Safety, Health and Environmental Compliance
The regulatory frame
U.S. construction safety runs through OSHA Part 1926, with injury recording under Part 1904. Expect questions on the Focus Four - falls, struck-by, caught-in/between, and electrocution - and on the thresholds that separate them. General fall protection in construction is triggered at 6 feet. Scaffolds generally require fall protection at 10 feet. Excavation protective systems are required at 5 feet unless a competent person determines the ground is stable. Trenches 4 feet or deeper require a means of egress within 25 feet of lateral travel. Know the competent-person concept (designated authority to take prompt corrective action) versus a qualified person, plus hazard communication, PPE, ladders, crane and rigging operations, silica controls, and hot work permits.
Health and environment
Understand NPDES construction stormwater permits and SWPPP implementation, spill prevention and response, asbestos and lead requirements in renovation, and waste characterization and disposal.
Traps
Examiners exploit threshold confusion: 4, 5, 6, and 10 feet blur together, as do 25 feet of lateral travel. Another trap treats a competent person as merely experienced, when the standard requires designated authority. Recording rules are tested often: fatalities must be reported within 8 hours; in-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and loss of an eye within 24 hours; recordable cases entered on the OSHA 300 log within 7 calendar days.
Rule of thumb
When asked who is responsible for on-site safety enforcement, the answer is the employer, exercised through the superintendent and competent person. Safety obligations are not transferred by subcontract.