Construction Safety
Construction Safety tests OSHA construction standards, hazard recognition, hierarchy of controls, safety programs, and incident response. Expect fall protection, excavations, scaffolds, electrical, cranes, confined spaces, and recordkeeping.
Core rules
- The hierarchy of controls is elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE. PPE is the last line of defense.
- General construction fall protection is required at 6 ft on walking/working surfaces; scaffolds have specific thresholds and guardrail rules.
- Excavations 5 ft or deeper generally require protective systems; a competent person inspects daily and after changes.
- A competent person is trained to identify hazards and authorized to correct them; a qualified person has recognized expertise for design or analysis.
- OSHA 1926 applies to construction. Recordkeeping uses the 300 log, 300A summary, and 301 incident report.
- Incident investigation should find root causes, not just blame the worker.
Worked example. An employee works on an 8-ft elevated platform with no guardrail. Under general construction fall protection, the 6-ft threshold is exceeded. The employer should install guardrails or provide personal fall arrest, train the worker, and inspect the platform. The correction addresses the hazard, not just the individual.
Traps
- Mixing the 6-ft general fall threshold with scaffold thresholds.
- Confusing competent and qualified persons.
- Relying on PPE before engineering controls.
- Failing to record a recordable injury.