Health and Safety

Question 1

What are CDM 2015 Regulations?

Answer 1

Construction Design and Management Regulations

Introduced to make sure that health and safety issues are properly considered during a project’s development so the risk of harm to those that construct, use and maintain the building is reduced.

Applies to all building and construction work.

Question 2

What are the Principal Designer’s duties under CDM 2015?

Answer 2

Plan and co-ordinate H&S matters in the pre-construction phase, including identifying and eliminating risks.

Ensure client and contractors are aware of their duties.

Provide all relevant information to contractors and other duties holders (such as asbestos information).

Liaise with the principal contractor to plan and co-ordinate the main construction phase of the works.

Question 3

What are the Client’s duties under CDM 2015?

Answer 3

Appoint competent people to the other duty holder roles.

Provide all relevant information.

Provide welfare facilities.

Give up their time and resources to fully engage in the process.

Question 4

What are the Principal Contractors’s duties under CDM 2015?

Answer 4

Plan, manage, monitor and coordinate the entire construction phase.

Prepare the construction phase plan (CPP).

Have ongoing arrangements in place for managing health and safety throughout the construction phase.

Ensure suitable welfare facilities are provided from the start and maintained throughout the construction phase.

Ensure that everybody on site has had an induction and has the relevant training and experience to carry out their role.

Question 5

What is an F10?

Answer 5

Notification to the HSE that a construction project is ongoing.

Required when the work is expected to last longer than 30 working days and have more than 20 workers working at the same time at any one time or the project is expected to exceed 500 person days.

Question 6

What information would you find in the PCI?

Answer 6

** Pre-construction Information**

Provided in the tender pack by the PD for the tendering contractors.
Project description.
On-site traffic and welfare restrictions.
A register of any significant hazards, specific risk assessments and methods statements for carrying out the work.
Asbestos report if one has already been carried out.
Information on any environmental factors specific to the site, contamination registers, unsafe structures, ground conditions etc.

Everything that a contractor would want and need to know in order to plan and carry out the works safely.

Question 7

What would you find in the Construction Phase Plan?

Answer 7

Produced by the principal contractor

Processes for management of the works including site inductions, training, communication, welfare facilities, design coordination, site rules and emergency procedures.

Arrangements for controlling significant site risks such as handling of deliveries, working at height, asbestos etc.

Question 8

What would you find in the H&S File?

Answer 8

H&S information that is useful for the planning of future works or maintenance. Is handed over to the building user at the end of the construction works.

List of residual hazards and how they have been dealt with.

List of amy hazardous materials that have been used - such as lead paint.

Question 9

What does RIDDOR stand for?

Answer 9

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013

Requires the ‘responsible person’ to notify any death, reportable injury, disease or dangerous occurrence to the HSE.

The responsible person is usually the employer of the injured person, such as the principal contractor.

Question 10

What does COSHH stand for?

Answer 10

Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

It is a regulation brought in to avoid exposure to hazardous substances, or if not possible, to control exposure by measures that are proportionate to the health risk.

Question 11

What incidents are reportable?

Answer 11

Deaths
Major injuries - loss of consciousness or loss of limb
Occupational diseases
Explosions
Hazard substance leaks
Structural collapse
Gas incidents

Question 12

What H&S precautions do you take when going on site?

Answer 12

I have the correct and required PPE
I have had a site induction (if one is required)
My employer or manager knows where I am and how long I intend to be there
I have seen the asbestos register or risk register
I have carried out a risk assessment (if one is required)

Question 13

What does CSCS stand for?

Answer 13

Construction Skills Certification Scheme

Increased my awareness of the health and safety issues that I need to consider when attending a construction site.

Question 14

What is a risk assessment?

Answer 14

A risk assessment is simply a careful examination of what, in your work, could cause harm to people, so that you can weigh up whether you have taken sufficient precautions or should do more to prevent harm.

You might not be able to eliminate a risk but you can always protect yourself even if it means not carrying out that particular action or entering a particular space.

