NCCER/OSHA Scaffold Safety Guide
2025/2026 – Exam Prep & Review
Workbook
NCCER/OSHA Scaffold Safety Guide 2025/2026 – Exam Prep & Review Workbook
Instructions: Test your knowledge by answering the following questions. The correct answer for
each is marked with a ✓.
Section 1: General Safety & Regulations (Questions 1-20)
1. What is the primary federal regulation governing scaffold safety in the United States?
A. ANSI A10.8
B. 29 CFR 1926.451 (OSHA) ✓
C. 29 CFR 1910.28
D. NFPA 70E
2. According to OSHA, at what height is fall protection generally required for workers on
scaffolds?
A. 4 feet
B. 6 feet
C. 10 feet ✓
D. 15 feet
3. Who is responsible for providing specific training to workers who erect, dismantle, move, or
inspect scaffolds?
A. The worker
B. The OSHA compliance officer
C. The employer ✓
D. The scaffold manufacturer
4. What is the minimum width for a scaffold platform?
A. 12 inches
B. 18 inches ✓
C. 20 inches
D. 24 inches
,5. A "Competent Person" in scaffold safety is defined as someone who:
A. Has been a foreman for over 5 years.
B. Is capable of identifying hazards and has the authority to correct them. ✓
C. Has passed a written test.
D. Is the most experienced worker on the crew.
6. Before each work shift, scaffolds must be inspected by:
A. A qualified person ✓
B. The project manager
C. The first worker to use it
D. An OSHA consultant
7. The ability of a scaffold to carry a load without failure is called its:
A. Durability
B. Capacity
C. Competency
D. Structural integrity ✓
8. What is the primary cause of fatalities involving scaffolds?
A. Electrocution
B. Scaffold collapse
C. Being struck by falling tools
D. Falls ✓
9. Guardrails must be installed along all open sides and ends of platforms more than how
many feet above a lower level?
A. 6 feet
B. 10 feet ✓
C. 12 feet
D. 15 feet
10. Cross-bracing on frame scaffolds can be used as a top rail if it meets specific height
requirements.
A. True ✓
B. False
11. The top edge height of top rails on supported scaffolds must be between:
A. 36 and 42 inches
B. 38 and 45 inches ✓
,C. 39 and 45 inches
D. 40 and 48 inches
12. Mid-rails must be installed approximately halfway between the top rail and the platform
surface.
A. True ✓
B. False
13. Toeboards must be at least how many inches high?
A. 3.5 inches ✓
B. 4 inches
C. 4.5 inches
D. 6 inches
14. What type of scaffold is most commonly involved in scaffold accidents?
A. Suspended scaffold
B. Mobile scaffold
C. Tube and Coupler scaffold
D. Fabricated Frame scaffold ✓
15. Materials piled on a scaffold platform should not exceed how much of the platform's rated
capacity?
A. 25%
B. 50%
C. 75% ✓
D. 100%
16. Overloading a scaffold can lead to:
A. Structural failure ✓
B. Faster work completion
C. Reduced mobility
D. All of the above
17. The "Fatal Four" in construction include falls, electrocutions, being struck-by, and:
A. Fires
B. Caught-in/between ✓
C. Chemical exposure
D. Heat stress
18. Scaffold planks must extend over their end supports by at least:
A. 6 inches ✓
, B. 12 inches
C. 18 inches
D. 24 inches
19. Planks must be overlapped a minimum of how many inches over a support?
A. 6 inches
B. 12 inches ✓
C. 18 inches
D. 24 inches
20. A tag system (Green, Yellow, Red) is a mandatory OSHA requirement for all scaffolds.
A. True
B. False ✓ (It is a best practice and often required by company policy, but not explicitly
mandated by OSHA as a universal standard. A "Do Not Use" tag is required for defective
scaffolds.)
Section 2: Supported Scaffolds (Questions 21-40)
21. What is the most common type of supported scaffold?
A. Pump Jack
B. Ladder Jack
C. Fabricated Frame ✓
D. System Scaffold
22. The vertical members of a frame scaffold are called:
A. Runners
B. Standards ✓
C. Ledgers
D. Braces
23. The horizontal members that support the platform are called:
A. Bearers ✓
B. Standards
C. Braces
D. Base plates
24. Mud sills or base plates are used to:
A. Decorate the scaffold
B. Prevent uplift
2025/2026 – Exam Prep & Review
Workbook
NCCER/OSHA Scaffold Safety Guide 2025/2026 – Exam Prep & Review Workbook
Instructions: Test your knowledge by answering the following questions. The correct answer for
each is marked with a ✓.
