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Learning path · 2 courses · 7 h 52 min · v1.0

New to Construction — Learning Path

Where to start on your first jobsite: free self-paced courses, in the order that makes sense

Start with course 1 See the whole path
Not OSHA-authorized training. Everything on this path is a free study aid. It does not satisfy any OSHA training requirement and nothing is issued at the end of it — no card, no certificate, no document of any kind. Your employer's training program comes first.

Nobody learns a jobsite in one sitting, and the standards are not written in the order you meet them. This path puts the free courses on this site in a sequence that matches a first year in construction: the four hazards that cause most of the deaths and the everyday habits around them first, then fall protection on its own, in depth, because 29 CFR 1926.501 is the standard OSHA cites more often than any other and 1926.503 — the training that is supposed to go with it — sits in the same top ten. After that come two courses you only need if the work takes you there, and the practice tests, toolbox talks and calculators that belong alongside all of it. Everything is free, nothing asks for an account, and nothing is issued at the end: your employer still owes you the training and the hands-on parts that 1926.21(b)(2) puts on them.

What you will be able to do at the end

  • Walk a jobsite and name the four hazard groups that cause most construction deaths, with the standard behind each one
  • Say which fall protection system 1926.501(b) requires for the work in front of you, and check it against the criteria in 1926.502
  • Select, inspect and wear the basic PPE a construction site requires, and take a ladder or a scaffold apart with your eyes before you climb it
  • Judge an anchorage, the clearance under you and the rescue plan before you leave the ground
  • Know what a competent person is, what your employer owes you in training, and how to report a hazard or an injury without losing your job over it
  • Tell the difference between what a free course can teach you and the hands-on training and evaluation only your employer can run

How to use this path

  1. 1
    Take the courses in the order below. Each one assumes the vocabulary of the one before it — the first course explains what a competent person is, the second one uses the term without stopping.
  2. 2
    Do the 5-question quiz at the end of every part before moving on. If you miss two, reread that part: the quizzes exist to catch the chapters you skimmed.
  3. 3
    Finish each course with its 20-question final exam, then use the practice tests further down as a cold check a few days later.
  4. 4
    Your progress is stored in your own browser. No account, no email, nothing sent to us — and nothing to download at the end.

The path, step by step

Step 1 · Start here

Construction Safety Fundamentals

3 h 45 min · 4 parts · 16 chapters · 4 quizzes + final exam

Start with the wide view. This course covers the Focus Four — falls, struck-by, caught-in/between and electrocution — then the PPE, ladders, scaffolds, tools, heat, cold, housekeeping and reporting rules you meet on any site, each quoted with its paragraph of 29 CFR 1926. It also gives you the vocabulary the rest of the path assumes: competent person, qualified person, the duty in 1926.21(b)(2), and what 1904.35 protects when you report something.

The four hazard groups and the standard behind each one, so a walk-around stops being a blur
What PPE is actually required in construction, who pays for it, and how to inspect it
Ladders and scaffolds: setting one up, climbing it, and reading one somebody else built
Reporting a hazard, a near miss or an injury — and the protection that comes with it
  1. Part 1 — The Focus Four4 chapters
  2. Part 2 — Personal protective equipment4 chapters
  3. Part 3 — Ladders and scaffolds4 chapters
  4. Part 4 — Jobsite basics4 chapters
Open “Construction Safety Fundamentals”
Step 2 · Then go deep on the biggest killer

Fall Protection Fundamentals

4 h 7 min · 4 parts · 16 chapters · 4 quizzes + final exam

Falls get a whole course because they get a whole subpart, and because the equipment is on almost every site while the understanding of it is not. This one works through 1926 Subpart M the way an inspector reads it: where fall protection is owed, which system satisfies the duty, what each system has to be able to do, and the three things crews get wrong most often — the anchorage, the clearance below, and the rescue that has to exist before anyone leaves the ground.

The trigger heights, and why construction and general industry do not use the same one
Reading 1926.501(b) situation by situation instead of guessing
Anchorages, fall clearance and swing falls — the arithmetic that decides whether a harness helps
Inspecting a harness, a lanyard and a self-retracting device, and when to take one out of service
  1. Part 1 — Where fall protection is required4 chapters
  2. Part 2 — The systems and their criteria4 chapters
  3. Part 3 — Making the equipment work4 chapters
  4. Part 4 — Programs, plans and special situations4 chapters
Open “Fall Protection Fundamentals”

Then, depending on the work you end up doing

These are not part of the core path. Take them when the work in front of you calls for them.

3 h 52 min
Forklift Operator Basics
Rough-terrain forklifts and telehandlers are construction equipment, and 1926.602(d) is short about it: the operator training requirements for construction work are identical to those in 1910.178(l). Take this course if you will run one, spot for one, or work around one — then let your employer train and evaluate you on the actual truck, which is the only thing that counts under (l).
3 h 47 min
Lockout/Tagout Fundamentals
Lockout/tagout is the general industry standard, and 1910.147(a)(1)(ii)(A) excludes construction from it — in construction the duties come from 1926.417 for de-energized circuits and 1926.702(j) for concrete and masonry equipment, both thinner than the general industry rule. Take this course if you move into plant, maintenance or manufacturing work, or if you want to understand the program the general contractor's mechanics are working under.

