chosen first.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing PPE or retraining when a feasible engineering control exists higher in the hierarchy.
- Swapping competent person and qualified person in inspection or design scenarios.
- Reading frequent and regular as annual; the interval tracks site conditions and is often daily.
- Filing the JHA and calling the hazard closed - controls need verification and revision when crews, tasks, or site conditions change.
- Ignoring near-miss data because no one was hurt.