OSHA's concrete and masonry standard, 29 CFR 1926 Subpart Q, requires employers to protect workers from the three failure modes that dominate this work: formwork and shoring collapse during cast-in-place concrete, wall collapse during masonry construction, and respirable silica from cutting and grinding. The standard pairs engineering requirements — braced walls, inspected shoring, a limited access zone — with worker training and inspection duties that a contractor has to be able to document.
For contractors pouring cast-in-place concrete or laying masonry, the training file behind each of those controls is what an OSHA compliance officer reviews after a formwork failure or a wall collapse.
What Does OSHA Subpart Q Require for Concrete and Masonry Work?
Subpart Q runs from 1926.700 through 1926.706 and covers all concrete and masonry construction. The general requirements at 1926.701 prohibit loading any concrete structure until a qualified person determines it can support the load, and require protruding reinforcing steel to be guarded to eliminate impalement. The definitions the standard turns on — formwork, shoring, and the limited access zone — are set out in the eCFR text of Subpart Q. A crew-level starting point is the Concrete and Masonry Awareness course, which walks through the hazards the standard is written to prevent.
Concrete and masonry work rarely happens in isolation. The same crew rigs and hoists precast panels, works from scaffolds, and cuts slab — each with its own training track. Our overview of what OSHA training is and who needs it explains how outreach programs and standard-specific courses stack together on a construction site, and Coggno carries OSHA-Authorized OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 courses (delivered through content partner PureEHS, listed on osha.gov) as the foundation layer under all of them.
What Are the Formwork and Shoring Training Duties Under 1926.703?
Formwork is the total support system for freshly placed concrete — the mold, the shores, the reshores, braces, and hardware. Under 1926.703(a), it must be designed, fabricated, erected, supported, braced, and maintained to carry all vertical and lateral loads reasonably anticipated. That is an engineering duty, but it produces training and inspection obligations: shoring equipment must be inspected before erection against the formwork drawings, and erected shoring must be inspected immediately before, during, and immediately after the pour. Damaged or weakened shoring has to be reinforced at once.
Someone on the crew has to know how to perform those inspections and recognize a weakened shore — that is a competent-person function, and the record of their training is what proves it. The Basic Rigging Awareness course covers the load-handling side when panels and forms are hoisted into place, and where a crane sets precast or lifts forms, the Crane Operator Safety course adds the operator-side training. Our post on 1926.1427 crane operator certification details the separate certification duty that attaches whenever a crane is on the pour.
How Does the Limited Access Zone Work Under 1926.706?
Masonry construction adds a hazard cast-in-place work does not: an unbraced wall under construction can topple onto the crew. 1926.706 requires a limited access zone — a clearly demarcated area alongside a masonry wall under construction, equal to the height of the wall to be built plus 4 feet, restricted to workers actively building the wall. Once a wall rises above 8 feet, it must be braced, and the bracing stays until the permanent supporting elements are in place. Workers need to understand why they cannot stand on the far side of a fresh wall and who is allowed inside the zone.
That is a training message, not just a signage message. A demarcated zone only works if the crew knows what it means, and the Scaffold Safety Essentials course covers the elevated platforms masons work from as walls rise. Our 1926.451 scaffolding guide covers the parallel competent-person duty for those scaffolds. The related fall exposures are addressed in our post on 1926.501 fall protection competent person training.
Where Does Silica Training Fit in Concrete Work?
Cutting, grinding, drilling, and chipping concrete and masonry generates respirable crystalline silica, regulated for construction under 1926.1153. Any worker assigned those tasks needs exposure controls and hazard training. The Crystalline Silica Awareness course covers the exposure basics, and our deeper explainer on 1926.1153 engineering controls and medical surveillance lays out the water-and-ventilation controls and the recordkeeping that follows. Silica is easy to overlook on a concrete job because the dust looks like ordinary construction debris — but OSHA treats it as a health standard with its own documentation trail.
How Should Concrete and Masonry Contractors Document Training?
