Build skills
Foreman & Supervisor
Running the crew, the plan, the talk, and the day.
49 items
29 CFR 1926.1153 Respirable Crystalline Silica (Table 1)
The full text of OSHA's construction silica standard, including Table 1, which lists specific tasks such as sawing, grinding, and milling with the required engineering controls and respirator use. Owners and supervisors should read Table 1 for the exact tasks their crews perform. This is the regulation itself, not a summary.
29 CFR 1926.50 Medical Services and First Aid
The construction rule on medical services and first aid, including having someone trained in first aid when a clinic or hospital is not reasonably close, keeping first aid supplies available, and providing eyewash where corrosive materials are used. Sealcoating and concrete crews often work far from care and handle caustic products. Owners should compare their kits and training against this rule.
29 CFR 1926.601 Motor Vehicles (Subpart O)
The construction rule for motor vehicles used on site, including brakes, lights, backup alarms or spotters for vehicles with obstructed rear view, seat belts, and inspection at the start of each shift. It is the main OSHA rule behind backing and spotting practice on a paving site. Equipment operators and foremen should know its requirements.
29 CFR 1926.95 Criteria for PPE (Subpart E)
The construction PPE rule that sets the general requirement to provide and use protective equipment, including employer payment for most PPE. It is the anchor for Subpart E, which also covers head, eye, and hearing protection. Owners should know this rule when setting a PPE policy.
49 CFR 396.11 Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports
The federal rule requiring drivers of commercial motor vehicles to report vehicle defects at the end of the day, with the list of items that must be covered such as brakes, lights, tires, and coupling devices. It is a good model for a daily truck and trailer walk-around even where the rule does not strictly apply. Owners can use it to build an inspection form.
American Concrete Institute (ACI)
ACI's site with public information on concrete practice, free FAQs, and the catalog of standards and certification programs. It is the recognized technical body for concrete, and concrete maintenance crews can use its FAQs for questions on curing, joints, and repair. Standards and most courses are paid.
American Heart Association: Find a CPR and First Aid Course
The American Heart Association's course finder for CPR, AED, and first aid classes, including Heartsaver courses aimed at workplaces. Crews should have at least one trained first aider on every job, and this is one of the two most recognized places to get that training. Courses are paid and taught by local training centers.
American Red Cross First Aid Training
The American Red Cross first aid training page with in-person, blended, and online class options for workplaces. It is the other widely recognized option for getting a crew member trained in first aid and CPR. Classes are paid; check with your insurer or customer about which provider they accept.
Asphalt Institute Engineering Resources
The Asphalt Institute's engineering page with public technical information on asphalt materials, mix design, and pavement construction. It is a recognized industry source for questions about binders, compaction, and patching materials. Some publications and courses are paid; the page itself is free to browse.
DOL Wage and Hour: Wages and the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Department of Labor's overview of federal minimum wage, overtime, and recordkeeping rules under the FLSA. Crews that work long summer days are usually owed overtime, and this page explains the baseline rules. Owners should check it alongside their state's wage law.
EPA Construction General Permit (Stormwater)
EPA's page on the Construction General Permit covering stormwater discharges from construction sites, with links to the permit, eligibility, and pollution prevention plan requirements. Larger paving and reconstruction projects may need coverage under this or a state equivalent. Estimators should know the trigger area before bidding.
EPA Oil Spill Prevention (SPCC) Regulations
EPA's page on the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule, which may apply to facilities storing oil products above threshold amounts. Contractors with fuel tanks, asphalt emulsion, or oil-based products in the yard should check whether they meet the threshold. The page links to guidance for small facilities.
FHWA Concrete Pavement
FHWA's concrete pavement program page with technical guidance on design, construction, preservation, and repair of concrete pavements. Concrete maintenance crews doing joint sealing, partial-depth patching, and slab repair can find the federal guidance here. Estimators can use it to explain treatment options.
FHWA Manual: Repair of Potholes in Asphalt Pavements (FHWA-RD-99-168, PDF)
FHWA's research manual on materials and procedures for pothole repair, including throw-and-roll, semi-permanent, and spray-injection methods and how they performed. It is the public reference for choosing a patching method and explaining the trade-offs to a customer. Useful for estimators and asphalt maintenance crews.
FHWA Manual: Sealing and Filling Cracks in Asphalt Pavements (FHWA-RD-99-147)
FHWA's research manual on materials and procedures for sealing and filling cracks in asphalt-surfaced pavements, from the SHRP pavement maintenance studies. It covers crack preparation, routing, material selection, and application configurations. Crack repair technicians and estimators can use it as the technical backbone for their crack sealing practice.
FHWA Nighttime Visibility and Pavement Marking Retroreflectivity
FHWA's nighttime visibility program page covering pavement marking and sign retroreflectivity, maintenance, and related rules. Striping crews and estimators should understand why retroreflectivity matters and how it is measured. The page links to guidance used by state DOTs.
