Learn your OSHA rights, spot hazards, choose PPE, understand lockout/tagout and electrical safety, and use hand tools, power tools and measuring tools safely.

Workplace Safety & Tools

## Why it matters

Construction, manufacturing and maintenance are among the most dangerous kinds of work in the United States. Falls, being struck by objects, being caught in machinery and electrocution kill workers every year. Almost all of these deaths are preventable, and the law says preventing them is mainly the employer's job. Knowing the rules on your first day helps you spot an unsafe site and speak up without fear.

## What OSHA is

The **Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970** created the **Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)**, part of the US Department of Labor. OSHA writes safety standards, inspects workplaces, and can fine employers who break the rules.

- **Standards** are published in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 29. The two you will hear most are **29 CFR 1910** (general industry: factories, plants, warehouses) and **29 CFR 1926** (construction).
- Where no specific standard covers a hazard, the **General Duty Clause** (Section 5(a)(1) of the Act) still requires employers to keep the workplace free from recognised hazards that are likely to cause death or serious harm.
- About half of the states run their own OSHA-approved **State Plan**. A State Plan must be at least as effective as federal OSHA and can be stricter. If you work in a State Plan state, your state agency may be the one that inspects your site.

Outside the US, other countries have similar bodies (for example the HSE in Great Britain or provincial agencies such as WorkSafeBC in Canada). The ideas in this course carry over, but the exact rules differ.

## What employers must do

In plain terms, an employer must:

1. Provide a workplace free from serious recognised hazards and follow OSHA standards.
2. Find and fix hazards, and prefer fixing the hazard itself over handing out PPE.
3. Provide required safety equipment and PPE, generally at no cost to workers.
4. Train workers on hazards and procedures **in a language and vocabulary they understand**.
5. Tell workers about hazardous chemicals (labels and Safety Data Sheets).
6. Keep injury and illness records where required, and report severe injuries to OSHA: a work-related death within 8 hours, and an in-patient hospitalisation, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours.
7. Display the OSHA "Job Safety and Health: It's the Law" poster.
8. Not retaliate against a worker who uses their safety rights.

## Your rights as a worker

You have the right to:

- **Working conditions free from serious hazards.**
- **Training** you can understand, about the hazards and the safety rules of your job.
- **Information**: copies of tests done to find hazards, your workplace's injury and illness records, and your own medical and exposure records.
- **File a confidential complaint** with OSHA and ask for an inspection.
- **Take part in an inspection** and talk privately with the inspector.
- **Be protected from retaliation.** If you are fired, demoted or punished for raising a safety concern, you can file a whistleblower complaint. The deadline is short (30 days for most OSHA safety complaints), so act quickly.

### Refusing dangerous work

You may refuse a task in a narrow set of conditions: you believe in good faith that it poses an **imminent danger** of death or serious injury, you have asked your employer to fix it and they did not, a reasonable person would agree, and there is not enough time to get an OSHA inspection. Stay at the site, tell your supervisor clearly why you are refusing, and offer to do other safe work. Rules on this are precise, so read OSHA's guidance before you rely on it.

## Worked example: a first week on site

Maya starts as an electrical apprentice. On day two she is asked to carry conduit up a ladder that has a cracked side rail.

- **Employer duty:** the contractor must provide a safe ladder (29 CFR 1926 has a ladder section) and should have tagged this one out of service.
- **Maya's options:** tell her foreman ("This ladder has a cracked rail; can we tag it out and get another?"). If the problem is ignored, she can raise it with the site safety lead, a union steward if there is one, or OSHA.
- **What she should not do:** climb it anyway to avoid looking difficult. Good employers want these reports.

## Common mistakes

- **Thinking safety is only the safety manager's job.** Everyone on site watches for hazards, but the employer carries the legal duty.
- **Assuming a training card means you are "OSHA certified".** OSHA does not certify workers. An OSHA 10 card shows you took an awareness course (lesson 10 covers this).
- **Waiting too long to report retaliation.** The deadline is short.
- **Treating unfamiliar tasks as normal.** If you have not been trained on it, say so before you start.

