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Introduction to OSHA

Content by Qstream

Congress created OSHA to assure safe and healthful conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and providing training, outreach, education, and compliance assistance. Learn about OSHA safety for employees with this starter Qstream microlearning course.

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Category: Compliance Safety and Risk Management

Industry: Manufacturing

Questions: 12

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Introduction to OSHA

Navigate through the Qstream questions below to preview. Each challenge is designed following Qstream’s best practices for maximum knowledge reinforcement and engagement. This Qstream is free for clients to use as a starting point.

Click on each title to preview the question in the mobile/desktop widget.

1. OSHA Acronym >
2. Inspections >
3. Violation Categories >
4. General Duty Clause >
5. Rights and Protections >
6. Right to Refuse Dangerous Work >
7. Whistleblower Protection Timeframes >
8. Competent Person >
9. Work zone Hazards >
10. Work-Related Injuries >
11. Safety Data Sheets >
12. Employer Provided PPE >

Follow the interactions on each screen to answer Qstream questions as a Participant.

What does the acronym “OSHA” stand for?

Answer explanation:
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was founded in 1971.

OSHA’s mission is to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance.

Just prior to the creation of OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was signed into law by President Nixon. It is a US labor law covering most private sector employers and their workers. In addition, it covers some public sector employers and workers across all 50 U.S. states and certain territories and jurisdictions under federal authority.

In the four decades since OSHA was created, the nation has made dramatic progress in reducing work-related deaths and injuries.

Which of the following are priorities for an OSHA inspection?

Answer explanation:
Injuries requiring first aid are still important for workplaces to take care of and take seriously. However, they are not one of the priority items that OSHA utilizes to trigger workplace inspections.

OSHA's top priority for inspection is an imminent danger. Imminent danger is a situation where workers face an immediate risk of death or serious physical harm.

The second priority for inspection is any fatality or catastrophe - an accident that requires the hospitalization of three or more workers. Employers are required to report fatalities and catastrophes to OSHA within eight hours. The third priority is employee complaints and referrals.

Lower inspection priorities include;
• Programmed inspections targeted toward high-hazard industries
• Planned inspections in other industries
• Follow-up inspections to determine whether previously cited violations have been abated

A(n) ______ OSHA violation category is defined as having a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm.

Answer explanation:
OSHA cites a serious violation when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result. A serious violation is one that the employer knew or should have known about the hazard. A serious violation is subject to a $14,502 fine per serious violation as of 2022.

When an employer receives an OSHA Notice, they must post it (or a copy of it) at or near the place where each violation occurred to make employees aware of the hazards to which they may be exposed.

The OSHA Notice must remain posted for three working days or until the hazard is abated, whichever is longer.

The OSHA “General Duty Clause” states that employers shall do which of the following?

Answer explanation:
OSHA’s General Duty Clause only states two things:

Each employer shall;
1. Furnish each of their employees’ employment and provide a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to their employees.
2. Comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act.

Under OSHA, workers have the right to:

Answer explanation:
OSHA entitles workers to certain rights, and employers have certain responsibilities. OSHA lists specific worker rights including the right to:
• A safe and healthful workplace
• Refuse a task that is unsafe or unhealthful
• Participate in an OSHA inspection

OSHA does not give workers the authority to enforce safety rules. Workers do not have access to employee injury records because they contain personal information.

According to OSHA Worker Rights, a person can refuse to work under which of the following conditions?

Answer explanation:
Under OSHA Worker Rights, the following four conditions must be met if a worker is going to refuse a task:
• The employer has failed to eliminate a danger after being asked to do so
• You refuse to work in “good faith”
• A reasonable worker would agree there is a real danger or serious injury
• There isn’t enough time to get the hazard corrected through regular enforcement channels due to the urgency of the hazard

However, a worker does not have the right to refuse work if, for example, the outdoor temperature is uncomfortable. This is because there are reasonable controls an employer can put in place to still maintain a safe work environment.

You recognize a hazard at your workplace that poses an imminent danger to you and your coworkers and raise this concern to your employer. You are then fired for bringing this up. Seven months later, you remember that OSHA has a whistleblower protection program and decide to file a complaint. However, your complaint is rejected and deemed invalid.

In order to be protected under OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program, you had to have filed your complaint about retaliation from your employer within _____.

