Free OSHA 510 Exam Flashcards

An OTI Education Center course providing an in-depth review of 29 CFR 1926 construction standards, OSHA policy, and the Focus Four hazards. Runs 4 days (~32 contact hours); requires 100% attendance and a passing final exam. Primary prerequisite for OSHA #500 (Trainer Course), which authorizes conducting OSHA 10-Hour/30-Hour Construction outreach training.

Assures safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women by authorizing enforcement of standards developed under the Act, assisting states, and providing research, information, education, and training in occupational safety and health (29 USC 651).

Requires each employer to furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm. Used to address serious hazards not covered by a specific OSHA standard; the hazard must be recognized, serious, and feasible to correct.

29 CFR 1926 = construction industry safety standards (OSHA 510's focus). 29 CFR 1910 = general industry standards. 29 CFR 1904 = recordkeeping and injury/illness reporting rules that apply across industries.

OSHA can cite any of four employer roles: Creating employer (caused the hazard), Exposing employer (its own workers are exposed), Correcting employer (responsible for fixing it), and Controlling employer (general site-safety authority, typically the GC — must exercise reasonable care to detect and prevent hazards across the whole site, including subcontractor areas).

Competent person (29 CFR 1926.32(f)): can identify existing/predictable hazards and has authority to take prompt corrective action (e.g., daily scaffold or excavation inspections). Qualified person (1926.32(m)): holds a recognized degree, certificate, or extensive training/experience to solve technical problems (e.g., designs a fall-protection anchor point).

From most to least effective: Elimination → Substitution → Engineering controls → Administrative controls → PPE. Higher levels are preferred because they don't depend on worker behavior; PPE is the last resort, used when higher controls can't fully eliminate the hazard.

Other-Than-Serious and Serious violations: up to $16,550 per violation. Willful or Repeated: up to $165,514 per violation. Failure to Abate: up to $16,550 per day beyond the abatement date. A willful violation that causes a worker's death can also bring criminal prosecution (up to 6 months imprisonment, doubled on a second conviction).

Imminent danger (OSH Act Section 13): conditions that could cause death or serious harm before normal enforcement could eliminate them — OSHA's highest inspection priority. Under Section 8, workers may have a walkaround representative accompany the inspector; under Marshall v. Barlow's, Inc. (1978), employers may require an administrative search warrant before allowing entry.

Employers must provide fall protection when workers are exposed to a fall of 6 feet or more to a lower level (29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1), Subpart M). This baseline construction trigger differs from general industry's 4-foot trigger and steel erection's 15-foot trigger.

29 CFR 1926.502 recognizes three primary systems: guardrail systems, safety net systems, and personal fall arrest systems (PFAS). A warning line system used alone does not satisfy the standard — it must be paired with a safety monitor or other fall protection.

Top rail: 42 inches (± 3 inches) above the walking/working surface, must withstand 200 lbs applied outward or downward. Mid-rail: approximately 21 inches (halfway between top rail and surface). Toeboards (minimum 3.5 inches) required when tools or materials could fall on workers below (29 CFR 1926.502(b)).

A personal fall arrest system must limit free fall to 6 feet, limit maximum arresting force on the body to 1,800 lbs, and anchor to a point capable of supporting at least 5,000 lbs per attached worker — or be designed by a qualified person with a safety factor of at least 2 (29 CFR 1926.502(d)).

Nets must be installed as close as practicable to the work surface and never more than 30 feet below it. They must extend 8 ft (falls up to 5 ft), 10 ft (falls 5–10 ft), or 13 ft (falls over 10 ft) outward from the work edge, and be drop-tested after installation and every 6 months (29 CFR 1926.502(c)).

An alternative to guardrails/PFAS for leading-edge and pre-cast concrete work. Defined by a control line placed 6–25 feet back from the leading edge, marked at least every 6 feet with high-visibility flagging; only authorized workers may enter, and a safety monitor must be present (29 CFR 1926.502(e)).

29 CFR 1926.760 (Subpart R) sets a 15-foot fall protection trigger for connectors and controlled decking zone workers — higher than the standard 6-foot rule. Connectors may work without fall protection up to two stories or 30 feet, whichever is less, during initial connecting.

