Exam prep
OSHA & Workplace Safety study guides
Hazards, PPE, and controls — with labeled hazard diagrams and prevention checklists.
27 explained questions, each with the answer, a worked explanation, and something interactive to help it stick.
- When can you use damaged or defective slings?Never use a damaged or defective sling. OSHA (1910.184 and 1926.251) requires damaged or defective slings to be immediately removed from service. They may return only after being repaired, reconditioned, and proof-tested by the manufacturer or a qualified person.Read the guide
- Which of the following tactics can reduce the likelihood of injury?Five tactics reduce injury risk: using tools to cut repetitive actions, using low-vibration tools, using ergonomic props or aids, rotating tasks among workers, and taking frequent breaks. Holding static or awkward postures is NOT a protective tactic, it increases injury risk.Read the guide
- What Is One of the Most Common Ways in Which Workers Get Hurt Around Machines?One of the most common ways workers get hurt is reaching into a machine to clear a jam or clean it while parts are still moving. Contact with unguarded moving parts causes crushing, amputation, and caught-in injuries.Read the guide
- What are the main causes of injuries when using forklifts?The main causes of forklift injuries are tip-overs (overturns), striking or crushing pedestrians, falling loads, workers falling from the forklift, and driving off loading docks. Overturns are the single deadliest cause, usually driven by inadequate training, overloading, speeding, and poor visibility.Read the guide
- There Are Three Different Types of Slings. What Determines Which Type You Use?The load and the working conditions determine the sling type. You match the load's weight, size, and shape, plus the environment (heat, chemicals, sharp edges), to the right sling: synthetic (web/round), wire rope, or chain.Read the guide
- A stairway has 6 steps. Is a handrail required?Yes. OSHA requires at least one handrail on any stairway with four or more risers or rising more than 30 inches. A 6-step stair exceeds both thresholds, so a handrail is mandatory—and wide or open stairs may need one on each side.Read the guide
- How can the most common accidents that occur when using cranes be reduced?Reduce common crane accidents by using trained, certified operators, inspecting and maintaining equipment, planning each lift, never exceeding rated load capacity, keeping clear of power lines and swing zones, and following proper rigging and signaling procedures.Read the guide
- What should you consider when choosing the type of full-body protection you use?Consider the hazards you expect to encounter, the full-body protection options your employer provides, and the cost of the gear. The right choice is driven by the specific hazard — chemical, fire, impact, or biological — not by what coworkers happen to be wearing.Read the guide
- Which of these is known as the greatest danger associated with excavations?Cave-ins (trench collapse) are the greatest danger associated with excavations. Collapsing soil can bury a worker under tons of dirt in seconds, and cave-ins account for the large majority of excavation-related fatalities, far exceeding other trenching hazards.Read the guide
- Is Blood the Only Fluid That Carries Pathogens?False. Blood is not the only fluid that carries pathogens. Semen, vaginal secretions, and cerebrospinal, synovial, pleural, peritoneal, pericardial, and amniotic fluids can also transmit bloodborne pathogens, along with any body fluid visibly contaminated with blood.Read the guide
- Heaving or squeezing would be indicated by which of the following signs?A bulge or upward heave at the bottom of the trench or excavation — often accompanied by water seeping up through the floor — indicates heaving or squeezing, where soil is being pushed into the excavation from below or from the sides.Read the guide
- Which of the Following Are Safety and Health Resources Workers Can Use Inside of Their Workplace?Inside the workplace, workers can use Safety Data Sheets (SDS), warning labels and signs, posted notices like the OSHA "It's the Law" poster, supervisors and coworkers, safety committees, and first-aid stations. These are the on-site resources found within the facility itself.Read the guide
- When Reading a Chemical Label, What Two Kinds of Hazards Should You Check For?Check for health hazards and physical (safety) hazards. These are the two main hazard classifications under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard and the GHS labeling system. Health hazards affect the body; physical hazards involve fire, reactivity, or explosion.Read the guide
