Toolbox Talk · Demolition · English
Migna Safety Solutions
Demolition: Before the First Swing
About 9 minutes to deliver · 29 CFR 1926.850 · 29 CFR 1926.852 · 29 CFR 1926.859
A finished building carries load in a designed path. Halfway through demolition it does not — and nobody has calculated what it does instead. That is why the rules for demolition start well before anyone picks up a tool.
The survey comes first
1926.850(a): before employees start demolition, a competent person makes an engineering survey of the framing, floors and walls, and the possibility of unplanned collapse — including any adjacent structure where people could be exposed. The employer must have written evidence that the survey was done.
If nobody can show you that, the job has not started properly.
Where a structure has been damaged by fire, flood or explosion, walls and floors are shored or braced before anyone works inside it.
Services
1926.850(c): electric, gas, water, steam, sewer and other service lines are shut off, capped or otherwise controlled outside the building line before work begins. Anything that has to stay live is protected and everybody is told which one it is.
Also before the first swing: any tank, drum or pipe that held flammables gets purged and certified, and asbestos and lead surveys are in hand. Those are not paperwork — they decide whether this is a demolition job or a licensed abatement job.
The order of work
- Top down, in reverse of construction, unless an engineer has designed something else.
- Never undermine a wall. A wall left standing unsupported with the floor gone at its base falls in a direction nobody predicted.
- Watch floor loading. 1926.852 and the debris rules exist because demolition debris piled on a floor is a load that floor was never designed for, and the collapse takes the crew down with it.
- Chutes for debris — enclosed above 20 feet, gates at the discharge, and the area below barricaded with a person attending.
- Openings in floors get covered or railed, the same as anywhere else.
Around the machine
Mechanical demolition has an exclusion zone, and it is bigger than the machine's reach — material falls outward and bounces. Nobody enters it while the machine is working, including to look at something. And the operator stops when anyone crosses the line, no matter who they are.
Every day
The building changes overnight and after every load comes out. The competent person looks again, and so should you before you walk into a space you left yesterday.
Ask the crew
- Has anyone seen the written engineering survey for this structure?
- Which services are confirmed dead, and which are still live?
- Where is the exclusion zone today, and who is enforcing it?
This is a toolbox talk, not a course. It is general awareness on one topic — not site-specific, not a hazard assessment, and not a substitute for assessment of your workplace by a competent person, your written programs, or manufacturers’ instructions. It does not by itself satisfy any OSHA training requirement. Regulations change; verify against the current standard. Whoever delivers it is responsible for deciding it is suitable and sufficient for the work. Where a talk covers first aid, resuscitation, or mental health it is general safety information, not medical advice, not a substitute for professional medical care or certified emergency-response training, and it confers no certification — in an emergency, call 911. Free to print and use, as is, with no warranty of any kind. Migna Safety Solutions · training.mignasafetysolutions.com
Attendance Record
Form supplied by Migna Safety Solutions
Demolition: Before the First Swing
29 CFR 1926.850 · 29 CFR 1926.852 · 29 CFR 1926.859
I delivered this talk and determined it was suitable for this crew and this work.
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Keep this sheet with your training records. This form is supplied blank by Migna Safety Solutions — we did not deliver this session, were not present, and make no representation about what was said or who attended. A toolbox talk is general awareness on one topic and does not by itself satisfy any OSHA training requirement. The employer remains responsible for site-specific hazard assessment and for the training its workers are required to have. Where a talk covers first aid, resuscitation, or mental health it is general safety information, not medical advice, and confers no certification — in an emergency, call 911. Free to print and use, as is, with no warranty of any kind. training.mignasafetysolutions.com