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50 free OSHA trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free OSHA trivia questions with answers. These OSHA trivia questions are built for safety meetings, toolbox talks and anyone studying for an OSHA 10 or 30 card. They cover the agency itself (who created it, which department it sits in, what it does not cover, how it differs from NIOSH and MSHA), the workers' rights it enforces, how inspections are prioritised and run, and the reporting clocks: 8 hours for a fatality, 24 for a hospitalisation, 30 days for a retaliation complaint. The bulk of the quiz is the standards people actually get cited under: fall protection at 4 feet in general industry and 6 feet in construction, guardrail height, ladder extension, the 90 dBA noise limit and 85 dBA hearing-conservation trigger, the 16-section Safety Data Sheet, lockout/tagout, permit-required confined spaces, trench protection at 5 feet, forklift evaluations every three years and fire extinguisher travel distance. A few history questions (the Triangle fire, the first hard hat, the 1970 act) round it out. Every answer has been checked against osha.gov's own standards and fact sheets or a reference encyclopaedia, and each question shows its explanation and citation once you have answered.
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Q 01OSHA is an agency within which part of the US federal government?
Labor
OSHA is part of the US Department of Labor, created by the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to set and enforce workplace safety standards.
Q 02Which president signed the Occupational Safety and Health Act into law on December 29, 1970?
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon signed the law, often called the Williams-Steiger Act after its congressional sponsors Harrison Williams and William Steiger.
Q 03Which OSH Act provision requires employers to keep workplaces free of recognised hazards even without a specific rule?
The General Duty Clause
The General Duty Clause, Section 5(a)(1) of the act, is what OSHA cites for hazards such as heat stress or workplace violence that have no dedicated standard.
Q 04Which of these groups is NOT covered by the OSH Act?
The self-employed
The self-employed are outside the act, as are immediate family members of farm employers and hazards regulated by another federal agency, such as mines.
Q 05How many US states and territories run OSHA-approved plans covering private workplaces?
22
22 OSHA-approved plans, including California, Michigan, Oregon and Washington, cover private workplaces; a further handful of states run plans covering only public employees.
Q 06Under OSHA's accident-prevention sign rules, which color is reserved for 'Danger' signs?
Red
Red is the Danger color: 29 CFR 1910.145 specifies red, black and white for danger signs, while caution signs use yellow with black lettering.
Q 07OSHA's Voluntary Protection Program recognises employers whose injury and illness rates are what?
Below their industry's national average
VPP Star sites must keep injury and illness rates below their industry's national average; in return they are exempt from programmed inspections and may fly the Star flag.
Q 08OSHA's Forms 300, 300A and 301 are used for what?
Recording work-related injuries and illnesses
Recording work-related injuries and illnesses is their job: the 300 is the log, the 301 the incident report and the 300A the annual summary, required of most employers with more than ten workers.
Q 09The annual OSHA 300A injury summary must be posted in the workplace from February 1 until which date?
April 30
The 300A must stay posted through April 30 under 29 CFR 1904.32(b)(6), and a company executive must certify it before it goes up.
Q 10How quickly must employers report a work-related death to OSHA?
Within 8 hours
A fatality must be reported within 8 hours; in-patient hospitalisations, amputations and losses of an eye get 24 hours, by phone or online.
Q 11How long does a worker punished for complaining to OSHA have to file a whistleblower claim?
30 days
Section 11(c) of the OSH Act gives a worker 30 days to file; several of the 20-plus other whistleblower statutes OSHA enforces allow longer, such as 180 days under Sarbanes-Oxley.
Q 12According to OSHA, workers have the right to receive safety and health training in what?
In a language they understand
OSHA's worker-rights list says training must come in a language they understand, with vocabulary to match; workers can also file confidential complaints and request an inspection.
Q 13According to OSHA, daily US worker deaths fell from about 38 in 1970 to how many in 2023?
15
Q 21Under OSHA's ladder rule, the base-to-support distance should be what fraction of the ladder's working length?
One-quarter
One-quarter is the '4 to 1' rule: for every four feet of working length, the base sits one foot out, giving an angle of about 75 degrees.