Answer explanation:
OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program protects workers from retaliation when they make a complaint to their employer, OSHA, or other government agencies about unsafe or unhealthful working conditions in the workplace. OSHA will protect the worker when the complaint is submitted to OSHA within 30 days of the incident.

OSHA does not protect workers who take longer than 30 days to file a complaint. In this scenario, taking seven months to file a complaint is the reason why the complaint was rejected.

You are on a job site with many coworkers. You are about to work at heights and think (but are not certain) that you need to use fall protection. During your training, you recall hearing the term “competent person”. You now attempt to look for a “competent person” in fall protection.

Which of the following describes a “competent person” who can help you with your task?

Answer explanation:
An OSHA "competent person" is defined as "one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has the authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.”

A competent person would be sought when creating a plan for fall protection use.

Someone who has been approved or assigned by an employer to perform a specific type of duty or be at a specific location on a job site is an authorized person, not a competent person.

Someone who by possession of a recognized degree, certificate, professional standing, extensive knowledge, training, and experience, or has successfully demonstrated their ability to solve problems relating to the subject matter, work, or project is a qualified person, not a competent person.

You are helping set up a designated work zone. You realize there is a potential hazard for pedestrians as the area where they would enter is directly below workers who are working on scaffolding.

Which of the following is the BEST way to correct this potential hazard?

Answer explanation:
The hierarchy of controls elimination/substitution methods is the best way to protect workers and pedestrians.

If you remove or eliminate a hazard, there is no longer a risk from that hazard.

Eliminating the hazard of pedestrians being injured can be done by moving (relocating) the scaffolding work completely away from the pedestrian walking area.

Elimination methods are often the most time-consuming control that also takes the most planning but are by far the most effective. If you could not eliminate or substitute the hazard, the next best option would be to engineer the hazard, followed by using administrative controls.

Utilizing PPE would be the least effective method of controlling a hazard, but it is still a control method.

You work for a manufacturing plant with approximately 500 employees and have witnessed people injured over the past year. You are curious as to how many recordable injuries have occurred as well as how many days employees missed due to work-related injuries and illnesses.

This information is listed on the OSHA _____ form, which your employer must post every year from February 1st through April 30th.

Answer explanation:
An OSHA 300 A form is the workplace summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. Each year, the OSHA 300 A form must be posted by employers from February 1st through April 30th for all employees to see. Proper recordkeeping is one of the employer’s many responsibilities as stated under OSHA law.

You work at a small manufacturing plant that handles hazardous chemicals and don’t normally handle the chemicals. However, one day you do and the chemical spills in your work area. No one else is around to assist you.

After containing the spill from spreading, which of the following documents should you look for that will tell you the chemical’s information, proper cleanup, and disposal methods?

Answer explanation:
A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) lists all the information regarding a specific chemical including safe cleanup and disposal methods.

Your employer should have an SDS for every hazardous chemical that is used or stored at the workplace. A safety data sheet will always contain 16 sections of information pertaining to the chemical that help the reader understand everything they need to know about the specific chemical.

Safety data sheets may be in paper form (sometimes kept in a binder) or electronic form. Be sure to ask your employer how they keep safety data sheets if your employer has hazardous chemicals.

You begin working for a manufacturer that has many specific processes that require different forms of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). You will be working under areas where there may be falling objects and will occasionally be required to manually team-lift heavy material. Tools that nearby workers will be using will be loud and are over the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL).

Based on your job functions, which of the following types of PPE is your employer required to provide to you at no expense of your own?

Answer explanation:
Employers are required to pay for certain types of PPE for workers. Some examples include:
• Metatarsal foot protection
• Rubber boots with steel toes
• Non-prescription eye protection
• Prescription eyewear inserts/lenses for full-face respirators
• Goggles and face shields
• Firefighting PPE (helmet, gloves, boots, proximity suits, full gear)
• Hard hats
• Hearing protection
• Welding PPE

Employers are not required to pay for some PPE in certain circumstances. They are not required to pay for:

1. Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or boots) and non-specialty prescription-safety eyewear provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job site. OSHA based this decision on the fact that this type of equipment is very personal, is often used outside the workplace, and is taken by workers from job site to job site and employer to employer.
2. Everyday clothing such as long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal work boots.
3. Ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items used solely for protection from weather such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, raincoats, ordinary sunglasses, and sunscreen.
4. Hairnets and gloves that are worn by food workers for consumer safety.
5. Lifting belts because their value in protecting the back is questionable.