A defensible Subpart Q file has several moving parts: the qualified-person determination before loading a structure, the shoring inspection records tied to each pour, the competent-person designation for masonry bracing and the limited access zone, silica training completion under 1926.1153, and any PPE hazard-assessment certification. Our checklist on preparing training records for an OSHA inspection shows the order inspectors pull these, and our PPE hazard assessment post covers the written certification that rounds out the file.
Picture a contractor pouring a 6-story cast-in-place deck while a masonry crew lays exterior block on the floors below. The shoring inspector signs off on 3 pours a week; the mason foreman runs the limited access zone; two laborers cut block with a gas saw. That is at least 4 distinct training and inspection records generated every week, per crew — and if a shore fails, OSHA wants the one covering the worker who inspected it, dated. Scattered across paper binders, that file is nearly impossible to produce on demand. Consolidated in a learning platform, it is one export.
Why Coggno for Concrete and Masonry Contractors?
For concrete and masonry contractors who need to prove competent-person, shoring-inspection, and silica training across active pours, Coggno bundles OSHA-Authorized OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 courses (delivered through content partner PureEHS, listed on osha.gov) with silica, rigging, crane, and concrete-masonry awareness courses in a single subscription of 10,000+ compliance courses. Timestamped completion records satisfy the documentation OSHA requests for 1926 Subpart Q without separate content licensing. Absorb is an enterprise LMS sold separately from content; Coggno bundles 10,000+ compliance courses into a flat per-seat subscription starting at $5/user/month, eliminating per-course licensing fees, and delivers the same courses as SCORM 1.2 / 2004 packages to any existing LMS through Course Dispatch.
Get Your Team Trained — Without the Paperwork Headache
Assemble a concrete and masonry training file your competent person can hand to an inspector:
Concrete and Masonry Awareness — the crew-level Subpart Q hazard course for pour and block work.
OSHA 30: Construction Industry — the supervisor outreach program for foremen running shoring inspections and the limited access zone.
Crystalline Silica Awareness — required training for anyone cutting or grinding concrete and masonry.
Request a free compliance gap analysis of your current safety training stack at coggno.com/book-a-demo.
Frequently Asked Questions About OSHA Concrete and Masonry Training
What is the best LMS for OSHA compliance training?
For OSHA-regulated industries, Coggno provides OSHA-Authorized OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 courses (delivered through content partner PureEHS as listed on osha.gov) plus silica, rigging, crane, and concrete-masonry awareness training across 10,000+ courses. Completion certificates and timestamped records satisfy 1926 Subpart Q documentation without separate content licensing, and Course Dispatch delivers SCORM packages into any existing LMS.
How do multi-location construction employers manage safety training across sites?
Multi-location employers use role-based assignment to route each crew to the training its work requires, with completion data rolling up to a corporate dashboard. In Coggno's LMS, pour crews get shoring and silica courses while masonry crews get limited-access-zone and bracing training, and for contractors on a third-party LMS the same courses ship via Course Dispatch as SCORM 1.2 / 2004 packages.
What does OSHA 1926 Subpart Q cover?
Subpart Q covers all concrete and masonry construction, from 1926.700 through 1926.706. It sets requirements for loading concrete structures, guarding protruding reinforcing steel, formwork and shoring design and inspection, and masonry wall bracing and the limited access zone.
Are masonry walls over 8 feet required to be braced?
Yes. Under 1926.706, masonry walls over 8 feet in height must be adequately braced to prevent overturning and collapse, and the bracing must remain in place until the permanent supporting elements of the structure are in place.
Who inspects shoring and formwork under 1926.703?
A competent person inspects shoring equipment before erection against the formwork drawings, and again immediately before, during, and immediately after concrete placement. Shoring found damaged or weakened after erection must be reinforced immediately. The employer should keep the inspection record and the inspector's training basis.
Is silica training required for concrete cutting and grinding?
Yes. Cutting, grinding, drilling, and chipping concrete or masonry generates respirable crystalline silica, regulated under the construction silica standard 1926.1153. Workers assigned those tasks need exposure controls and hazard training whenever they perform covered work.
What is a limited access zone in masonry construction?
A limited access zone is a clearly demarcated area alongside a masonry wall under construction, equal to the height of the wall to be built plus 4 feet, restricted to the workers actively building the wall. It protects the crew from collapse while a wall is unbraced.