OSHA Practice Test: Quiz Questions and Answers
As an OSHA-authorized provider of online coursework, we offer OSHA 10 and 30 courses for both Construction and General Industry.
When you take an OSHA Outreach course, you must pass an OSHA quiz at the end of each lesson. Each OSHA quiz is like a safety practice test on the material for that part of the course. They prepare you for the comprehensive OSHA test that you need to pass at the end to get your DOL card. If you're anxious about passing the test, there are many places to find a practice OSHA test online (including below!).
The other kind of OSHA Outreach course is OSHA 30, which is for supervisor-level employees. It uses the same pattern of OSHA quizzes that prepare you for the final, but it's a lot harder to find OSHA 30 tests online.
The only thing to remember when looking for safety practice tests online is which "industry" the question covers. Most OSHA quiz answers will be the same for General Industry and Construction, but some details will vary, and sometimes, an entire topic will only be relevant to one or the other. You don't want to waste time studying for the wrong test!
Below are a few sample OSHA questions and answers focusing on construction standards. Once you take a shot at each question, we'll discuss the correct answer and explain the reasoning.
OSHA Practice Quiz
1.) What should you do if you believe working conditions are unsafe or unhealthful?
- keep it to yourself and forget about it
- call the county board of health
- notify your employer first and then OSHA if necessary
- go straight to OSHA
2.) Who is required to pay for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in most situations?
- Employer and Employee
- Employer
- Employee
- OSHA
3.) An injury or illness case is work-related if an event or exposure in the work environment either caused or contributed to the resulting condition.
- True
- False
4.) How can a worker find out what chemical they use in a product?
- ask your supervisor
- look on the label
- read the SDS
- all of the above
5.) OSHA inspections are _____________ conducted without advance notice.
- Almost always
- Sometimes
- Never
- Always
6.) In construction, fall protection is needed at how many feet above a lower level (excluding scaffolds)?
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 8
7.) How many seconds is it acceptable to stand under a suspended load?
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3
8.) What is the most significant hazard facing workers in a trench?
- hazardous atmospheres
- falls
- cave-ins
- falling objects
9.) What material handling-related injury is known to be the number one cause of workers' compensation claims?
- workers being struck by falling materials
- equipment contacting powerlines
- back injuries
- none of the above
10.) As an operator, how often should you inspect your piece of mobile equipment
- the first day of the workweek
- once a month
- each day before operation
- never, the mechanics will do that
OSHA Test Answer Key
1.) "notify your employer first and then OSHA if necessary"
Feedback:
OSHA encourages workers to report unsafe or unhealthy working conditions through their anonymous complaint system. Still, if the issue can be solved in-house by talking to your employer about your concerns, that's the first step you should take. If your employer retaliates against you for bringing up a problem, that is a separate issue that can also be taken to OSHA.
OSHA certainly doesn't want you to keep the problem to yourself. While the county resources may be appropriate for some workplace issues, OSHA is the best authority to call on for problems with workplace safety and health.
2.) "Employer"
Feedback:
In your Introduction to OSHA lesson, you should learn about workers' rights and employers' responsibilities that OSHA enforces. The agency holds employers responsible for giving workers the necessary resources for doing a job safely. That includes paying for required PPE, providing safety training, performing health and safety-related testing, and more.
3.) "True"
Feedback:
Often, there's a clear cause-and-effect relationship between a workplace or job and a specific injury or illness, but sometimes the link is complicated or ambiguous.
According to OSHA, an injury or illness should be considered work-related if it's "more likely than not" that the employee's work duties or environment contributed to the condition.
4.) "all of the above"
Feedback:
OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HCS) ensures that workers have access to information about any dangerous chemicals they may be exposed to in the workplace. Containers must be labeled in a specific way, and workplaces must keep a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) accessible to workers. The SDS is full of important information for each substance.
You should receive training on these labels and SDSs, but if you don't know how to find and use the information, your supervisor should have the training to help you. That means "all of the above" is the correct answer.
5.) "Almost always"
Feedback:
There are a number of reasons why OSHA might visit your workplace, but whether it's a routine visit or because they suspect something is wrong, they'll usually show up unannounced.
6.) "6"
Feedback:
Fall protection is one of the areas where OSHA's standards differ by industry and context. Technically, all four choices are correct for someone, which means you'll have to pay close attention to the details to get the answer right.
The question specifies construction work, and 29 CFR 1926 requires fall protection when you're 6 feet above the lower level.
The question excludes scaffolding because, in that case, it's 10 feet.
If this question had been about general industry work, the correct answer would've been 4 feet. Shipyard work would be 5 feet, and longshoring would be 8 feet.
(Don't worry – your OSHA 10 test won't expect you to know the rules for every industry, just your own.)
7.) "0"
Feedback:
The phrasing of this question seems to imply that there is some amount of time where it's safe to stand under a suspended load – it's meant to trick you. Since you should never stand under a suspended load, the answer is 0.
8.) "cave-ins"
Feedback:
It would be best to consider all these hazards when working in a trench. A hazardous atmosphere could build up in the trench. You could fall while climbing in or out, and objects could fall on you from above.
However, the greatest threat is a cave-in.
9.) "back injuries"
Feedback:
Again, all the options are potential hazards for a worker handling materials. That means "none of the above" is the wrong answer.
However, back injuries are far more common for materials handlers than struck-by or electrocution hazards.
10.) "each day before operation"
Feedback:
If you're a mobile equipment operator, you never know what's happening with your equipment when you're not around. The only way to ensure it's in good operating condition is to conduct an inspection each day before you fire it up.
