Free to read
279 toolbox talks, each with the OSHA reference, free
The same talks a Tailboard crew signs every week, written to be read aloud in five minutes: the points, why it goes wrong, and the questions that get the crew talking. Read one to your crew tomorrow. Nothing to sign up for.
General / mixed
- After hours: the open trench, the ladder, and the kid29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Backing up: the accident that happens in your own yard29 CFR 1926.601
- Cold work: wind, wet, and the person who stops shivering29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)
- Drowsy driving: the 4 a.m. start and the microsleep49 CFR 392.3
- Emergencies: say this site's address out loud29 CFR 1926.50
- Eye protection: what actually stops a fragment29 CFR 1926.102
- Fatigue: 17 hours awake drives like a 0.0529 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Hauling the machine: four binders and a ramp that slides49 CFR 393.130
- Housekeeping is a safety issue, not a chore29 CFR 1926.25
- Mental health: the quiet guy and the 988 line29 CFR 1926.21
- New site: the walk before the first cut29 CFR 1926.21
- Night work: five foot-candles and the shadow at the edge29 CFR 1926.56
- On the shoulder: never between the vehicles49 CFR 392.22
- Pinch points and where hands get caught29 CFR 1926.300
- Rain and hydroplaning: the tire that is floating49 CFR 393.75
- Rural two-lanes: the pass that ends head-on49 CFR 392.6
- Seat belts in the work truck: who gets thrown out49 CFR 392.16
- Securing the load: the ladder that came off at 6049 CFR 393.106
- Speaking up before something goes wrong29 CFR 1926.21
- Temporary stairs and the rail that is not there yet29 CFR 1926.1052
- The SDS: the chemical you did not know was in it29 CFR 1926.59
- The lift that hurts you is the ordinary one29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)
- The morning after: a 0.03 at 6 a.m. still counts29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- The new hire: hurt in month one, not year ten29 CFR 1926.21
- The phone in the cab: 4.6 seconds blind at 5549 CFR 392.82
- The truck on site: brake set, chocks, key out29 CFR 1926.600
- The walk-around: two minutes before the flat at 6549 CFR 396.13
- The weather call: 30 seconds of thunder, 30 mph of wind29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Three points of contact on equipment29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)
- Tools: the grinder with the guard taken off29 CFR 1926.300
- Towing a trailer: tongue weight, sway and the chains49 CFR 393.70
- What happens if: three questions everyone answers29 CFR 1926.35
- Winter roads: black ice and the drift on the shoulder49 CFR 392.14
- Working alone: the fall nobody was there to see29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Working through a heat wave without losing someone29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2); 1926.51(a)
Concrete
- Formwork: stripped too early is a collapse29 CFR 1926.703
- Power trowels indoors: the exhaust is what kills29 CFR 1926.702
- Pump lines: the hose that whips when it clears29 CFR 1926.702
- Rebar: cap it when you place it29 CFR 1926.701(b)
- Silica dust when you are cutting concrete29 CFR 1926.1153
- Wet concrete burns: the one you feel at dinner29 CFR 1926.95
Crane and rigging
- Boom trucks and knuckle booms: the remote and the tip29 CFR 1926.1400
- Outriggers: the soft spot and the crane that went over29 CFR 1926.1402
- Power lines: Table A and the boom that touches29 CFR 1926.1408
- Signals: one signal person, and stop from anyone29 CFR 1926.1419
- Swing radius: the counterweight and the wall29 CFR 1926.1424
- The load chart: capacity at radius, minus the block29 CFR 1926.1417
- Under the load: never, and the tag line that stops the spin29 CFR 1926.1425
- Walk-around: six broken wires and the anti-two-block29 CFR 1926.1412
Demolition
- Behind the wall: asbestos, lead and live lines29 CFR 1926.1101
- Demolition survey: what has to be found first29 CFR 1926.850
- Demolition: top down, and the floor has a limit29 CFR 1926.854
- Excavator demolition: nobody inside while it swings29 CFR 1926.859