FHWA Pavement Preservation
FHWA's pavement preservation site explaining the preservation approach, treatment types, and when each is appropriate. Crack sealing, sealcoating, and thin overlays are preservation treatments, and this is the public source that describes them. Estimators and owners can use it to explain the value of preservation to customers.
FHWA Work Zone Management Program
FHWA's work zone program site with guidance, rules, and resources on planning and operating safe work zones. It is the federal source behind most state DOT work zone requirements. Estimators bidding public work and foremen running lane closures will find the policy and best practice documents here.
FHWA Worker Visibility Rule (23 CFR 634)
FHWA's page on the federal worker visibility rule, which requires high-visibility safety apparel meeting ANSI/ISEA 107 for workers on federal-aid highway rights-of-way. Even on private lots, this rule is the accepted benchmark for what a hi-vis vest or shirt should be. Owners buying crew apparel and foremen enforcing it should read this.
FMCSA Commercial Driver's License Program
FMCSA's overview of when a commercial driver's license is required, the license classes, and endorsements. Contractors who pull heavy trailers or run larger trucks should confirm whether their drivers need a CDL. This page is the federal baseline; states issue the licenses.
FMCSA Summary of Hours of Service Regulations
FMCSA's summary table of driving and on-duty limits for property-carrying drivers. If your trucks and trailers put you over the commercial motor vehicle weight thresholds, these limits may apply to the crew driving them, including long trips between jobs. Owners and drivers should read this before assuming the rules do not apply.
FMCSA: ¿Necesito un número de USDOT?
Versión en español de la página de FMCSA que explica qué empresas deben registrarse para obtener un número USDOT según el peso del vehículo, la carga y las operaciones entre estados. Muchos contratistas de pavimento superan el límite de peso con un tanque de sellador o un remolque cargado. Útil para dueños y supervisores hispanohablantes.
FMCSA: Do I Need a USDOT Number?
FMCSA's explainer on which businesses must register for a USDOT number based on vehicle weight, cargo, and interstate operation. Many pavement contractors cross the weight threshold with a loaded sealer tank or trailer without realizing it. Owners should check this page before the next truck purchase.
Minnesota PCA Smart Salting Training
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Smart Salting program page describing training on applying the right amount of deicer for parking lots, sidewalks, and roads. It is a state example of salt best practice that reduces cost and environmental harm. Snow crews in any state can learn from the approach; check your own state for local programs.
Minnesota Statute 116.202: Coal Tar Sealant Restriction
The Minnesota statute restricting the sale and use of coal tar-based sealant products. It is an example of a state-level restriction that sealcoating contractors must check before choosing a product. Rules vary by state and city, so confirm your own jurisdiction.
MUTCD 11th Edition (Temporary Traffic Control, Part 6)
FHWA's page for the current Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, including Part 6 on temporary traffic control, which governs signs, cones, tapers, and flagging in work zones. It is also the national reference for pavement marking standards in Part 3. Crews that set up traffic control or stripe roads should know where to find it.
National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA)
NAPA's public site with industry information on asphalt pavement, sustainability, and technical resources. It is a recognized industry body and a starting point for owners who want to keep up with asphalt industry practice. Some resources are members-only or paid.
National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse
A searchable library of work zone safety training materials, guidance, and research, operated with FHWA support. Foremen can find flagger guidance, sample traffic control layouts, and toolbox talk material in one place. Some listed items link to paid training, but the clearinghouse itself is free to search.
NIOSH Heat Stress and Workers
NIOSH's heat stress topic page with key points on heat-related illness, risk factors, and employer recommendations. It complements OSHA's pages with the research side and links to the NIOSH heat criteria document and communication tools. Useful for owners writing a heat program and for supervisors who want the reasoning behind the rules.
OSHA Competent Person Overview
OSHA's explanation of the term competent person as used across its standards: someone able to identify hazards and with authority to correct them. Several rules that touch pavement work, including silica and excavation, call for a competent person on site. Owners should understand what the term requires before assigning the role to a foreman.
OSHA Hazard Communication Hub
OSHA's hazard communication page covering labels, safety data sheets, pictograms, written programs, and training. Sealers, primers, crack sealants, solvents, and deicers are all chemicals your crews handle, so a HazCom program applies to most pavement contractors. The page also links to English and Spanish QuickCards.
OSHA Heat Exposure Hub
OSHA's main page on working in outdoor and indoor heat, with links to prevention, planning, first aid, and enforcement information. Sealcoating, crack sealing, and striping crews work on dark pavement in direct sun, so this is the starting point for any heat program. Owners and foremen can use it to build a written heat plan; crew members can use it to learn the warning signs.