- Automotive Batteries Are an Example of Which Hazard Class?Standard lead-acid automotive batteries are Hazard Class 8 (Corrosive), shipped as UN2794, because they contain corrosive sulfuric acid. Lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles are a different category: Hazard Class 9 (Miscellaneous), typically UN3480 or UN3481.Read the guide
- Jointers Should Be Fitted With Which Type of Guard?Jointers must be fitted with point-of-operation guards. Because the exposed rotating cutter head is the point of operation, OSHA requires a self-adjusting point-of-operation guard that fully covers the cutting head and automatically opens and closes around the stock as it is fed.Read the guide
- What do safeguarding devices do to protect the worker?Safeguarding devices protect workers by limiting or preventing access to a machine's hazardous moving parts. They sense, restrict, or interrupt a worker's reach into the danger zone — stopping the machine, withdrawing the hands, or requiring both hands away before the machine can cycle.Read the guide
- How does a well-implemented safety and health program affect employee retention?It improves retention. When employers visibly prioritize safety, workers feel valued and trust management, boosting job satisfaction and loyalty. Fewer injuries and less absenteeism mean fewer people leave, so turnover drops and employees stay with the company longer.Read the guide
- What Should You Consider When Choosing the Type of Foot Protection You Use?Match the footwear to the workplace hazards present - falling or rolling objects, punctures, chemicals, electrical current, slips, and heat or cold. Then confirm proper fit and comfort, ASTM F2413 compliance, durability, and cost before selecting protective footwear.Read the guide
- The purpose of a HazCom program is to ensure that what?The purpose of a HazCom program is to ensure that the hazards of all chemicals produced or imported are classified, and that this hazard information is communicated to employers and employees through labels, safety data sheets (SDS), and training—the employee 'right-to-know.'Read the guide
- Who Is Responsible for Training Workers on the Use of PPE?The employer is responsible. Under OSHA 29 CFR 1910.132(f), employers must assess workplace hazards, provide required PPE, and train each affected employee to properly wear, use, and maintain it before the employee starts work requiring that PPE.Read the guide
- Why must you be cautious of chemical exposure in the workplace?Because workplace chemicals can enter the body through four routes — inhalation, skin/eye absorption, ingestion, and injection — and cause serious acute and chronic harm, including burns, poisoning, cancer, and organ or reproductive damage. Exposure can be immediate or build silently over years.Read the guide
- Guardrails or personal fall arrest systems are required on scaffolds that are what height?Scaffolds more than 10 feet above a lower level. Under OSHA 29 CFR 1926.451(g)(1), each employee on a scaffold higher than 10 feet must be protected from falling by a guardrail system, a personal fall arrest system, or both, depending on scaffold type.Read the guide
- What Is the Criteria for a Guard Having to Be Used on a Machine?A guard is required whenever a machine part, function, or process could cause injury. Under OSHA 1910.212, guarding must protect operators and others from hazards such as the point of operation, ingoing nip points, rotating parts, and flying chips or sparks.Read the guide
- Which of the Following Statements Are True Regarding SDSs and Labels?True statements: OSHA HazCom labels must include a product identifier, signal word, pictograms, hazard statements, precautionary statements, and supplier information. Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) are standardized 16-section documents that must be readily accessible to employees during every work shift.Read the guide
- An interior hung scaffold is an example of which type of scaffolding?A suspended scaffold. An interior hung scaffold hangs from an overhead building structure (a ceiling, roof, or floor beams) on fixed-length supports rather than resting on the ground, which makes it a type of suspended — specifically non-adjustable suspended — scaffold.Read the guide
- You must have a safe way to access a scaffold over ____ feet.2 feet. Under OSHA 1926.451(e), a safe means of access — such as a ladder, stair tower, ramp, or attachable ladder — is required whenever a scaffold platform is more than 2 feet above or below a point of access. Crossbraces may never be used for climbing.Read the guide
- What refers to the soil removed from an excavation?Spoil (the spoil pile) is the term for soil removed from an excavation. Under OSHA excavation rules, temporary spoil must be placed at least 2 feet back from the edge of the excavation to prevent it from sliding back in.Read the guide