Drywall and interior finish
- Cutting into a wall: the cable behind the board29 CFR 1926.416(a)(3)
- Drywall dust: the sanding that fills the room29 CFR 1926.55
- Hanging ceilings: a 5/8 sheet weighs 100 pounds29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Stilts: a fall that starts at head height29 CFR 1926.452(y)
Electrical
- Arc flash is not a shock29 CFR 1926.416(a)(1)
- Assume every conductor is live29 CFR 1926.416
- Extension cords and temporary power29 CFR 1926.405
- GFCI protection on temporary power29 CFR 1926.404
- Overhead lines: twenty feet, and look up twice29 CFR 1926.1408
- Temporary power: GFCI, grounds and puddles29 CFR 1926.404(b)(1); 1926.404(f)
Excavation and hydro-vac
- Locates: the paint marks are not the pipe29 CFR 1926.651
- Trenching: the wall that killed someone29 CFR 1926.652
Fencing
- Automatic gates: the gate that closes on a child29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Cutting pipe and panels: the disc that comes apart29 CFR 1926.303
- Fence pliers and screw guns: the nail through the glove29 CFR 1926.300
- Heavy panels: 200 pounds and the wind that takes it29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Miles from anything: water, signal and the plan29 CFR 1926.50
- Mixing post concrete: 80 pounds, a slope and a burn29 CFR 1926.95
- Post drivers: the hand on top of the post29 CFR 1926.302
- Post hole auger: the sleeve it winds up in half a turn29 CFR 1926.651
- Roadside and front yards: the public in your work zone29 CFR 1926.200
- Skid steers on a fence line: the swing and no riders29 CFR 1926.1000
- Slopes and rights of way: footing, poison oak and ticks29 CFR 1926.21
- Stretching wire: the tension that lets go at your face29 CFR 1926.102
Flooring and tile
- Adhesive vapors: the pilot light 30 feet away29 CFR 1926.152
- Cutting laminate and vinyl plank: the saw and the knife29 CFR 1926.304
- Dry cutting tile indoors: shroud, vacuum, respirator29 CFR 1926.1153
- Floor sanding: the dust bag that smolders at midnight29 CFR 1926.151
- Knee kicker: the knee that quits at 4529 CFR 1926.300
- Kneeling all day: the knee at 40 and the 80-pound box29 CFR 1926.21
- Occupied home: the kid and the saw you left plugged in29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Self-leveler and thinset: the dust before the water29 CFR 1926.1153
- The tile box on the stairs and the roll in the doorway29 CFR 1926.250
- Tile wet saw: water, 120 volts, and a bare blade29 CFR 1926.404
- Two-part finish: isocyanates and the family upstairs29 CFR 1910.134
- Vinyl flooring from 1980 or before: assume asbestos29 CFR 1926.1101
Framing and carpentry
- Circular saws: the guard that sticks open29 CFR 1926.304
- Nail guns: the nail through the hand29 CFR 1926.302
- Nails in scrap and the cord across the subfloor29 CFR 1926.25
- Pump jacks: the bracket that was not pinned29 CFR 1926.452
- Raising walls: brace it before you let go29 CFR 1926.20
- Sheathing: the sheet nobody nailed29 CFR 1926.501
- Stepladders on the subfloor: the top step and the lean29 CFR 1926.1053
- Table saw kickback: the board that comes back at you29 CFR 1926.304
- The stairwell opening: a 2x4 on two nails is not a rail29 CFR 1926.502
- Trusses: braced as you set them, not after29 CFR 1926.501
- Utility knives: the blade toward the hand29 CFR 1926.301
- Wood dust and treated lumber: what you breathe and eat29 CFR 1926.55
Fuel delivery and fueling
- Attendance: within 25 feet and eyes on the hose49 CFR 177.834
- Bonding before the drop: the spark you never see49 CFR 177.837
- Engine off, nothing lit within 25 feet49 CFR 397.13
- Fuel on your skin, in your eyes and in your lungs29 CFR 1910.1200
- Gas cans: fill them on the ground, not in the truck bed29 CFR 1910.106
- Hazmat training: what the three-year card covers49 CFR 172.704
- Overfill: know the room in the tank before you pump40 CFR 280.30
- Shipping papers and placards: what responders read49 CFR 177.817
- Spill: stop it, contain it, call it40 CFR 110.6
- Surge and rollover: the load that keeps moving49 CFR 177.816
- The internal valve and the remote: test the shutoff49 CFR 178.345-11
- Wet-hosing equipment: engine off, fuel in the open29 CFR 1926.152