Portable ladders: 4:1 pitch ratio (base out 1 ft per 4 ft of height, ~75°); extend at least 3 feet above the landing. Extension ladder rail overlap: 3 ft (up to 36 ft), 4 ft (36–48 ft), 5 ft (48–60 ft). Fixed ladder rung spacing: maximum 12 inches on center (29 CFR 1926.1053).

Guardrails are required on unprotected sides/edges of ramps, runways, and walkways 6 feet or more above a lower level (1926.501(b)(4)). Stairways or ladders are required wherever the vertical access change is 19 inches or more (1926.1051).

29 CFR 1926.1153: PEL = 50 μg/m³ (8-hour TWA); action level = 25 μg/m³. Primary engineering controls are water suppression (wet methods) and local exhaust ventilation attached to tools — required before relying on respirators.

29 CFR 1926.62: PEL = 50 μg/m³ (8-hour TWA); action level = 30 μg/m³ triggers monitoring and medical surveillance. Workers are removed from lead work at a blood lead level (BLL) of 50 μg/dL and may return only after two consecutive tests below 40 μg/dL.

29 CFR 1926.1101 (known human carcinogen): PEL = 0.1 f/cc (8-hour TWA); excursion limit = 1.0 f/cc (30 minutes). Four work classes (I–IV); Class I (removal of thermal system insulation/surfacing ACM) is the highest-risk and most stringently controlled.

29 CFR 1926.52: PEL = 90 dBA (8-hour TWA), with allowable duration halved for every 5-dBA increase. Action level = 85 dBA TWA, which triggers a hearing conservation program (monitoring, audiometric testing, hearing protectors, training).

29 CFR 1926.59 requires a written hazard communication program, proper container labeling, accessible Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for every hazardous chemical on site, and worker training on chemical hazards and protective measures.

OSHA has no dedicated construction heat standard yet, but employers must protect workers from recognized heat hazards under the General Duty Clause. OSHA's prevention framework: Water, Rest, Shade, and gradual Acclimatization for new or returning workers.

29 CFR 1926.850(a) requires a competent person's engineering survey of the structure (and adjacent structures) before demolition begins. Under 1926.850(b), all utilities (gas, electric, water, steam, sewer) must be shut off, capped, or otherwise controlled before work starts.

29 CFR 1904.39: work-related fatalities must be reported to OSHA within 8 hours. In-patient hospitalizations, amputations, and losses of an eye must be reported within 24 hours.

29 CFR 1904.1: employers with 11 or more employees must maintain injury/illness records (Forms 300, 300A, 301) unless in a partially exempt low-hazard industry — construction is not exempt. Form 300A (Summary) must be posted February 1–April 30.

29 CFR 1904.7: an injury/illness is recordable if it results in death, days away from work, restricted work/job transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant diagnosis by a healthcare professional. First aid alone is not recordable.

Highest to lowest priority: (1) Imminent danger, (2) catastrophes/fatalities, (3) worker complaints, (4) referrals from other agencies, (5) programmed/planned inspections based on targeting criteria.

Shift inspection: visual check by a competent person before each shift (1926.1412(d)). Annual/comprehensive inspection: by a qualified person at intervals not exceeding 12 months (1926.1412(f)). Records must document items checked, date, inspector, and deficiencies, and be kept for at least 12 months.

Operators must be certified by an accredited body (NCCCO, NCCER, CIC) or an audited employer program (1926.1427). Signal persons must be qualified by a third-party or employer evaluator in the specific signal method used (1926.1428); operator and signal person must agree on one signal system (hand signals, voice, or visual) and use it exclusively during a lift (1926.1419).

29 CFR 1926.652(a)(1): a protective system (sloping, shoring, or shielding) is required for excavations 5 feet or more in depth, unless entirely in stable rock. A safe means of egress (ladder, stairway, or ramp) is required within 25 feet of lateral travel for excavations 4 feet or more deep (1926.651(c)).

A competent person classifies soil as Type A (≥1.5 tsf compressive strength, 0.75:1 slope/53°), Type B (1:1 slope/45°), or Type C (least stable, 1.5:1 slope/34°) using field tests (pocket penetrometer, thumb penetration test) — or Stable Rock, which needs no sloping.

