Health & Safety Level 1

Question 1

What is the HSE?

Answer 1

The Health & Safety Executive is the national independent watchdog for work-related health, safety & illness. It acts in the public interest to reduce work-related death & serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.

Question 2

Define what service the HSE provides to improve safety.

Answer 2

• The HSE is there to protect people’s health & safety by ensuring risks in the changing workplace are properly controlled.
• The HSE helps businesses adapt to changes in occupational healthy & safety law & practice

Question 3

What is a Construction Phase Healthy & Safety Plane (CPH&SP)?

Answer 3

Developed during the construction phase by the contractor, the purpose is to demonstrate how the building will be built from a safety perspective.

Question 4

What is COSHH and what are it’s key principles?

Answer 4

Control of Substances Hazard to Health requires employers to prevent or reduce workers’ exposure to substances including:

• Chemicals
• Fumes, gases, vapours & mists (paint, clue, welding, cleaning agents)
• Dusts (asbestos, silica)
• Biological agents & germs

Question 5

What is corporate manslaughter?

Answer 5

An organisation is guilty of corporate manslaughter if the way in which its activities are managed or organised causes a persons death & if this amounts to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care owed by the organisation to the deceased.

Question 6

What is the Considerate Constructor’s Scheme?

Answer 6

It’s a not-for-profit independent organisation founded in 1997 to improve the image of the industry. It encourages contractors & their supply chain to implement best practice.

• Aims to promote construction
• Aims to deliver the best practice in terms of site operations (cleanliness of site etc)
• Delivering standards & benefitting the surrounding neighbourhood & community

Question 7

What are the 5 main assessment categories within the Consideration Constructors Scheme?

Answer 7

There are 5 codes of considerate practice:

1. Care about appearance
2. Respect the community
3. Protect the environment
4. Care about safety
5. Value their workforce

Question 8

What is the biggest cause of long-term health issues in the construction industry?

Answer 8

Breathing in hazardous dusts & fumes

Question 9

Historically, which type of accident kills the most construction workers?

Answer 9

Falls from height

Question 10

What is the minimum height of the main guard rail of scaffolding?

Answer 10

950mm

Question 11

What does the beaufort scale measure?

Answer 11

wind speed

Question 12

When are visitors or workers more likely to have an accident on a construction site?

Answer 12

When they first visit / start on a new site

Question 13

What is a CSCS card?

Answer 13

• Construction skills certification scheme
• Provides proof that individuals working on construction sites have the appropriate training & qualifications for the job they do
• By ensuring the workforce are appropriately qualified, the card plays its part in improving standards & safety on UK construction sites

Question 14

What is a prohibition notice?

Answer 14

Issued by the HSE, it is a warning to stop work immediately as there is an imminent threat of injury or death.

Question 15

What is an improvement notice?

Answer 15

Issued by the HSE to help rectify health & safety failings. Gives the site a chance to correct what you’re doing wrong.

Question 16

What does RAMS stand for?

Answer 16

Risk assessment and method statement

Question 17

What is a risk assessment?

Answer 17

Identifying a hazard, measuring the risk & identifying the method of reducing the risk.

Question 18

What is a method statement?

Answer 18

A statement / methodology which details the way work will be completed. The method statement should outline hazards involved & include a step-by-step guide on how to execute safely.

Question 19

What regulations are applicable to asebstos?

Answer 19

Control of Asbestos Regulation 2012

Question 20

What are the 3 most common types of asbestos?

Answer 20

Crocidolite

• straight blue fibres
• considered the most lethal form

Amosite

• brown asbestos
• second most common asbestos type, and the second deadliest

Chrysotile

• known for long curly, fibres
• most common type of asbestos used in industrial & commercial applications
• usually white in colour

Question 21

What are the different types of asbestos surveys available?

Answer 21

Asbestos Management Survey - to manage asbestos containing materials (ACMs) during the normal occupation & use of the premises

Refurbishment / Demolition Survey (R&D) - required where the premises, or part of it, needs upgrading, refurbishment or demolition

Question 22

Where is asbestos commonly found in buildings?

Answer 22

• cement gutters & downpipes
• corrugated roofs
• floor & ceiling tiles
• insulated boards
• lagging
• textiles
• soffits

Question 23

What is an asbestos management plan?

