OSHA 30 Construction cheat sheet

The Occupational Safety and Health Act was signed December 29, 1970, and took effect April 28, 1971; OSHA operates within the U.S. Department of Labor.

Construction is regulated under 29 CFR Part 1926, general industry under Part 1910, and agriculture under Part 1928.

Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause, requires each employer to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm where no specific standard applies.

Employers must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours.

Inspection priority order: imminent danger, fatality or catastrophe, valid employee complaint, referral, then programmed inspection.

Employee rights include requesting an inspection, accompanying the compliance officer, reviewing injury records, and protection from retaliation under Section 11(c).

Establishments with more than 10 employees must keep the OSHA 300 log and record newly discovered recordable cases within 7 calendar days.

An OSHA-approved State Plan must be at least as effective as federal OSHA and must cover private-sector employees.

Citations must be posted at or near the place of the violation until abatement is verified or for 3 working days, whichever is longer.

29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1): an employee on a walking/working surface with an unprotected side or edge 6 feet or more above a lower level must be protected by guardrail system, safety net system, or personal fall arrest system.

Fall protection trigger heights differ by activity: 6 feet for most construction, 10 feet for scaffolds, 15 feet for steel erection, and any height above dangerous equipment.

Guardrail systems use a top rail at 42 inches plus or minus 3 inches and a midrail at approximately 21 inches, withstanding 200 pounds on the top rail and 150 pounds on the midrail.

A personal fall arrest system consists of a full-body harness, connecting means, and anchorage rated at 5,000 pounds per employee or designed with a safety factor of at least 2.

Personal fall arrest systems must limit free fall to 6 feet, limit arresting force on the body to 1,800 pounds, and stop the employee within a deceleration distance of 3.5 feet.

Hole covers must be secured against displacement and support at least twice the weight of employees, equipment, and materials imposed on them.

Warning lines used during roofing work are erected at least 6 feet from the unprotected edge and use stanchions supporting at least 16 pounds.

Controlled access zones, safety monitoring systems, and designated areas are fall protection options permitted only in the specific situations listed in 1926.501.

Fall arrest equipment must be inspected before each use and removed from service after any impact loading or visible damage.

Struck-by hazards are grouped into flying objects, falling objects, swinging objects, and rolling objects.

Hard hats are required wherever employees are exposed to falling or flying objects or to electrical shock and burn hazards (1926.100).

Employees must never work or walk beneath a suspended load; tag lines control loads from outside the fall zone.

The swing radius of a crane superstructure or excavator house must be barricaded so employees cannot enter the pinch area.

Equipment operators must have an unobstructed view of travel paths; use spotters, horns, and backup alarms, and travel in reverse only when the area is confirmed clear.

Flaggers and employees exposed to vehicular traffic must wear high-visibility warning garments (1926.201).

Materials must be stacked, cross-tied, and secured so they cannot slide, collapse, or tip; hand tools used at height are secured with lanyards or tethers.

Where falling objects are a hazard above workers, protection such as toeboards, screens, debris nets, or canopies must be provided (1926.501(c)).

Employees must not position themselves between a piece of heavy equipment and a fixed object such as a wall or stockpile.

Caught-in or caught-between injuries result from being crushed, pinched, squeezed, or amputated between parts of equipment, structures, or collapsing material.

Trench and excavation collapses are the leading cause of caught-in fatalities in construction work.

Machine guards must remain in place; 1926.300 requires guarding of belts, gears, pulleys, sprockets, chains, and points of operation.

1926.417 requires that energy sources be locked out and tagged out during repair, maintenance, servicing, or adjustment.

Loose clothing, jewelry, and long hair must be secured whenever working near rotating or moving equipment.

Excavations 5 feet or deeper require a protective system, and spoil piles and equipment must be kept at least 2 feet from the edge.

Workers must de-energize and secure equipment before entering hoppers, bins, mixers, or other enclosed components.

Never straddle or reach into an operating attachment; shut down and block equipment before performing maintenance.

Overhead power lines are presumed energized until the utility confirms de-energization and visibly grounds the lines.

1926.1408 sets minimum approach distances for equipment near power lines; for lines rated up to 50 kV the minimum is 10 feet, and the alternative planning option for cranes requires 20 feet for lines up to 350 kV.

Temporary 15- and 20-ampere receptacles on construction sites require GFCI protection or an assured equipment grounding conductor program (1926.404(b)(1)).

Portable and extension cords must have intact insulation, an unbroken grounding pin, no splices, and strain relief at connection points.

Lockout/tagout procedure: de-energize, lock, tag, and verify the absence of voltage with a tester before work; only a qualified person may perform this.

If equipment contacts an energized line, the operator stays inside the cab and warns others away; exit only if fire forces it, by jumping clear and shuffling away.

Electrical equipment must be approved, guarded, and free of recognized hazards, with live parts enclosed to prevent accidental contact.

Portable metal ladders must be kept at least 10 feet from energized power lines and other electrical sources.

Water and damp conditions increase shock severity; keep cords and tools out of standing water and use GFCI protection.

29 CFR 1926.95 requires employers to provide required PPE at no cost to employees, with exceptions for non-specialty safety-toe footwear and non-specialty prescription eyewear.

PPE selection follows a hazard assessment of the work area; defective or damaged equipment must not be used.