The employer also does not have to pay for PPE when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE and it must be replaced.

What does the acronym “OSHA” stand for?

Answer explanation:
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was founded in 1971.

OSHA’s mission is to ensure safe and healthful working conditions for workers by setting and enforcing standards and by providing training, outreach, education, and assistance.

Just prior to the creation of OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 was signed into law by President Nixon. It is a US labor law covering most private sector employers and their workers. In addition, it covers some public sector employers and workers across all 50 U.S. states and certain territories and jurisdictions under federal authority.

In the four decades since OSHA was created, the nation has made dramatic progress in reducing work-related deaths and injuries.

Which of the following are priorities for an OSHA inspection?

Answer explanation:
Injuries requiring first aid are still important for workplaces to take care of and take seriously. However, they are not one of the priority items that OSHA utilizes to trigger workplace inspections.

OSHA's top priority for inspection is an imminent danger. Imminent danger is a situation where workers face an immediate risk of death or serious physical harm.

The second priority for inspection is any fatality or catastrophe - an accident that requires the hospitalization of three or more workers. Employers are required to report fatalities and catastrophes to OSHA within eight hours. The third priority is employee complaints and referrals.

Lower inspection priorities include;
• Programmed inspections targeted toward high-hazard industries
• Planned inspections in other industries
• Follow-up inspections to determine whether previously cited violations have been abated

A(n) ______ OSHA violation category is defined as having a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm.

Answer explanation:
OSHA cites a serious violation when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result. A serious violation is one that the employer knew or should have known about the hazard. A serious violation is subject to a $14,502 fine per serious violation as of 2022.

When an employer receives an OSHA Notice, they must post it (or a copy of it) at or near the place where each violation occurred to make employees aware of the hazards to which they may be exposed.

The OSHA Notice must remain posted for three working days or until the hazard is abated, whichever is longer.

The OSHA “General Duty Clause” states that employers shall do which of the following?

Answer explanation:
OSHA’s General Duty Clause only states two things:

Each employer shall;
1. Furnish each of their employees’ employment and provide a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to their employees.
2. Comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this Act.

Under OSHA, workers have the right to:

Answer explanation:
OSHA entitles workers to certain rights, and employers have certain responsibilities. OSHA lists specific worker rights including the right to:
• A safe and healthful workplace
• Refuse a task that is unsafe or unhealthful
• Participate in an OSHA inspection

OSHA does not give workers the authority to enforce safety rules. Workers do not have access to employee injury records because they contain personal information.

According to OSHA Worker Rights, a person can refuse to work under which of the following conditions?

Answer explanation:
Under OSHA Worker Rights, the following four conditions must be met if a worker is going to refuse a task:
• The employer has failed to eliminate a danger after being asked to do so
• You refuse to work in “good faith”
• A reasonable worker would agree there is a real danger or serious injury
• There isn’t enough time to get the hazard corrected through regular enforcement channels due to the urgency of the hazard

However, a worker does not have the right to refuse work if, for example, the outdoor temperature is uncomfortable. This is because there are reasonable controls an employer can put in place to still maintain a safe work environment.

You recognize a hazard at your workplace that poses an imminent danger to you and your coworkers and raise this concern to your employer. You are then fired for bringing this up. Seven months later, you remember that OSHA has a whistleblower protection program and decide to file a complaint. However, your complaint is rejected and deemed invalid.

In order to be protected under OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program, you had to have filed your complaint about retaliation from your employer within _____.

Answer explanation:
OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program protects workers from retaliation when they make a complaint to their employer, OSHA, or other government agencies about unsafe or unhealthful working conditions in the workplace. OSHA will protect the worker when the complaint is submitted to OSHA within 30 days of the incident.

OSHA does not protect workers who take longer than 30 days to file a complaint. In this scenario, taking seven months to file a complaint is the reason why the complaint was rejected.

You are on a job site with many coworkers. You are about to work at heights and think (but are not certain) that you need to use fall protection. During your training, you recall hearing the term “competent person”. You now attempt to look for a “competent person” in fall protection.