Three protective system types under 29 CFR 1926.652: sloping/benching, shoring (timber, hydraulic, or pneumatic), and shielding (trench boxes). Benching cuts walls into horizontal steps and is allowed only in Type A and Type B soil — never Type C.

A competent person must inspect excavations daily, as conditions change, and after rainstorms for cave-in signs, hazardous atmospheres, or other hazards (1926.651(k)). Spoil piles, materials, and equipment must be kept at least 2 feet from the excavation edge (1926.651(j)).

29 CFR 1926.416: minimum 10-foot clearance from overhead lines rated ≤50 kV; clearance increases 4 inches for every 10 kV above 50 kV. Voltage must be determined and clearance verified before work begins near energized lines.

29 CFR 1926.1408: minimum 20-foot clearance between any part of a crane (boom, load line, load) and energized lines up to 350 kV; 50-foot clearance for lines above 350 kV — stricter than the general 10-foot rule due to flash-over risk.

A Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter trips when it detects a current imbalance of 5 milliamps or more, within about 1/40 second — preventing electrocution. Required on all 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-amp receptacles on construction sites (1926.404(b)).

Electrical systems of 50 volts or more must be grounded (1926.403). Construction uses 29 CFR 1926.417 for lockout/tagout of circuits and equipment (the general industry parallel is 1910.147). Qualified electrical worker status requires task-specific hazard training — not just a license or years of experience.

29 CFR 1926.451: scaffolds must support their own weight plus 4 times the maximum intended load (6:1 safety factor for suspension ropes). Fall protection is required at 10 feet — different from the general 6-foot construction trigger.

A competent person must inspect scaffolds before each shift and after any event that could affect structural integrity (1926.451(f)(3)). Freestanding (non-mobile) scaffolds must be tied, guyed, or braced once height exceeds a 4:1 height-to-base ratio; mobile scaffolds at 3:1 (1926.452(w)).

During erection and dismantling, a competent person determines whether fall protection is feasible; it must be used where feasible (1926.451(g)(4)). Standard scaffold plank support spacing is 8 feet on center, with planks overhanging supports 6–12 inches.

Being struck by vehicles and mobile equipment is the leading struck-by fatality cause in construction. Controls include high-visibility apparel (ANSI Class 2/3), spotters, and barricades. Reversing vehicles require an audible alarm distinguishable from ambient noise, or a spotter (1926.602).

OSHA requires sequential (single-fire) trigger mode over bump-fire (contact-actuation) mode on pneumatic nail guns. Sequential mode requires the safety tip pressed and then the trigger pulled in sequence, reducing accidental discharges (29 CFR 1926 Subpart I).

Rigging equipment must be inspected before each use/shift by a qualified rigger, checking for wear, broken wires, kinks, distortion, and corrosion (29 CFR 1926.251, 1926.1404(r)). Defective rigging must be removed from service immediately.

Occurs when a worker is caught, crushed, squeezed, or compressed between objects — e.g., pinned between equipment and a fixed object, clothing caught in unguarded rotating machinery, or buried in a trench cave-in. Machine guarding (1926.300) and excavation protection (Subpart P) are the primary controls.

Formwork must be inspected by a competent person before each concrete pour to verify it can support fresh concrete plus construction loads (1926.703). Reshoring is temporary support installed after original formwork/shoring is stripped, before the concrete reaches full design strength.

29 CFR 1926.752 requires the controlling contractor to develop a written, site-specific erection plan before any steel columns are erected, covering erection sequence, crane placement, steel delivery, and safety procedures.

Employers must assess the workplace for hazards, select appropriate PPE, and provide most required PPE at no cost to workers (exceptions: safety-toe footwear, prescription eyewear, everyday clothing) — 29 CFR 1926 Subpart E.

Welding/cutting in areas with flammable or combustible materials requires a hot work permit, a minimum 10-lb ABC dry chemical extinguisher within reach, and a fire watch during the work and for at least 30 minutes after it ends (1926.352). An oxygen-deficient atmosphere is defined as under 19.5% O2, requiring supplied-air respiratory protection.