OSHA Heat: Planning and Supervision
OSHA guidance for employers on planning heat work, including acclimatization for new and returning workers, work-rest schedules, and how supervisors should monitor crews. Foremen and owners can use this to write the heat portion of a site plan before the summer season. It also explains why the first days on the job are the most dangerous.
OSHA Heat: Protecting New Workers
OSHA page focused on the elevated heat risk for workers in their first week on the job or returning after time away. Pavement crews add seasonal and new hands every spring, so foremen should read this before onboarding anyone. It explains how to ramp up exposure gradually rather than putting a new worker on a full shift on day one.
OSHA Highway Work Zones and Signs, Signals, and Barricades
OSHA's construction page on highway work zone safety, including traffic control devices, flagging, and worker protection from vehicles. Even parking-lot sealcoating and striping jobs face live traffic at entrances and drive lanes. Foremen setting up cones and signs should know what OSHA expects.
OSHA Injury and Illness Recordkeeping (300 Log)
OSHA's recordkeeping page explaining which employers must keep the OSHA 300 log, what injuries are recordable, and the reporting rules for serious incidents. Small employers may be partially exempt but still must report fatalities and hospitalizations. Owners should confirm their status here.
OSHA Job Hazard Analysis (Publication 3071, PDF)
OSHA's booklet on how to do a job hazard analysis: break a task into steps, identify the hazards in each step, and decide on controls. It includes a sample worksheet that a foreman can copy for sealcoating, crack sealing, or striping tasks. This is also a practical source for toolbox talk topics.
OSHA Occupational Noise Exposure Overview
OSHA's noise topic page with exposure limits, hearing conservation program requirements, and links to the standards. Blowers, saws, mills, compressors, and plows all put crews above the level where hearing protection is needed. Owners should read this to understand when a hearing program is required.
OSHA Outreach Training Program (10-Hour and 30-Hour Cards)
OSHA's official page explaining the Outreach Training Program, how 10-hour and 30-hour cards work, and how to find an authorized trainer. Many customers and public jobs ask for OSHA 10 or 30 cards, so owners should understand what the program is and is not. The page is free; the courses are delivered by authorized trainers, usually for a fee.
OSHA Outreach: Construction Industry 10-Hour and 30-Hour
OSHA's page for the construction version of the Outreach program, describing who the 10-hour and 30-hour construction courses are for and what topics they cover. New crew members typically take the 10-hour course and supervisors the 30-hour course. Use this page to decide which course fits each role.
OSHA Personal Protective Equipment Overview
OSHA's PPE topic page linking to eye, face, head, foot, hand, and hearing protection requirements and related standards. It is the reference for deciding what PPE a pavement task needs and who pays for it. Foremen can use it when writing the PPE line of a job hazard analysis.
OSHA Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs
OSHA's recommended practices for building a safety and health program around management leadership, worker participation, hazard identification, and continuous improvement. It is voluntary guidance, not a rule, but it is the model most customers and insurers expect. Owners can use the core elements as an outline for their own program.
OSHA Respiratory Protection Overview
OSHA's respiratory protection topic page with links to the standard, fit testing, medical evaluation, and program requirements. If any crew member wears a respirator for silica, solvent, or sealer fumes, the employer typically needs a written program, and this page shows what that involves. Owners and supervisors should start here.
OSHA Silica in Construction Hub
OSHA's page on respirable crystalline silica for construction, with links to the standard, Table 1 control methods, fact sheets, and compliance help. Concrete sawing, grinding, milling, and dry sweeping on pavement jobs all create silica dust. Owners use this to set up controls; crews use it to understand why wet cutting and vacuums matter.
OSHA Silica Standard for Construction Fact Sheet (PDF)
A short OSHA fact sheet summarizing what the construction silica standard requires of employers, including exposure limits, control methods, written plans, and training. It is the quickest way for an owner to see the main obligations before reading the full rule. Good to share with a foreman who will act as the competent person for silica.
OSHA Small Business Safety and Health Handbook (PDF)
OSHA's handbook for small employers on setting up a basic safety and health program, with self-inspection checklists by topic. It is written for owners without a safety staff, which describes most pavement contractors. The checklists can be adapted for a yard or truck inspection.
OSHA Winter Weather
OSHA's winter weather page covering cold stress, winter driving, snow removal hazards, and slips on ice. Snow and ice crews face all of these in one shift. Foremen can use it for a cold-weather toolbox talk and to plan warm-up breaks.
Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA)
SIMA is the industry association for professional snow and ice contractors, with public information on best practices, safety, and industry standards. Pavement contractors who plow in winter can use it to learn the business side of snow work. Training and certification programs are paid.
USGS: Coal-Tar-Based Pavement Sealcoat and PAHs
USGS research summary on coal-tar-based sealcoat as a source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the environment. Several states and cities restrict or ban coal tar sealers, and customers ask about it, so contractors should know the science behind the debate. This page is research, not a regulation.