## Official sources

Rules and procedures change. Use the official pages:

- OSHA worker rights: https://www.osha.gov/workers
- File a complaint: https://www.osha.gov/workers/file-complaint
- State Plans: https://www.osha.gov/stateplans

Checked on 2026-10-23.

## Recap

- OSHA sets and enforces federal safety standards (1910 general industry, 1926 construction); about half the states run their own State Plan.
- Employers must remove serious hazards, provide PPE and training you understand, keep records and report severe injuries.
- You can get information, file a confidential complaint, join an inspection and be protected from retaliation.
- Refusing work is allowed only for imminent danger under specific conditions.


Explain what OSHA requires of employers and which safety rights every worker has.

OSHA and your rights

Workers’ Safety and Health Rights on the Job

OSHA: Young Workers’ Rights

Make a checklist on paper or in a spreadsheet with the seven categories from the reading: falls and walking surfaces, struck-by/caught-in, electrical, chemical, physical, ergonomic, fire.

Make a results table with columns: hazard, location, likelihood (1-3), severity (1-3), score, proposed control, hierarchy level.

Walk the area slowly. Look up, look down, then look around. Note at least five hazards with exact locations.

Score each hazard (likelihood x severity) and mark any that score 6 or more.

For each hazard, propose a control. Try to use a level above PPE for at least three of them.

Check one item against an official source (for example, the label on a cleaning product or the manual for an appliance) and note what it says.

Share your top-scoring hazard with the person responsible for the space and agree on a fix.

## Why it matters

Most injuries happen around hazards that someone could have seen: a cord across a walkway, an unguarded edge, a ladder on loose gravel. Experienced workers are not braver; they have trained their eyes. A short, structured walk-around before work starts is one of the cheapest safety tools there is.

## Hazard, risk and control

- A **hazard** is anything that can cause harm: a moving belt, a 3 m drop, a solvent, noise, a live conductor.
- **Risk** combines how likely harm is and how bad it would be.
- A **control** is what you do to reduce the risk.

## Hazard categories to scan for

Use categories so you do not miss whole families of hazards:

| Category | Examples on a site or shop floor |
|---|---|
| Falls and walking surfaces | open edges, floor holes, ladders, wet or cluttered floors |
| Struck-by / caught-in | moving vehicles, swinging loads, rotating shafts, trench collapse |
| Electrical | damaged cords, open panels, overhead lines, wet locations |
| Chemical | solvents, dust (silica), fumes, unlabelled containers |
| Physical | noise, heat, cold, vibration, poor lighting |
| Ergonomic | heavy lifting, awkward reaching, repetitive tasks |
| Fire | hot work near combustibles, blocked extinguishers or exits |

In US construction, OSHA calls falls, struck-by, caught-in/between and electrocution the **Focus Four hazards** because they cause most deaths.

## The hierarchy of controls

NIOSH ranks controls from most to least effective:

1. **Elimination**: remove the hazard (assemble the roof truss on the ground instead of at height).
2. **Substitution**: replace it with something less hazardous (a water-based cleaner instead of a solvent).
3. **Engineering controls**: isolate people from the hazard (guardrails, machine guards, local exhaust ventilation).
4. **Administrative controls**: change how people work (procedures, signs, training, job rotation, permits).
5. **PPE**: protect the individual (hard hat, gloves, harness, hearing protection).

PPE is last because it depends on every person wearing it correctly every time, and it does nothing to the hazard itself. Good fixes often combine levels.

## How to run a walk-around

1. **Pick the area and the task.** "Bay 3 during the pump change" beats "the whole plant".
2. **Use a checklist** built from the categories above. Walk slowly. Look up (overhead loads, lines), down (holes, cords, spills) and around (vehicles, moving parts).
3. **Write down what you see**, where it is, and why it is a hazard. A phone photo helps if your site allows it.
4. **Rate each item.** A simple scale: likelihood 1–3 × severity 1–3. Anything scoring 6 or 9 needs action before work starts.
5. **Propose a control**, starting at the top of the hierarchy.
6. **Report it** to the person who can fix it, and follow up.

