The OSHA hazard scenario library

Most OSHA training starts from the regulation and works backward: memorize the standard, then hope the crew recognizes it in the field. Incidents happen the other way around — a worker meets a situation (an unguarded floor opening, a forklift backing through a blind corner, a trench with no protective system) and has seconds to recognize it as dangerous. Each scenario in this library starts from that real situation: what it looks like, how often it injures or kills, which OSHA standards apply, and what the correct response is when you find it on your site.

Use the library the way a toolbox talk works: pick the scenario that matches today's work, read it with the crew in five minutes, and walk the site with the checklist before starting. If an incident or near-miss does happen, the response protocol in each scenario tells you what to do in the first minutes — and what OSHA expects you to document afterward.

To see how these scenarios show up on your own job site, run a free photo scan below — the AI checks your photo against the same hazard patterns these pages describe and cites the matching OSHA standards.