Alongside the courses

Check yourself: free practice tests

Same standards, questions only. Every explanation cites the paragraph it comes from.

Practice Tests
OSHA 10 Construction Practice Test
Thirty questions across the same construction standards, each explanation cited to its paragraph. A good cold check a few days after course 1.
Practice Tests
Fall Protection Practice Test
Twenty-five questions on Subpart M — take it after course 2 and see whether the clearance and anchorage questions still trip you up.

Bring it to the crew: printable toolbox talks

Five-minute talks on one page, ready to print for a tailgate meeting.

Toolbox Talks
PPE Basics
One printable page on hard hats, eye protection, gloves and boots. The talk a new hire actually gets in week one.
Toolbox Talks
Ladder Safety
Setup angle, the three points of contact, and the inspection nobody does. Five minutes, one page.
Toolbox Talks
Fall Protection Basics
The short version of course 2, sized for a tailgate meeting before work at height starts.
Toolbox Talks
Trench Protection at 5 Feet
Why five feet changes everything in an excavation, and who decides the soil type.

Do the math on the job

The numbers these courses talk about, worked out in your browser. Nothing you type leaves it.

Calculators
Trench Slope & Excavation Calculator
The Table B-1 slopes and the 4-, 5- and 20-foot thresholds, worked out for your trench. Geometry only — the classification is still the competent person's.
Calculators
Heat Index & Work/Rest Schedule Calculator
The NWS heat index for today's numbers, with the work/rest thinking that goes with it. Heat is the hazard new workers underestimate first.

The paperwork, filled in

Blank templates your employer still has to review and adapt.

Permits & Forms
JHA / JSA Builder (Job Hazard Analysis)
Build a job hazard analysis for the task you are about to start — the exercise that makes the Focus Four concrete.
Permits & Forms
Harness & Lanyard Inspection Form Generator
The inspection checklist course 2 describes, as a blank form you can print and keep.

Short reads that clear up the usual confusions

Blog
OSHA 10 vs OSHA 30: Which One Do You Need?
Which Outreach class you actually need, and who each one is written for.
Blog
Is Free OSHA 10 Real? What You Actually Get for Nothing
What a free OSHA 10 offer really gets you, and where the DOL card comes from.
Blog
OSHA Fall Protection Height Requirements: 6 Feet, 4 Feet or 10 Feet?
Six feet, four feet or ten feet — the heights, and the standards they come from.
Blog
Competent Person vs Qualified Person Under OSHA
Two words OSHA uses precisely and jobsites use loosely. Worth reading before course 2.

Who this path is for: Workers in their first months on a construction site, apprentices and laborers, people moving into construction from another trade, crew leads who have to bring new hires up to speed, and anyone reviewing before an OSHA 10 class.

Frequently asked questions

No, but the order is there for a reason. The first course defines the words the second one uses without stopping — competent person, qualified person, the difference between the duty to provide fall protection and the criteria a system has to meet. If you already work at height every day and only want Subpart M, start with the fall protection course; otherwise start at step 1.

No. No card, certificate, or credential is issued, and there is nothing to download. Only OSHA-authorized trainers can deliver OSHA Outreach Training — the 10-Hour and 30-Hour classes — and issue Department of Labor cards. This path is study material.

No. 29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2) puts the duty to instruct each employee on the employer, and standards such as 1926.503 for fall protection and 1910.178(l) for lift trucks require training and evaluation tied to your actual site, systems and equipment. Much of that has to happen with the harness, the anchor points and the truck you will really use. Use this path to prepare and to review.

About eight hours of reading for the two core courses, plus the quizzes and the two final exams — call it two evenings a week for a month if you take it at a comfortable pace. Progress is stored in your own browser, so you can stop anywhere and come back.

Yes, as review. The construction course covers the same subjects the Outreach curriculum spends most of its time on, and the practice tests linked here use the same standards. It is preparation and reference, not the class itself, and it is not affiliated with OSHA or the Department of Labor in any way.

It does not cover trade-specific work — steel erection beyond its fall protection rules, cranes, confined space entry, silica and other health hazard programs, or electrical work under Subpart K past the basics. Those are separate courses and tools on this site, and some do not exist yet. The path covers what a new construction worker meets first.

No. There is no prerequisite, no account, no email, and no cost. If you have a hard hat and a first week on a site behind you, you have everything the first course assumes.

Sources & references

Content checked against these sources — last reviewed August 28, 2026.

Not OSHA-authorized training. SteelToeTools is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by OSHA or the U.S. Department of Labor. This free educational content does not satisfy any OSHA or other regulatory training requirement, and no card, certificate, or credential is issued. Only OSHA-authorized trainers can deliver OSHA Outreach Training (10-Hour and 30-Hour) and issue DOL cards. Always follow your employer's training program and applicable federal, state, and local requirements.

By — Editorial team of SteelToeTools.com (published by LSEA SAS) Updated v1.0