### Worked example

A walk-around of a small maintenance shop found:

| Hazard | Where | L | S | Score | Proposed control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extension cord across aisle | by bench grinder | 3 | 2 | 6 | Move the grinder next to an outlet (elimination); cord cover until then |
| Grinder tool rest gap too wide | bench grinder | 2 | 3 | 6 | Adjust per the manual (engineering); add to the weekly check |
| Extinguisher blocked by pallets | north wall | 2 | 3 | 6 | Clear and mark a keep-clear zone (administrative) |
| Loud compressor | corner | 3 | 1 | 3 | Hearing protection sign and earplugs (PPE) while an enclosure is quoted |

Notice that "wear PPE" appears only once, and as a stop-gap.

## Common mistakes

- **Only looking at eye level.** Many serious hazards are overhead or underfoot.
- **Writing vague notes** like "messy". Write what, where and why.
- **Jumping straight to PPE.** Ask "can we remove this?" first.
- **Fixing it yourself when you are not trained.** Report electrical, pressure or machine faults; do not repair them.
- **Never closing the loop.** A list nobody acts on is worse than none, because people stop reporting.

## Official sources

- NIOSH hierarchy of controls: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/hierarchy-of-controls/about/index.html
- OSHA hazard identification (Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs): https://www.osha.gov/safety-management

Checked on 2026-10-23.

## Recap

- Hazard = source of harm; risk = likelihood × severity; control = what reduces it.
- Scan by category and look up, down and around.
- Rank fixes with the hierarchy: elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, PPE.

## Try it

Open the **Do** tab and run a hazard walk-around of a room at home, a garage or a school workshop (with your instructor's permission).


Run a hazard walk-around with a checklist and rank fixes with the hierarchy of controls.

Recognising hazards

Hazard Recognition Safety Meeting Video

## Why it matters

Personal protective equipment (PPE) is the last line of defence: it protects you when the hazard is still there. Wearing the wrong kind can be as bad as wearing none. A standard hard hat does not protect against electricity, ordinary cotton gloves can get pulled into a drill, and a harness that is not tied off arrests nothing.

> **Awareness level only.** This lesson explains the ideas so you recognise them on day one. It does not qualify you to do the work. Your employer, apprenticeship or school must train you on its own procedures and equipment, and you must work under supervision until they say you are qualified.

## How PPE is chosen

Employers must do a **hazard assessment** for each task and pick PPE that matches it (29 CFR 1910.132 for general industry; construction has similar rules). They must train you on when to wear it, how to put it on and take it off, its limits, and how to care for it. Most PPE must be provided at no cost to you.

PPE is selected by **hazard**, and good PPE is marked with the standard it meets. Learn to read the markings.

## Head protection

Hard hats sold in the US are tested to **ANSI/ISEA Z89.1**:

- **Type I** protects from blows to the top of the head; **Type II** also protects from side impacts.
- **Class G** (general) is tested to 2,200 volts, **Class E** (electrical) to 20,000 volts, and **Class C** (conductive) gives no electrical protection.

An electrician or anyone near energised equipment needs Class E. Replace a hard hat after any significant impact, or if the shell is cracked or chalky. The date of manufacture is moulded inside the shell.

## Eye and face protection

Safety glasses, goggles and face shields are marked **Z87** (ANSI/ISEA Z87.1); **Z87+** means high-impact rated. Use goggles for dust and splashes, and a face shield **over** safety glasses for grinding. A face shield alone is not primary eye protection.