Fuel tank service and cleaning
- Benzene in the sludge: the 1 ppm limit and your skin29 CFR 1910.1028
- Bonding the truck, the hose and the tank29 CFR 1910.106(f)(3)(iv)
- Fuel tank entry: the permit, the entrant, the attendant, the supervisor29 CFR 1910.146
- Hot work on a tank that held fuel29 CFR 1910.252(a)(3)
- Isolating the tank: pump, lines, dispensers and the next delivery29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(iii)
- Pulling a tank: the pit, the lift and the closure rules40 CFR 280.71
- Respirators in a fuel tank: cartridge, airline or SCBA29 CFR 1910.134(d)(2)
- Spill buckets, sumps and leak detection: close every lid40 CFR 280.35
- Tank rescue: the tripod goes up before anyone goes in29 CFR 1910.146(k)
- Tank sludge and rinse water: hazardous until tested40 CFR 262.11
- Testing tank air: oxygen first, then fuel vapor, then toxics29 CFR 1910.146(d)(5)
- Vapor-freeing: "empty for years" is not a reading29 CFR 1910.146(d)(3)(iv)
Garage doors and gates
- Commercial headers: the ladder on the track, 14 feet up29 CFR 1926.1053
- Extension springs: the cable that stops it flying29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)
- Gate operators: UL 325 zones and the gate off its track29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Lags overhead: the impact driver, the line and your eyes29 CFR 1926.302
- Lift cables: the drum, the snap and the racked door29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Openers: the 2x4 test and the door that did not reverse16 CFR 1211.7
- Rolling steel: the barrel, the tension and the drop test29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Sections and hinges: the joint that closes on a finger29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)
- The broken spring: 300 pounds with nothing holding it29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- The customer's garage: the car, the kid and the remote29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- The opener circuit: unplug it before you touch the door29 CFR 1926.416
- Torsion springs: 2,100 foot-pounds on a 1/2-inch bar29 CFR 1926.20(b)
General construction
- Aerial lifts: the rail is not a step29 CFR 1926.453
- Fall protection above six feet29 CFR 1926.501
- Hearing you won't get back29 CFR 1926.52
- Lockout tagout before you reach in29 CFR 1926.417
- Powder-actuated tools are firearms29 CFR 1926.302(e)
- Rigging: the sling, the angle, and who stands clear29 CFR 1926.251
- Scaffold checks before you climb on29 CFR 1926.451
- Setting an extension ladder at the right angle29 CFR 1926.1053
- Struck-by: the hazard you don't see coming29 CFR 1926.601
HVAC
- Asbestos in older systems: stop before you cut29 CFR 1926.1101
- Confined space before you enter29 CFR 1926.1203
- Refrigerant handling and what it does to you29 CFR 1910.1000
- Rooftop units: the edge, the wind and the start signal29 CFR 1910.28(b)(13)
Insulation and spray foam
- Attics at 140 °F: twenty minutes and out29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Blowing machine: the agitator and the blocked hose29 CFR 1926.300
- Crawl spaces: the sewage, the droppings and the way out29 CFR 1926.1203
- Fiberglass and mineral wool: the itch and what you breathe29 CFR 1926.28
- Foam on skin: the coverall, the gloves and no solvent29 CFR 1926.95
- Fresh foam burns: the pilot light and the thick pass29 CFR 1926.352
- Isocyanates in spray foam: sensitized once, for life29 CFR 1926.55
- Other trades in a foamed house: the live can and the torch29 CFR 1926.416
- Rigid board: the utility knife, the table saw and the dust29 CFR 1926.304
- Spray foam fumes: the family upstairs breathes it too29 CFR 1926.57
- The attic hatch: the ladder, the light and the can light29 CFR 1926.1053
- The spray rig: 1,000 PSI, hot hoses and a live drum29 CFR 1926.302
Landscaping and grounds
- Ground nests, stings and the epinephrine in the truck29 CFR 1926.21(b)(4)
- Mowers, trimmers, and thrown objects29 CFR 1910.243
- Pesticides: the label is the law7 U.S.C. 136j(a)(2)(G); 40 CFR 156
Low-voltage and telecom
- Above the ceiling: the grid that will not hold you29 CFR 1926.416
