One thing that many safety professionals are not aware of is which set of standards applies to their workplace. I know I was well into my career, until I learned that some of the activities at my chemical plant actually fell under 1926 standards (Construction). This was not contractors working, but our own maintenance personnel doing “construction work”. There is an actual standard, 1910.12, that defines “construction work” in General Industry workplaces for those of us in “General Industry”; however, just recently OSHA issued a new compliance directive Inspection and Citation Guidance for Roadway and Highway Construction Work Zones and in this new CPL OSHA goes into much more detail explaining when a 1926 (construction) and 1910 (general industry) standards would apply. Here is what they say…