Q 22OSHA's permissible exposure limit for workplace noise over an 8-hour day is what?
90 dBA
The permissible exposure limit is 90 dBA as an 8-hour time-weighted average under 29 CFR 1910.95, with allowed exposure time halving for every 5-decibel increase.
Q 23At what 8-hour average noise level must a general-industry employer start a hearing conservation program?
85 dBA
The action level is 85 dBA as an 8-hour average; above it the program requires noise monitoring, annual audiograms, training and hearing protection at no cost.
OSHA's statistics page puts the 2023 figure at 15 deaths a day; injury and illness rates fell too, from 10.9 per 100 workers in 1972 to 2.4 per 100 in 2023.
Q 14In the hierarchy of hazard controls OSHA promotes, which control is ranked most effective?
Elimination
Elimination sits at the top of the hierarchy of controls, above substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment, which is the last resort.
Q 15Which standard topped OSHA's list of most frequently cited violations for fiscal year 2024?
Fall Protection
Fall Protection topped the FY2024 list, as it has every year since 2011, with Hazard Communication second and Ladders third.
Q 16OSHA says the leading cause of death in construction is what?
Falls
Falls are the leading cause, accounting for roughly a third of construction deaths in most years, which is why OSHA runs an annual National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls.
Q 17At what height above a lower level does OSHA require fall protection for construction workers on an unprotected edge?
6 feet
Construction's trigger height is 6 feet under 29 CFR 1926.501(b)(1); scaffolds (10 feet) and steel erection (15 feet) have their own, higher thresholds.
Q 18In US general industry (not construction), fall protection is required at edges how far above a lower level?
4 feet
General industry's threshold is 4 feet under 29 CFR 1910.28(b)(1), lower than construction's, which is why both figures are a staple of toolbox talks.
Q 19OSHA requires the top rail of a guardrail system to be how high above the walking surface?
42 inches, plus or minus 3
Top rails sit at 42 inches, plus or minus 3, with midrails halfway; the system must withstand 200 pounds of force applied downward or outward at the top edge.
Q 20When a portable ladder is used to reach an upper landing, how far must its side rails extend above the landing?
At least 3 feet
Side rails must extend at least 3 feet above the upper landing surface; where that is impossible the ladder must be secured at the top and a grab device provided.
Q 24Under the Hazard Communication Standard, Safety Data Sheets must follow a format with how many sections?
16
Safety Data Sheets use a fixed 16-section layout; the 2012 update replaced free-form Material Safety Data Sheets and added standardised pictograms and signal words on labels.
Q 25OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard was aligned in 2012 with which international chemical labelling scheme?
The GHS
The GHS, the UN's Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals, brought its diamond pictograms and the signal words 'Danger' and 'Warning' onto US chemical labels.
Q 26OSHA standard 29 CFR 1910.147, better known as lockout/tagout, deals with what?
Controlling hazardous energy during servicing
Lockout/tagout covers controlling hazardous energy during servicing: electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical and thermal energy all count, and the standard is a perennial top-ten citation.
Q 27By OSHA's definition, a confined space has limited means of entry or exit and is not designed for what?
Continuous occupancy
Continuous occupancy is the key phrase in 29 CFR 1910.146: tanks, silos, manholes, pits and ductwork all qualify as confined spaces when entry and exit are limited.
Q 28Which of these would make a confined space 'permit-required' under OSHA rules?
It could contain a hazardous atmosphere
A space that could contain a hazardous atmosphere is permit-required; engulfment hazards, inward-converging walls and any other recognised serious hazard also trigger the permit.
Q 29OSHA requires no trench protective system in stable rock or when a trench is shallower than what depth?
5 feet
At 5 feet and deeper, employers must slope, bench, shore or shield; OSHA notes that one cubic yard of soil can weigh as much as a car.
Q 30OSHA requires excavated soil and equipment to be kept at least how far back from the edge of a trench?
2 feet
Spoil piles and equipment must stay at least 2 feet from the edge under 29 CFR 1926.651(j)(2), or a retaining device must keep them from rolling in.