- Data rooms: nothing in here is off29 CFR 1926.416
- Fiber: invisible light and the shard you can't find29 CFR 1926.102
- Fire alarm work: the system is off and nobody knows29 CFR 1926.150
- Ladders in offices: the door that opens into it29 CFR 1926.1053
- Pole climbing: sound it before you trust it29 CFR 1910.268
- Pulling cable: the rope that lets go at 1,500 pounds29 CFR 1926.417
- RF at antennas: the heat you feel too late29 CFR 1910.97
Masonry
- Block saws: water, electricity and a blade29 CFR 1926.702
- Masonry scaffolds: the cube of block on one end29 CFR 1926.451
- Masonry walls: braced until it is tied in29 CFR 1926.706
- Mortar mixer: the paddle does not know your hand29 CFR 1926.300
Painting and coatings
- Airless sprayers: the small hole that costs a finger29 CFR 1926.302(b)(8)
- Ladders on stairs: the leg on the lower tread29 CFR 1926.1053(b)
- Lead paint before 1978: the dust you take home29 CFR 1926.62
- Spray finishing: the vapor and the pilot light29 CFR 1926.66
Paving and asphalt
- Asphalt fumes: the screed is the worst seat29 CFR 1926.55
- Crack sealing: 375 °F rubber and a propane kettle29 CFR 1926.153
- Haul trucks at the hopper: the raised bed and the wire29 CFR 1926.601
- Hot mix at 300 °F: the burn through your boot29 CFR 1926.95
- Lute and rake: the handle that burns and the mat's heat29 CFR 1926.301
- Milling machine: nobody near the drum while it turns29 CFR 1926.1153
- Paver and roller: the roller backing into the screed crew29 CFR 1926.602
- Paving in traffic: the public drives through your job29 CFR 1926.201
- Plate compactors and jumping jacks: vibration and fumes29 CFR 1926.302
- Rollers: the drum slides on a fresh mat29 CFR 1926.1000
- Tack coat: hot emulsion and the slip on fresh tack29 CFR 1926.28
- The mat adds 20 degrees: heat on the paving crew29 CFR 1926.20(b)
Plumbing
- Crawl spaces and attics: the joist you step between29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Drain work: what is in the water and on the cable29 CFR 1926.95
- Soldering in a wall: the fire that starts later29 CFR 1926.352
- Solvent cement: the fumes in a closed bathroom29 CFR 1926.57
Restoration and abatement
- Asbestos abatement: 0.1 fiber per cc and the clearance29 CFR 1926.1101
- Containment: the poly wall is only as good as the pressure29 CFR 1926.1101
- Demolition after water and fire: the ceiling that drops29 CFR 1926.850
- Fire damage: the char that holds nothing29 CFR 1926.55
- Lead abatement: the number in your blood29 CFR 1926.62
- Mold: the spores and the kid with asthma upstairs29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Respirators: a P100 is worthless without the seal29 CFR 1910.134
- Restoration chemicals: ozone, fogging and the family dog29 CFR 1926.59
- Sewage and category 3 water: the cut that gets infected29 CFR 1926.95
- The drying chamber: 90 °F, 40 hoses and a roaring room29 CFR 1926.21
- Trauma scenes: bloodborne pathogens and when to say no29 CFR 1910.1030
- Water extraction: the outlet under four inches of water29 CFR 1926.404
Roofing
- Getting on and off the roof29 CFR 1926.1053(b)(1)
- Heat on a roof in summer29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2); 1926.51(a)
- Skylights hold like a sheet of glass29 CFR 1926.501(b)(4)
- Working near a roof edge29 CFR 1926.501
Siding, gutters and windows
- Behind the siding: the nest, the wire and the bat29 CFR 1926.21(b)(4)
- Cutting Hardie: shears make chips, saws make silica29 CFR 1926.1153
- Gutter machine: the rollers do not stop for a finger29 CFR 1926.300
- Hanging gutter: the edge that cuts, the hand off the rail29 CFR 1926.1053
- Ladder jacks: 20 feet, two ladders and a rated plank29 CFR 1926.452(k)
- Ladders on a lawn: the foot that sinks an inch29 CFR 1926.1053
- Lifts and scaffolds on a lawn: the ground that gives29 CFR 1926.451
- Tearing off pre-1978 siding: the lead lands in the yard29 CFR 1926.62
- The brake and the snips: every cut edge is a blade29 CFR 1926.95
- The homeowner's yard: the door opens under your plank29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Wind on the wall: a 4x8 sheet of siding is a sail29 CFR 1926.451(f)(12)
- Window units: 150 pounds of glass and two people29 CFR 1926.95