Which of the following describes a “competent person” who can help you with your task?

Answer explanation:
An OSHA "competent person" is defined as "one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has the authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.”

A competent person would be sought when creating a plan for fall protection use.

Someone who has been approved or assigned by an employer to perform a specific type of duty or be at a specific location on a job site is an authorized person, not a competent person.

Someone who by possession of a recognized degree, certificate, professional standing, extensive knowledge, training, and experience, or has successfully demonstrated their ability to solve problems relating to the subject matter, work, or project is a qualified person, not a competent person.

You are helping set up a designated work zone. You realize there is a potential hazard for pedestrians as the area where they would enter is directly below workers who are working on scaffolding.

Which of the following is the BEST way to correct this potential hazard?

Answer explanation:
The hierarchy of controls elimination/substitution methods is the best way to protect workers and pedestrians.

If you remove or eliminate a hazard, there is no longer a risk from that hazard.

Eliminating the hazard of pedestrians being injured can be done by moving (relocating) the scaffolding work completely away from the pedestrian walking area.

Elimination methods are often the most time-consuming control that also takes the most planning but are by far the most effective. If you could not eliminate or substitute the hazard, the next best option would be to engineer the hazard, followed by using administrative controls.

Utilizing PPE would be the least effective method of controlling a hazard, but it is still a control method.

You work for a manufacturing plant with approximately 500 employees and have witnessed people injured over the past year. You are curious as to how many recordable injuries have occurred as well as how many days employees missed due to work-related injuries and illnesses.

This information is listed on the OSHA _____ form, which your employer must post every year from February 1st through April 30th.

Answer explanation:
An OSHA 300 A form is the workplace summary of work-related injuries and illnesses. Each year, the OSHA 300 A form must be posted by employers from February 1st through April 30th for all employees to see. Proper recordkeeping is one of the employer’s many responsibilities as stated under OSHA law.

You work at a small manufacturing plant that handles hazardous chemicals and don’t normally handle the chemicals. However, one day you do and the chemical spills in your work area. No one else is around to assist you.

After containing the spill from spreading, which of the following documents should you look for that will tell you the chemical’s information, proper cleanup, and disposal methods?

Answer explanation:
A Safety Data Sheet (SDS) lists all the information regarding a specific chemical including safe cleanup and disposal methods.

Your employer should have an SDS for every hazardous chemical that is used or stored at the workplace. A safety data sheet will always contain 16 sections of information pertaining to the chemical that help the reader understand everything they need to know about the specific chemical.

Safety data sheets may be in paper form (sometimes kept in a binder) or electronic form. Be sure to ask your employer how they keep safety data sheets if your employer has hazardous chemicals.

You begin working for a manufacturer that has many specific processes that require different forms of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). You will be working under areas where there may be falling objects and will occasionally be required to manually team-lift heavy material. Tools that nearby workers will be using will be loud and are over the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limits (PEL).

Based on your job functions, which of the following types of PPE is your employer required to provide to you at no expense of your own?

Answer explanation:
Employers are required to pay for certain types of PPE for workers. Some examples include:
• Metatarsal foot protection
• Rubber boots with steel toes
• Non-prescription eye protection
• Prescription eyewear inserts/lenses for full-face respirators
• Goggles and face shields
• Firefighting PPE (helmet, gloves, boots, proximity suits, full gear)
• Hard hats
• Hearing protection
• Welding PPE

Employers are not required to pay for some PPE in certain circumstances. They are not required to pay for:

1. Non-specialty safety-toe protective footwear (including steel-toe shoes or boots) and non-specialty prescription-safety eyewear provided that the employer permits such items to be worn off the job site. OSHA based this decision on the fact that this type of equipment is very personal, is often used outside the workplace, and is taken by workers from job site to job site and employer to employer.
2. Everyday clothing such as long-sleeve shirts, long pants, street shoes, and normal work boots.
3. Ordinary clothing, skin creams, or other items used solely for protection from weather such as winter coats, jackets, gloves, parkas, rubber boots, hats, raincoats, ordinary sunglasses, and sunscreen.
4. Hairnets and gloves that are worn by food workers for consumer safety.
5. Lifting belts because their value in protecting the back is questionable.

The employer also does not have to pay for PPE when the employee has lost or intentionally damaged the PPE and it must be replaced.

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