Section 1: General Safety & Regulations (Questions 1-20)
1. What is the primary federal regulation governing scaffold safety in the United States?
A. ANSI A10.8
B. 29 CFR 1926.451 (OSHA) ✓
C. 29 CFR 1910.28
D. NFPA 70E
2. According to OSHA, at what height is fall protection generally required for workers on
scaffolds?
A. 4 feet
B. 6 feet
C. 10 feet ✓
D. 15 feet
3. Who is responsible for providing specific training to workers who erect, dismantle, move, or
inspect scaffolds?
A. The worker
B. The OSHA compliance officer
C. The employer ✓
D. The scaffold manufacturer
4. What is the minimum width for a scaffold platform?
A. 12 inches
B. 18 inches ✓
C. 20 inches
D. 24 inches
,5. A "Competent Person" in scaffold safety is defined as someone who:
A. Has been a foreman for over 5 years.
B. Is capable of identifying hazards and has the authority to correct them. ✓
C. Has passed a written test.
D. Is the most experienced worker on the crew.
6. Before each work shift, scaffolds must be inspected by:
A. A qualified person ✓
B. The project manager
C. The first worker to use it
D. An OSHA consultant
7. The ability of a scaffold to carry a load without failure is called its:
A. Durability
B. Capacity
C. Competency
D. Structural integrity ✓
8. What is the primary cause of fatalities involving scaffolds?
A. Electrocution
B. Scaffold collapse
C. Being struck by falling tools
D. Falls ✓
9. Guardrails must be installed along all open sides and ends of platforms more than how
many feet above a lower level?
A. 6 feet
B. 10 feet ✓
C. 12 feet
D. 15 feet
10. Cross-bracing on frame scaffolds can be used as a top rail if it meets specific height
requirements.
A. True ✓
B. False
11. The top edge height of top rails on supported scaffolds must be between:
A. 36 and 42 inches
B. 38 and 45 inches ✓
,C. 39 and 45 inches
D. 40 and 48 inches
12. Mid-rails must be installed approximately halfway between the top rail and the platform
surface.
A. True ✓
B. False
13. Toeboards must be at least how many inches high?
A. 3.5 inches ✓
B. 4 inches
C. 4.5 inches
D. 6 inches
14. What type of scaffold is most commonly involved in scaffold accidents?
A. Suspended scaffold
B. Mobile scaffold
C. Tube and Coupler scaffold
D. Fabricated Frame scaffold ✓
15. Materials piled on a scaffold platform should not exceed how much of the platform's rated
capacity?
A. 25%
B. 50%
C. 75% ✓
D. 100%
16. Overloading a scaffold can lead to:
A. Structural failure ✓
B. Faster work completion
C. Reduced mobility
D. All of the above
17. The "Fatal Four" in construction include falls, electrocutions, being struck-by, and:
A. Fires
B. Caught-in/between ✓
C. Chemical exposure
D. Heat stress
18. Scaffold planks must extend over their end supports by at least:
A. 6 inches ✓
, B. 12 inches
C. 18 inches
D. 24 inches
19. Planks must be overlapped a minimum of how many inches over a support?
A. 6 inches
B. 12 inches ✓
C. 18 inches
D. 24 inches
20. A tag system (Green, Yellow, Red) is a mandatory OSHA requirement for all scaffolds.
A. True
B. False ✓ (It is a best practice and often required by company policy, but not explicitly
mandated by OSHA as a universal standard. A "Do Not Use" tag is required for defective
scaffolds.)
Section 2: Supported Scaffolds (Questions 21-40)
21. What is the most common type of supported scaffold?
A. Pump Jack
B. Ladder Jack
C. Fabricated Frame ✓
D. System Scaffold
22. The vertical members of a frame scaffold are called:
A. Runners
B. Standards ✓
C. Ledgers
D. Braces
23. The horizontal members that support the platform are called:
A. Bearers ✓
B. Standards
C. Braces
D. Base plates
24. Mud sills or base plates are used to:
A. Decorate the scaffold
B. Prevent uplift
