OSHA 511 cheat sheet

The OSH Act was signed December 29, 1970; federal OSHA began operating April 28, 1971.

Section 5(a)(1), the General Duty Clause, requires employers to furnish a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm; it is applied where no specific standard covers the hazard.

Standard parts: 29 CFR 1910 general industry, 1926 construction, 1915 shipyards/marine terminals, 1904 injury and illness recordkeeping.

Inspection priority order: imminent danger, fatality or catastrophe (three or more employees hospitalized), valid employee complaint or referral, programmed inspection, follow-up inspection.

A citation must be posted at or near the place of the violation for 3 working days or until the hazard is abated, whichever is longer.

Section 11(c) anti-retaliation complaints must be filed with OSHA within 30 days of the adverse action.

A state plan must be at least as effective as the federal program; federal OSHA approves and monitors state-plan states.

Penalty categories are other-than-serious, serious, willful, repeated, and failure to abate; dollar amounts are adjusted annually for inflation.

Partial exemption applies to establishments with 10 or fewer employees at all times during the prior year and to industries listed in Appendix A to Subpart B.

A case is recordable if it involves death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant injury or illness diagnosed by a physician or licensed health care professional.

Enter each recordable case on the OSHA 300 Log within 7 calendar days of learning of it; complete a 301 Incident Report for each case.

The 300A Annual Summary must be certified by a company executive and posted from February 1 through April 30.

Retain the 300 Log, 301 reports, and 300A summaries for 5 years following the calendar year they cover.

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

First aid items excluded from recording under 1904.7(b)(5) include nonprescription medications, tetanus shots, wound coverings, hot or cold therapy, massage, and drinking fluids for heat relief.

A sharps injury log is required for percutaneous injuries from contaminated sharps under the bloodborne pathogens standard, 1910.1030.

For privacy concern cases, enter 'privacy case' on the 300 Log instead of the employee's name and keep a separate confidential list.

Under 1910.28, general industry employers must provide fall protection when employees are exposed to falls of 4 feet or more to a lower level (construction trigger is 6 feet).

Guardrail systems require a top rail 42 inches plus or minus 3 inches above the surface, a midrail at approximately 21 inches, and a toe board at least 3.5 inches high.

Hole covers must support at least twice the weight of employees, equipment, and materials and must be marked 'HOLE' or 'COVER'.

Non-self-supporting portable ladders are set at a 4-to-1 slope (1 foot out per 4 feet of working length) and must extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing.

Fixed ladders 24 feet or more in length require a personal fall arrest system or ladder safety system; new cage installations are no longer permitted, and existing cages must be replaced by November 18, 2036.

Personal fall arrest anchors must support 5,000 pounds per attached employee, or be designed by a qualified person with a safety factor of at least two; maximum arrest force on the body is 1,800 pounds.

Damaged or defective ladders must be removed from service; metal ladders are not used where they may contact energized electrical equipment.

Training under 1910.30 is required before initial assignment and must be repeated when changes or inadequate employee performance indicate a need.

Housekeeping under 1910.22 requires workrooms to be clean, orderly, and dry, with clear aisles and no protruding objects or accumulation of debris.

Under 1910.333(a), exposed live parts must be de-energized before work unless de-energizing is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations; lockout and a verified test for absence of voltage are then required.

For equipment rated 600 volts or less, working space must be at least 30 inches wide, 36 inches deep, and 6.5 feet high.

Unqualified persons must not cross the limited approach boundary; qualified persons must not cross the restricted approach boundary except with appropriate PPE and insulated tools.

Flexible cords and cables may not be used as a substitute for fixed wiring, may not run through walls, ceilings, or floors, and must be protected from strain and damage.

A qualified person is one trained and knowledgeable in the construction and operation of electrical equipment and the hazards involved, permitted to work on or near exposed energized parts.

GFCI protection is required for temporary wiring receptacles and protects personnel by opening the circuit at a current imbalance of roughly 4 to 6 milliamps.

Damaged cords, tools, and equipment must be removed from service; portable electric tools must be visually inspected and have proper grounding or double insulation.

PPE under 1910.335 includes eye and face protection, insulated gloves rated for the voltage, and nonconductive clothing and head protection.

Electrical training under 1910.332 covers both qualified and unqualified persons and must address safety-related work practices and hazards.

1910.212 requires one or more methods of machine guarding to protect the operator and other employees from point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, and flying chips or sparks.

Guards must be affixed to the machine where possible and must prevent hands, arms, and other body parts from entering the danger area, based on guard opening size and distance to the hazard.

1910.147 applies to servicing and maintenance where unexpected energization, startup, or release of stored energy could cause injury; it does not cover normal production operations.

The LOTO sequence: prepare, notify affected employees, shut down, isolate energy sources, apply locks and tags, release or restrain stored energy, then verify isolation.

Energy control procedures are required in writing except for equipment with a single energy source, a simple lockout, and no stored energy that could injure.

Each energy control procedure must be inspected at least annually by an authorized employee and the inspection certified with the date, equipment, and employees involved.

Lockout/tagout does not apply when equipment is unplugged and the plug stays under the exclusive control of the employee doing the servicing.

Tags are warning devices only and provide no physical restraint; if a tag cannot be applied with a lock, additional means must be used to ensure isolation.

Training covers authorized, affected, and other employees, and retraining is required when job assignments, equipment, or energy control procedures change.

1910.1200 requires a written hazard communication program, a list of hazardous chemicals, labels and other warnings, safety data sheets, and employee training.

Container labels must include the product identifier, hazard pictograms, signal word, hazard statements, precautionary statements, and supplier identification.

The safety data sheet has a standardized 16-section format; section 4 covers first aid and section 8 covers exposure controls and personal protection.

Portable (secondary) containers must be labeled unless the material is dispensed for immediate use by the employee who dispensed it.

PPE selection begins with a hazard assessment, documented in a written certification under 1910.132(d); training covers when PPE is needed, what to wear, how to don and adjust it, limitations, and care.

Employers must pay for required PPE, except non-specialty safety-toe footwear and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear that employees may wear off the job.

Hearing conservation is triggered at the 85 dBA 8-hour time-weighted average action level; the PEL is 90 dBA with a 5 dB exchange rate.

Respirator users need a medical evaluation before fit testing or use, and fit testing is repeated at least annually for each respirator model, style, and size.

Eye and face protection must meet ANSI/ISEA Z87.1, and PPE must be inspected, maintained, and replaced when defective.

1910.176 requires clear aisles and passageways, stable and secure stacking, and sufficient clearance for mechanical handling equipment.

Powered industrial truck operators must be trained and evaluated, with refresher training and evaluation at least every three years or after an accident, near miss, or unsafe operation.

A permit-required confined space has a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment potential, converging walls, or another recognized serious hazard; entry requires a permit, attendant, entrants, and an entry supervisor.

Pre-entry and periodic atmospheric testing must show oxygen between 19.5 and 23.5 percent, flammable gas or vapor below 10 percent of the LEL, and other contaminants within exposure limits.

Confined space entry permits must be canceled when entry work is completed or a prohibited condition arises, and retained for at least one year.

Class A fire extinguishers must be within 75 feet of employees and Class B extinguishers within 50 feet, with monthly visual inspections and annual maintenance checks under 1910.157.

Compressed gas cylinders must be secured upright, separated from oxidizing gases, and kept away from heat and ignition sources under 1910.101.

Overhead and gantry cranes (1910.179) and slings (1910.184) require periodic inspection, rated capacity markings, and removal of defective rigging from service.

Where an employer has employees with occupational exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials, a written exposure control plan is required under 1910.1030.