OSHA 30 Construction Safety Practice Test

Q: What is the minimum number of training hours required for the OSHA 30-Hour Construction Outreach card?

• 10 hours
• 20 hours
• 30 hours (correct answer)
• 40 hours

Explanation: The OSHA 30-Hour Construction Outreach course requires a minimum of 30 hours of instruction and is intended for supervisors, foremen, and workers with safety responsibilities on a job site.

Q: What is the primary purpose of a written safety and health program?

• To satisfy insurance requirements only
• To systematically identify, evaluate, and control workplace hazards (correct answer)
• To assign blame after an incident
• To replace the need for PPE

Explanation: A written safety and health program creates a systematic process for finding and fixing workplace hazards before they cause injury, rather than reacting after an incident occurs.

Q: In construction, at what height must fall protection generally be provided for unprotected sides and edges?

• 4 feet
• 6 feet (correct answer)
• 10 feet
• 15 feet

Explanation: Under 29 CFR 1926.501, construction workers must be protected from falls when working at heights of 6 feet or more above a lower level, except in certain specific situations like scaffolds (10 feet) or steel erection.

Q: What is required for 120-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-ampere receptacle outlets on construction sites that are not part of the permanent building wiring?

• A dedicated circuit breaker only
• Ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) protection or an assured equipment grounding conductor program (correct answer)
• A licensed electrician on standby
• Weatherproof covers only

Explanation: OSHA requires employers to use either GFCI protection or a documented assured equipment grounding conductor program for temporary receptacles on construction sites to prevent electrocution.

Q: What is required for workers exposed to public vehicular traffic on a construction site?

• A hard hat only
• High-visibility warning apparel (correct answer)
• Steel-toe boots only
• A hand-held radio

Explanation: Workers exposed to public vehicular traffic or construction equipment traffic must wear high-visibility warning apparel, such as a vest, that is highly visible day or night.

Q: At what depth does an excavation generally require a protective system to prevent cave-ins?

• 2 feet
• 5 feet (correct answer)
• 8 feet
• 12 feet

Explanation: Excavations 5 feet or deeper require a protective system such as sloping, shoring, or a trench box, unless the excavation is made entirely in stable rock.

Q: Under OSHA construction standards, who is generally responsible for the cost of required PPE?

• The employee
• The employer (correct answer)
• The equipment manufacturer
• Whoever purchases it first

Explanation: With limited exceptions, employers must provide required personal protective equipment at no cost to employees under 29 CFR 1926.95.

Q: What is OSHA's permissible exposure limit (PEL) for respirable crystalline silica over an 8-hour time-weighted average?

• 10 micrograms per cubic meter
• 25 micrograms per cubic meter
• 50 micrograms per cubic meter (correct answer)
• 100 micrograms per cubic meter

Explanation: OSHA's construction silica standard sets the permissible exposure limit at 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air, averaged over an 8-hour shift, with an action level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.

Q: At what height difference between two levels does OSHA generally require a stairway or ladder be provided?

• 12 inches or more
• 19 inches or more (correct answer)
• 24 inches or more
• 36 inches or more

Explanation: A stairway or ladder must be provided at all worker points of access where there is a break in elevation of 19 inches or more, and no ramp, runway, embankment, or personnel hoist is available.

Q: At what height must fall protection be provided for employees on a scaffold?

• 4 feet
• 6 feet
• 10 feet (correct answer)
• 15 feet

Explanation: Employees on a scaffold more than 10 feet above a lower level must be protected from falling by a guardrail system or a personal fall arrest system.

Q: What is one defining feature of a 'permit-required confined space'?

• It is always underground
• It contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere (correct answer)
• It requires two workers to enter at once
• It must be larger than 500 square feet

Explanation: A permit-required confined space is one that has limited entry/exit, is not designed for continuous occupancy, and contains or has the potential to contain a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment hazard, or other recognized serious hazard.