Safety judgment: applied practice: open practice pack: learner worksheet

1. safety-judgement-applied-s01-q01

What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?

1. They are two words for the same thing
2. A hazard is a risk with a low probability
3. The risk is the equipment; the hazard is the injury it causes
4. A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm; the risk is how likely that harm is and how severe it would be

Answer:

2. safety-judgement-applied-s01-q02

You are walking to a meeting that starts in three minutes when you notice a pool of clear liquid across a busy corridor.

1. Step around it and carry on; you are already late
2. Guard or mark the spill and get it dealt with before you leave it, even though it makes you late
3. Go to the meeting and report it afterwards
4. Tell the next person you pass so they can arrange it

Answer:

3. safety-judgement-applied-s01-q03

A cleaning task uses a solvent that gives off harmful vapour. Which of these is the strongest control?

1. Issuing respirators to everyone who does the task
2. Putting up warning signs at the workstation
3. Replacing the solvent with a less hazardous product that does the same job
4. Training everyone in the risks of the solvent

Answer:

4. safety-judgement-applied-s01-q04

You find that a fixed guard has been taken off a machine because it slows the job down. The machine is running.

1. Stop the machine, report it, and do not let it be restarted until the guard is refitted
2. Let the current batch finish while everyone works more carefully
3. Arrange for the guard to be refitted at the end of the shift
4. Warn the operator to keep clear of the moving parts

Answer:

5. safety-judgement-applied-s01-q05

A ladder is to be used on a wet, gently sloping surface for a job that will take two minutes.

1. Two minutes is short enough that the risk is acceptable
2. The short duration does not change the hazard: use access that can be set level and secure, or make the base level and secure first
3. Have a second person foot the ladder and proceed
4. Proceed while someone stands by to watch

Answer:

6. safety-judgement-applied-s02-q01

In what order should controls be considered when planning a hazardous task?

1. Personal protective equipment first, because it protects the person directly
2. Training first, because an informed worker is a safe worker
3. Eliminate the hazard if you can; then substitute, then engineering controls, then procedures, with protective equipment last
4. Whichever control is cheapest and quickest to put in place

Answer:

7. safety-judgement-applied-s02-q02

Why does protective equipment sit at the bottom of the hierarchy of control?

1. It protects only the wearer, only when correctly fitted and maintained, and it leaves the hazard fully in place
2. It is the most expensive control to sustain
3. It is uncomfortable and therefore resented
4. It is not required by law

Answer:

8. safety-judgement-applied-s02-q03

What does safe isolation before maintenance actually require?

1. Switching the machine off at its control panel
2. Telling colleagues that you are working on the machine
3. Switching it off and putting a warning sign on the switch
4. Isolating every energy source, locking and tagging each isolation, releasing stored energy, and proving it dead at the point of work

Answer:

9. safety-judgement-applied-s02-q04

A permit to work has been issued for entry into a confined space. What does it mean?

1. The work is authorised for the whole shift once the permit is signed
2. The work is authorised only under the conditions written on it; if any of those change, work stops until it is reassessed
3. Responsibility for the work has transferred to whoever issued it
4. It is a formality once everyone involved has been trained

Answer:

10. safety-judgement-applied-s02-q05

Two contractors are due to work on the same scaffold at the same time, one directly above the other.

1. Let each contractor manage safety within their own work area
2. Make sure the team working below are wearing hard hats
3. Ask the two supervisors to agree an approach between themselves on the day
4. Plan the work so they are not in the same vertical zone at the same time, or fit physical protection between them, and coordinate through a single plan

Answer:

11. safety-judgement-applied-s03-q01

You believe a task cannot be done safely as instructed. Your supervisor has considered it and disagrees.

1. State exactly which hazard concerns you and which control is missing, do not start, and use the defined escalation route
2. Start the task while watching carefully for the hazard you identified
3. Refuse the task and leave it there
4. Ask a more experienced colleague to do it instead

Answer:

12. safety-judgement-applied-s03-q02

An incident has just happened on site. What comes first?

1. Establishing who was responsible, while memories are fresh
2. Completing the incident report form
3. Getting production restarted to limit the disruption
4. Making the area safe and attending to anyone injured, then preserving the scene and reporting it

Answer:

13. safety-judgement-applied-s03-q03

Why are near-miss reports worth the effort when nobody was hurt?

1. They are a required part of the paperwork
2. They are the same events as injuries with the luck still attached, so they show where controls are failing while it is still cheap to fix
3. They protect the person who reports from later blame
4. They help identify which staff are careless

Answer:

14. safety-judgement-applied-s03-q04

A colleague routinely skips a required step. They have done it for years and nothing has ever gone wrong.

1. Adopt the same shortcut; the evidence suggests the step is unnecessary
2. Report them anonymously without speaking to them
3. Speak to them directly about that specific step and the risk it controls, and use the safety reporting route if it continues
4. Leave it for a supervisor to notice

Answer:

15. safety-judgement-applied-s03-q05

You are new and cannot tell whether something you have noticed is a genuine hazard or normal for this site.

1. Raise it as a question: an unnecessary question costs a minute, an unraised hazard can cost far more
2. Wait until you know the site well enough to be sure
3. Check with other new starters whether they have noticed it too
4. Make a note and look into it when you have more time

Answer:

16. safety-judgement-applied-s04-q01

It is the last hour of the shift and the target will be missed. A required control step takes fifteen minutes.

1. Skip the step this once and note that it was skipped
2. Carry out the step; the deadline does not change the hazard, and if the deadline is genuinely immovable then it is the schedule that needs escalating
3. Carry out a shortened version of the step
4. Ask a colleague to sign the step off so the record is complete

Answer:

17. safety-judgement-applied-s04-q02

You have done a task hundreds of times and your method differs from the documented one. Yours is quicker and, in your judgement, no less safe.

1. Use your method; experience is worth more than a document
2. Use the documented method when you are being observed
3. Follow the documented method, and if experience says it is wrong then get the method changed rather than deviating from it
4. Use whichever method the situation makes faster on the day

Answer:

18. safety-judgement-applied-s04-q03

You are at the end of a long shift, noticeably tired, with one task left that involves working at height.

1. Treat the fatigue as a hazard in its own right: say so, and hand the task over or leave it for the next shift
2. Push through; it is one short task and it needs finishing
3. Have a coffee and then do it
4. Do it more slowly to compensate

Answer:

19. safety-judgement-applied-s04-q04

A new starter has begun using a shortcut they can only have learned from watching you.

1. Tell them not to copy you, and carry on as you were
2. Explain that the shortcut is acceptable for experienced staff only
3. Say nothing; they will settle into the standard method in time
4. Recognise that what you do is what gets learned: stop the shortcut yourself and show them the correct method

Answer:

20. safety-judgement-applied-s04-q05

A written safety rule, applied literally in one specific situation on your site, appears to make the job more dangerous rather than less.

1. Ignore the rule in that situation
2. Follow the rule and say nothing; it is not your rule to change
3. Follow the rule while reporting the specific situation in which it increases risk, so it can be assessed and amended
4. Apply your own alternative, which you believe is safer

Answer: