Safety and Occupational Health (OSHA)
This domain tests OSHA construction standards under 29 CFR 1926, the Focus Four hazards, competent-person duties, and Nebraska enforcement. Expect fall protection thresholds, excavation rules, scaffold and ladder requirements, PPE, and recordkeeping.
Core rules and concepts
- The Focus Four are falls, struck-by, caught-in/between, and electrical hazards. Fall protection is generally required at 6 feet in construction, with guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall-arrest systems.
- Excavations 5 feet or deeper require a protective system unless a competent person determines stable rock; a competent person must inspect daily and after rain. Access within 25 feet of workers is required for trenches 4 feet or deeper.
- Scaffolds require guardrails and proper footings; employees must be trained. Ladders need extension above the landing and secure footing.
- Private-sector construction in Nebraska is enforced by federal OSHA; Nebraska has a state plan covering state and local government employees. Injury records, training, and hazard communication are required.
Worked example
A crew digs a 6-foot-deep utility trench with vertical walls and no shoring. A competent person has not classified the soil. The employer is cited for failing to provide a protective system and for lack of daily inspection. The 5-foot trigger is the key fact; a 4-foot trench would instead trigger stairway, ladder, or ramp access rules.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing a competent person with a qualified person; applying the 6-foot fall threshold to all work; missing the 5-foot excavation trigger; assuming Nebraska has no public-employee OSHA coverage; and failing to document inspections.
Key point: thresholds and competent-person duties are heavily tested.