Question 15

What is Surveying Safely?

Answer 15

RICS guidance note on personal safety at work

Covers 8 main topics such as risk assessments, employers actions and duty of care to employees, personal safety on site visits, legal duties, PPE and Lone Working.

Latest edition is from 2018.

Sets out good practice principles for the management of health and safety for RICS-regulated firms and RICS members.

Question 16

What is TFT’s H&S policy?

Answer 16

Produced by SVC Safety Solutions, updated in October 2023

Covers responsibilities of everybody in the company from senior directors, H&S leadership group, first aiders down to your average employee.

Sets out what the company’s has provided for and expects from you in terms of safety in the office, travelling to a site, being on a site.

Question 17

What is TFT’s Lone Working policy?

Answer 17

Section 4.15 in the H&S policy.

Prior to lone working you must carry out a risk assessment.

If you are not adequately trained or experienced enough to carry out a specific task or inspection on your own then the policy states that you can’t do it.

When working alone on site, all staff must make contact with the office to
advise that they have arrived and when the have left site safely.

Question 18

What is the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974?

Answer 18

The primary piece of legislation governing H&S in the United Kingdom

It places a statutory duty on all employers to provide and maintain equipment and systems of works that are safe and without risk to the health and safety of employees, or others who may be affected by their undertaking.

Question 19

What is the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 Act?

Answer 19

Introduced by the HSE and applies to all non-domestic premises.

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires the dutyholder to manage the risk of asbestos by:
- Taking appropriate steps to determine if there are any asbestos containing materials (ACMs) present. If any is found, the amount, location and condition needs to be recorded.
- Presuming that materials contain asbestos unless there is strong evidence to indicate otherwise.
- Producing and maintaining up-to-date records of the location and condition of all ACMs.
- Providing information on the location and condition of the ACMs to anyone who is liable to work on or disturb them.

Question 20

What is the Building Safety Act 2022?

Answer 20

Legislative response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017. Came into force in 2023.

Introduces new processes for addressing fire and structural risks in new and existing buildings, including lear responsibilities for building owners, developers, and managers regarding fire safety.
Introducted the Building Safety Regulator to oversee compliance with the Act.
The legislation applies particular controls to high-risk residential buildings - more than 18m in height or have 7+ storeys, and have a minimum of two residential units in them.

Question 21

What is a risk?

Answer 21

The likelihood that a hazard will cause harm or damage

Question 22

What is a hazard?

Answer 22

Anything that can cause harm or damage to people, property, or the environment.

Question 23

What is the heirarchy of hazard controls?

Answer 23

Most preferable method of hazard control first

1. Eliminate - remove the hazard altogether (if there is asbestos get it removed)
2. Substitute - replace the hazard (don’t use lead based paint)
3. Engineering controls - isolate people from the hazard (use ventilation to remove fumes or dust)
4. Administrative controls - change the way people work (minimise working time or amount of vibration when using industrial equipment)
5. PPE - protect the individual carrying out the work (where a hard hat)

Question 24

What do the HSE do?

Answer 24

Health and Safety Executive

Works to prevent work-related death, injury and ill-health.
Provides support to the public and businesses with guidance, statistics and research.
Has inspectors who can visit sites without notice.
Can impose sanctions including stopping work until a particular risk is resolved or action is taken.

Question 25

What are the different kinds of asbestos surveys?

Answer 25

Management conducted to manage ACMs during the normal occupancy of a building. It involves a non-intrusive inspection and occasional sampling to assess the condition of ACMs.

Refurbishment & Demolition before any major refurbishment or demolition work, this survey is required to locate and identify all ACMs, including those hidden within the building fabric. It is more intrusive and may involve destructive inspection techniques to ensure all asbestos is identified and managed appropriately.

Re-inspection usually carried out as part of a management plan and should be done following any changes to the building or area that the asbestos is in, typically done every year or every couple of years.