## Hearing protection

Noise damage is permanent and painless, so it is easy to ignore. OSHA requires a hearing conservation programme when 8-hour average exposure reaches **85 dBA** (the action level) and sets the permissible limit at 90 dBA. A rule of thumb: if you have to raise your voice to talk to someone an arm's length away, it is probably over 85 dBA. Earplugs and earmuffs have a **Noise Reduction Rating (NRR)**; real-world protection is usually lower than the label, so fit matters. Roll foam plugs thin, pull the ear up and back, and hold the plug while it expands.

## Hand protection

Match the glove to the hazard: cut-resistant (rated A1 to A9 under ANSI/ISEA 105), chemical-resistant (check the chemical's Safety Data Sheet), leather for heat and abrasion. **Do not wear loose gloves near rotating parts** (drill presses, lathes) where they can be caught. Electrical work uses **rubber insulating gloves** rated by voltage class (Class 00 to 4) with leather protectors on top. They must be air-tested before each use and lab-tested on a schedule.

## Foot protection

Safety footwear rated to **ASTM F2413** shows its protections on a label: I/C for impact and compression (toe caps), **EH** for electrical hazard (helps protect against contact with live circuits up to a rated voltage when dry), PR for puncture resistance.

## Fall protection

In construction, fall protection is generally required at **6 feet** (1.8 m) above a lower level; in general industry it is 4 feet. Guardrails and covers come first (engineering controls). When a **personal fall arrest system** is used, it has three parts, the "ABCs":

- **Anchorage** rated for the load (5,000 lb per worker or engineered by a qualified person),
- **Body wear**: a full-body harness (never a waist belt for fall arrest),
- **Connector**: a shock-absorbing lanyard or self-retracting lifeline.

Workers must be trained, and there must be a **rescue plan**: hanging in a harness for long becomes dangerous within minutes.

## Arc flash PPE

An **arc flash** is an explosive release of energy from an electrical fault that can reach temperatures several times hotter than the surface of the sun. **NFPA 70E** sets how employers assess the risk and choose **arc-rated (AR) clothing**, rated in **cal/cm²**. The rating on the garment must meet or exceed the incident energy for the task. Everyday clothes made of synthetics can melt onto skin. Arc flash PPE is chosen by a qualified person from the employer's risk assessment or equipment labels, never guessed.

## Worked example: matching PPE to a task

**Task:** an apprentice helps a journeyman pull wire in a new (de-energised) building, on a 6-foot stepladder, while a concrete saw runs nearby.

| Hazard | PPE |
|---|---|
| Falling objects, bumps | Type I Class E hard hat |
| Concrete dust, flying chips | Z87+ safety glasses |
| Saw noise (well over 85 dBA) | Earplugs or muffs |
| Cuts from wire ends | Cut-resistant work gloves |
| Dropped conduit | ASTM F2413 I/C EH boots |

The ladder itself is controlled by setup and inspection (lesson 6), not by a harness.

## Common mistakes

- Wearing a hard hat backwards when it is not marked as reversible.
- Using sunglasses or prescription glasses that are not Z87 as safety glasses.
- Pushing foam earplugs in without rolling them, so they protect very little.
- Wearing gloves near a drill press or lathe.
- Treating PPE as permission to skip better controls.

## Official sources

- OSHA PPE: https://www.osha.gov/personal-protective-equipment
- OSHA noise: https://www.osha.gov/noise
- OSHA fall protection: https://www.osha.gov/fall-protection
- NFPA 70E: https://www.nfpa.org/70E

Checked on 2026-10-23.

## Recap

- PPE is chosen from a hazard assessment and must carry the right rating.
- Class E hard hats, Z87+ eyewear, NRR-rated hearing protection, ANSI 105 cut gloves, ASTM F2413 boots.
- Fall arrest = Anchorage, Body harness, Connector, plus a rescue plan.
- Arc-rated clothing (cal/cm²) is selected by a qualified person under NFPA 70E.


Match personal protective equipment to electrical, noise, fall, eye and head hazards.

PPE for trades

Personal Protective Equipment | Construction Safety

Arc Flash vs. PPE

What OSHA requires of employers, your rights as a worker, how to spot hazards and how to choose the right PPE.