Hard hats are required where employees are exposed to head injury from falling or flying objects or from electrical shock or burns (1926.100).

Eye and face protection under 1926.102 includes safety glasses with side shields, goggles, and face shields, and must meet ANSI Z87.1.

Hearing protection is required at or above a 90 dBA 8-hour time-weighted average; a hearing conservation program is triggered above 85 dBA.

Respiratory protection requires a medical evaluation, annual fit testing, training, and a written program when respirators are required.

High-visibility garments are required for flaggers and employees exposed to vehicular traffic.

PPE training must address when protection is necessary, how to don, doff, and adjust it, its limitations, and its care and maintenance.

Personal fall arrest harnesses and lanyards must be inspected before each use.

Crystalline silica under 1926.1153 has a permissible exposure limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter as an 8-hour TWA and an action level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

Silica controls rely on engineering methods such as wet cutting, dust collection, and enclosed cabs before respirators are used.

Asbestos under 1926.1101 has a PEL of 0.1 fibers per cubic centimeter over 8 hours and requires regulated areas, exposure monitoring, and medical surveillance.

Lead under 1926.62 has a PEL of 50 micrograms per cubic meter over 8 hours, with blood lead monitoring and medical removal protection.

Noise under 1926.52 has a PEL of 90 dBA as an 8-hour TWA; exposure above 85 dBA requires a hearing conservation program.

Hazard Communication (1926.59) requires container labeling, safety data sheets, and employee training for every hazardous chemical on site.

Welding stainless steel can generate hexavalent chromium, which has a PEL of 5 micrograms per cubic meter under 1926.1126, and requires ventilation and respiratory protection.

Fuel-powered equipment in enclosed spaces produces carbon monoxide; the atmosphere must be tested and ventilated before and during occupancy.

Heat illness prevention relies on water, rest, shade, and gradual acclimatization; heat stroke is a medical emergency requiring immediate cooling and transport.

Fall protection is required on scaffolds 10 feet or more above a lower level (1926.451(g)); top rails are 38 to 45 inches high with a midrail and toeboards at least 3.5 inches high.

Each scaffold and scaffold platform must support at least 4 times the intended load, or 6 times for suspension scaffolds.

Rated scaffold loads are 25 psf for light duty, 50 psf for medium duty, and 75 psf for heavy duty.

Scaffolds must be erected, moved, or altered only under the supervision of a competent person, on firm footing, plumb, level, and fully planked with gaps no greater than 1 inch.

Access to scaffold platforms must be by ladder, stairway, or ramp; cross braces must never be used as a means of access.

Scaffolds, materials, and conductive items must be kept at least 10 feet from energized power lines.

Portable ladders follow the 4-to-1 rule (base 1 foot out for every 4 feet of working length, about 75 degrees) and must extend 3 feet above the landing.

Stepladders must be fully open and locked, never used as a side-standing ladder, and the top two steps must not be used as a standing level.

Stairways with 4 or more risers, or rising more than 30 inches, require a stairrail or handrail; handrails are 30 to 37 inches above the tread nosing.

1926.652 requires a protective system for excavations 5 feet or deeper unless the competent person determines the excavation is in stable rock; shallower excavations are evaluated by the competent person.

A competent person must inspect excavations and protective systems before each shift, after rainstorms, and after any event that could affect stability.

Spoil piles, equipment, and materials must be kept at least 2 feet back from the edge of an excavation.

Trenches 4 feet or deeper require a ladder, stairway, or ramp for egress placed so lateral travel is no more than 25 feet.

Maximum allowable slopes are 1.5:1 (about 53 degrees) for Type A soil, 1:1 (45 degrees) for Type B, and 0.75:1 (about 34 degrees) for Type C; Type C soil must not be benched.

Underground utilities must be located before digging by calling the state one-call system (811); exposed installations must be protected and supported, and hand digging is used near marked lines.

Hazardous atmospheres must be tested before entry where they may exist, with oxygen between 19.5 and 23.5 percent and flammable gas below 10 percent of the lower explosive limit.

Water accumulation requires a special support system and removal of the water; adjacent structures, sidewalks, and walls must be monitored for cracks and movement.

Walkways crossing excavations 30 inches or wider must have standard guardrails on all open sides.

Under 29 CFR 1926.1400 (Subpart CC), crane operators must be certified or qualified, and signal persons and riggers must be qualified.

A crane must never lift beyond the rated capacity shown on the load chart for its configuration; capacity decreases as radius and boom length increase.

The swing radius of the crane must be barricaded, and employees must stay clear of the counterweight tail swing.

A single designated signal person directs the operator, but any employee may give an emergency stop signal.

Rigging hardware and slings must be inspected before each lift and removed from service if damaged; sling tension increases as the angle from horizontal decreases (multiplier equals 1 divided by the sine of the angle).

Cranes must maintain the minimum approach distance from energized lines under 1926.1408, or the line must be de-energized, grounded, or isolated with a dedicated spotter.

A suspended load must never be left unattended, and no one may ride the load or the hook.

Stored lumber must not exceed 20 feet in height, and must not exceed 16 feet when handled manually; stored materials must be stable and cross-tied.

Abrasive wheel guards must cover the spindle and wheel flanges with the tool rest set no more than 1/8 inch from the wheel; powder-actuated tools may be operated only by trained, authorized employees with eye and hearing protection.