Answer 23

A crucial document designed to register & detail how asbestos will be managed in a property & what activities will be engaged to ensure people remain safe

Question 24

What should an asbestos management plan include?

Answer 24

• the party responsible for managing asbestos
• the asbestos register identifying type & location etc
• plans for work on asbestos material
• the schedule for monitoring the materials’ condition
• telling people about your decisons

Question 25

How can asbestos be managed on site?

Answer 25

Remove - eliminate the risk Encapsulate - process of applying a protective layer onto the ACM which will contain asbestos fibres & protect from damage Manage - set up an asbestos management plan

Question 26

What are the main health hazards when somebody is exposed to asbestos?

Answer 26

Asbestosis - a chronic lung disease that can cause shortness of breath, coughing & permanent lung damage Lung cancer Mesothelioma - a cancer of the thin membranes that line the chest & abdomen

Question 27

When is an employer required to have a written H&S policy in the UK?

Answer 27

When they employ more than 5 people

Question 28

What is the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974?

Answer 28

- Sets out general duties which employers have towards employees & members of the public, & employees have to themselves & each other - These duties are qualifies in the Act by the principles of 'so far as reasonably practicable' - Main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment. Employers with 5 or more employees need to record the significant findings of the risk assessment

Question 29

What is RIDDOR?

Answer 29

- Reporting of Incidents Diseases & Dangerous Occurrences Regulations - Puts duties on employers, the self-employed & people in control of work premises (AKA the responsible person) to report certain serious workplace accidents, occupational diseases & specified dangerous occurrences.

Question 30

What is the Lifting Operations Lifting Equipment Regulations (LOLER) 1999?

Answer 30

- place duties on people & companies who own, operate & have control over lifting equipment - includes all businesses & organisations whose employees use lifting equipment

Question 31

What is the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005?

Answer 31

These require employers to protect their employees from excessive levels of noise that could cause hearing damage.

Question 32

Does the RICS publish any information on how to excavate your role safely?

Answer 32

Surveying Safely Guidance Note 2019 Sets out basic good practice principles for the management of H&S for RICS-regulated firms & RICS members. Sets out principles for those engaged in the built environment as property professionals & includes H&S responsibilities

Question 33

What is the concept of a 'safe person', as outlined in RICS Surveying Safely?

Answer 33

Each individual assumes individual behavioural responsibility for their own, their colleagues & others H&S whilst at work

Question 34

What are the key points of CDM Regulations 2015?

Answer 34

- to ensure clients, designers, contractors & others consider the H&S of those constructing, maintaining & demolishing the works - Places statutory duties on clients, principal designer, designers & contractors to plan, manage & co-ordinate H&S throughout projects - Improves safety on site through design, planning & management

Question 35

Who are the key duty holders under CDM 2015?

Answer 35

- Client - Principal Designer - Principal Contractor - Designers - Contractors - Workers

Question 36

What is an F10?

Answer 36

- Form which is sent to the HSE to notify them of a relevant construction project - it's the clients responsibility to issue, however it's often delegated to the principal designer or H&S advisor

Question 37

When is a project notifiable to the HSE under CDM Regulations?

Answer 37

If the project is expected to: - lasts longer than 30 working days, or have more than 20 workers working at the same time at any point on the project or, - exceed 500 person days

Question 38

What is pre-construction information, under CDM?

Answer 38

- plays a vital role in the tender documentation, enables prospective contractors to be fully aware of the project's H&S and welfare requirements - this will allow prospective contractors to have a level playing field as far as H&S is concerned on which to provide tender submissions - during development, the PCI can provide focus at which H&S considerations of the designers are brought together under the control of the principal designer

Question 39

What is included within the pre-construction (PCI) document?

Answer 39

- description of works - client considerations & management requirements - environmental restrictions & existing site risks - significant design & construction hazards - H&S file

Question 40

What is the H&S File, under CDM?

Answer 40

- prepared & issued promptly following completion of works - contains information needed during future construction works - The PD ensures the file is prepared, reviewed & amended as necessary & issued to the client

Question 41

What should the H&S File (under CDM) include?

Answer 41

- a brief description of the work carried out - any hazards associated with the materials - information regarding the removal or dismantling of installed plant & equipment - nature, location & markings of significant services - residual hazards & how they've been dealt with

Question 42

What is in surveying safely?