Solar
- Battery storage: a fire you cannot put out29 CFR 1926.441
- Black array: 150 °F glass and the sunburn29 CFR 1926.28
- Carrying modules: a glass sail on a pitched roof29 CFR 1926.1053
- DC connectors: the arc that does not stop29 CFR 1926.403
- Ground-mount: locates, the trench and the hammer29 CFR 1926.651
- Inverter and AC side: the breaker that was on29 CFR 1926.417
- PV modules: live the moment the sun is up29 CFR 1926.416
- Racking at the edge: the rail that overhangs29 CFR 1926.501
- Roof anchors: the screw that went into decking29 CFR 1926.502
- Standing seam: slick when wet, no parapet29 CFR 1926.501
- Testing PV: dead means every string checked29 CFR 1926.95
- The crew below: a module off the eave29 CFR 1926.501
Steel and ironwork
- Anchor bolts: the column that fell over29 CFR 1926.755
- Bolting up: the bolt that fell six floors29 CFR 1926.759
- Connecting: two bolts before the hook lets go29 CFR 1926.756
- Metal deck: the sheet that was not screwed down29 CFR 1926.754
- Rebar mats: the walk across the mat that moves29 CFR 1926.701
- Setting stairs: everyone uses it the minute it is in29 CFR 1926.1052
- Shakeout: the beam that rolls off the bundle29 CFR 1926.753
- Walking steel: 15 feet, and connectors up to 3029 CFR 1926.760
Traffic control
- Cones and signs: the setter is the exposed one29 CFR 1926.200(g)
- Flagger position: never in the lane, and a way out29 CFR 1926.201
- Intrusion: the car comes through, then what you do29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Paddle and vest: seen at 500 feet or not at all29 CFR 1926.201
- TMA truck: the shield that rolls 100 feet when hit29 CFR 1926.601
- The angry driver: do not engage, get the plate29 CFR 1926.21(b)(2)
- Twelve hours on the paddle: the flagger who goes quiet29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Two-way flagging: the last car and the pilot car29 CFR 1926.201
Tree work
- Chainsaw work and the kickback zone29 CFR 1910.132
Underground utility and directional drilling
- Backfill: nobody in the trench while the bucket dumps29 CFR 1926.651(e)
- Drill stem: nobody within reach while it turns29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Drilling mud: slick ground and the frac-out in the creek29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Hydraulics: the pinhole leak that goes into your hand29 CFR 1926.302(d)
- Live gas main: the smell, the meter and the block29 CFR 1926.651(b)
- Manholes: the lid, the air and the ladder that rusted29 CFR 1926.1203
- Potholing: only a shovel or vac inside the tolerance zone29 CFR 1926.651(b)
- Pullback: nobody in line with the pipe29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Strike alert: when the alarm sounds, nobody moves29 CFR 1926.416(a)
- The bore rig on the shoulder and the plate in the road29 CFR 1926.200(g)
- Tracking the bore: eyes down, your back to traffic29 CFR 1926.651(d)
- Water main: the pipe in the sling and the flooded trench29 CFR 1926.651(h)
Vacuum truck and industrial cleaning
- Debris tank door: never stand in the swing29 CFR 1926.601
- High-pressure hose: the coupling that lets go29 CFR 1926.302
- Hot water in winter: the scald and the frozen line29 CFR 1926.95
- Hydro-vac wand: 3,000 PSI cuts skin and gas pipe29 CFR 1926.651
- Lane closure: the taper, the cones and the second truck29 CFR 1926.201
- Off-loading slurry: the edge that gives29 CFR 1926.601
- Sewer gas: the smell you stop smelling29 CFR 1926.55
- The debris tank is a confined space, permit and all29 CFR 1926.1203
- Vac truck walk-around: what the driver's signature means49 CFR 396.11
- Vacuum tube: suction takes a hand, the boom takes a head29 CFR 1926.20(b)
- Vacuuming flammables: static, vapor and the truck's rating29 CFR 1926.152
Welding and fabrication
- Compressed gas cylinders29 CFR 1926.350
- Hot work and the fire watch29 CFR 1926.352
When you want the record too
Pick the talk on your phone, read it, and the crew signs on their own phones. The closed meeting is sealed with a code a general contractor can check, the dashboard counts the week against your state's rule, and twelve months of them print into the prequal packet.