Resource Library

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

NIOSH Highway Work Zone Safety

NIOSH's page on the hazards of highway work zones for workers, including being struck by passing traffic and by construction vehicles backing up inside the zone. It links to research on internal traffic control plans and backing safety. Good background for a foreman building a site traffic plan.

NIOSH Noise and Occupational Hearing Loss

NIOSH's noise and hearing loss page explaining that occupational hearing loss is permanent but preventable, with guidance on protective measures. It is a plain reference for a toolbox talk on why earplugs matter around blowers and saws. Includes links to NIOSH tools and research.

NIOSH Respirator Types and Use

NIOSH's guide to the types of respirators, what each protects against, and how to tell a NIOSH-approved respirator from a look-alike. Crews buying dust masks at the hardware store should read this first, because not every mask is a respirator. Supervisors can use it when selecting PPE for sawing, grinding, or spraying work.

NIOSH Silica and Worker Health

NIOSH's silica topic page covering the health effects of respirable crystalline silica and how workers are exposed, with links to research and prevention resources. It gives the health background that makes the OSHA rule easier to explain to a crew. Useful when preparing a toolbox talk on dust.

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 HazCom Pictogram QuickCard (PDF)

A one-page OSHA QuickCard showing the nine hazard pictograms used on chemical labels and what each one means. New crew members can learn the symbols in a few minutes and then read a sealer or solvent label with more confidence. Page two of the same file is the Spanish version.

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 Exposure QuickCard (PDF)

A one-page OSHA QuickCard on protecting yourself and co-workers from heat exposure, covering symptoms, prevention, and what to do in an emergency. It fits on a clipboard or in a glove box and is a good handout for a heat toolbox talk. A Spanish edition is listed separately.

OSHA Heat-Related Illnesses and First Aid

OSHA's explanation of heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, with the signs to watch for and the first aid steps to take. Every crew member should know these signs because heat stroke can be fatal and the affected worker often cannot recognize it in themselves. Print or bookmark this for the truck.

OSHA Heat: Water. Rest. Shade.

OSHA's plain summary of the three basic heat controls: cool drinking water, scheduled rest breaks, and access to shade. This is the message to repeat at every summer toolbox talk. It is short enough to read aloud on site.

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 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 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 Safety Data Sheets QuickCard (PDF)

A one-page OSHA QuickCard listing the 16 sections of a safety data sheet and what each contains. Crews use it to find first aid, PPE, and spill information quickly when opening an SDS for a sealer or solvent. Keep a copy with the SDS binder in the truck.

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 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.

OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool App

Information page for the free OSHA-NIOSH Heat Safety Tool phone app, which shows the local heat index and risk level with matching precautions. Foremen can check it at the start of the shift and again at midday to decide on breaks and water. The page links to the app stores and explains the risk levels.