ECS (Electrotechnical Certification Scheme) Quiz 1

The assessment will be made up from 288 questions covering ten topics. The 40 questions in the ECS test is made up from the following topics:

General Health and Safety at Work 5   Manual Handling Operations 4
Reporting Accidents 3   Personal Protective Equipment at Work 4
Health and Hygiene 3   Fire and Emergency 4
Work at Height 5   Work Equipment 4
Special Site Hazards 3   Electrotechnical 5

Listed below are the areas of knowledge that will be assessed.

1. General Health & Safety - (Total 40 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • How the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Regulations and Approved Codes of Practice affect you
  • Employer’s responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act
  • Your responsibilities to yourself and to others under the Health and Safety at Work Act
  • How health and safety law is enforced
  • The powers of Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspectors
  • The key features of health and safety signs in the workplace
  

2. Manual Handling Operations - (Total 27 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • What manual handling operations mean in the context of an employee and what employers must do to protect employees from injury
  • The types of injury you could suffer from carrying out manual handling tasks
  • The parts of your body most likely to be affected by manual handling injuries
  • How to decide whether a manual handling activity is safe
  • What must be taken into account when making a manual handling risk assessment
  • The principles of good manual handling techniques

3. Reporting Accidents - (Total 32 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • The need to report injuries, accidents, certain diseases and dangerous occurrences to the Health and Safety Executive
  • Why you must report accidents to your employer
  • The need to record in the accident book all accidents that cause any injury whatsoever
  • What reportable injuries, dangerous occurrences and reportable diseases are
  

4. Personal Protective Equipment at Work - (Total 28 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • When PPE should be worn
  • Why your employer must provide you with PPE
  • Why you must use the PPE provided by the employer
  • Why you must take care of PPE supplied for your use
  • Why you must report lost or damaged PPE to your immediate superior
  • The possible effects of not wearing PPE
  • The limitations of PPE

5. Health and Hygiene - (Total 27 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • The dangers of exposure to substances, such as asbestos
  • The importance of good personal hygiene when working with hazardous substances
  • How to reduce the risks of diseases carried by vermin
  • The welfare facilities required to be provided on construction sites.
  • How to reduce the risks from hand-arm vibration and noise at work
  

6. Fire and Emergency - (Total 32 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • What to do in the event of an emergency at work
  • The types of fire extinguishers available and the types of fires they can each be used on
  • The importance of first aid following an accident

7. Work at Height - (Total 28 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • The importance of using the most suitable access equipment for the task
  • Only working from ladders or stepladders when the task is of low risk and short duration
  • Safety precautions to be taken when using scaffolds, mobile elevated work platforms, safety harnesses etc.
  

8. Work Equipment - (Total 24 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • Only using work equipment you have been trained and authorised to use
  • The importance of carrying out checks on equipment before use
  • Reporting any defects and not using defective equipment
  • The voltage limitations on electrical equipment used on site
  • The safe use of extension cables

9. Special Site Hazards - (Total 16 Questions) You should have a basic understanding of:

  • The safety precautions to be taken before working in a confined space
  • The precautions to be taken when carrying out excavation work to reduce the risks from contact with underground services, falling materials etc.
  • The precautions to be taken when working near overhead power lines
  • The dangers to pedestrians from vehicles on site
  

10. Electrotechnical - (Total 34 Questions) You should have an understanding of:

  • The effects of electric current on the body
  • The types of socket outlets used on construction sites
  • The need for persons working on electrical systems to be competent to do so
  • The use of residual current devices for supplementary protection against electric shock
  • Safe isolation procedures when working on electrical systems and equipment
  • Only working ‘live’ in exceptional circumstances
  • Safe working with optical fibres

All General Health & Safety Questions (40 Questions in total but only 5 random questions will be choosen for the test by the computer)

1. What do the letters CDM stand for?
a) Control of Demolition and Management Regulations
b) Control of Dangerous Materials Regulations
c) Construction (Demolition Management) Regulations
d) Construction (Design and Management) Regulations

2. Identify one method of enforcing regulations that are available to the Health and Safety Executive:
a) Health Notice
b) Improvement Notice
c) Obstruction Notice
d) Increasing insurance premiums

3. What happens if a Prohibition Notice is issued by an Inspector of the local authority or the HSE?
a) The work in hand can be completed, but no new work started
b) The work can continue if adequate safety precautions are put in place
c) The work that is subject to the notice must cease
d) The work can continue, provided a risk assessment is carried out

4. A Health and Safety Executive Inspector can?
a) Only visit if they have made an appointment
b) Visit at any time
c) Only visit if accompanied by the principal contractor
d) Only visit to interview the site manager

5. A Prohibition Notice means:
a) When you finish the work you must not start again
b) The work must stop immediately
c) Work is to stop for that day only
d) Work may continue until the end of the day

6. What is an "Improvement Notice"?
a) A notice issued by the site principal contractor to tidy up the site
b) A notice from the client to the principal contractor to speed up the work
c) A notice issued by a Building Control Officer to deepen foundations
d) A notice issued by an HSE/local authority Inspector to enforce compliance with health and safety legislation

7. If a Health and Safety Executive Inspector issues a "Prohibition Notice", this means that
a) the Site Manager can choose whether or not to ignore the notice
b) specific work activities, highlighted on the notice, must stop
c) the HSE must supervise the work covered by the notice
d) the HSE must supervise all work from then on

8. Which one of the following items of information will you find on the Approved Health and Safety Law poster?
a) Details of emergency escape routes
b) The location of the local HSE office
c) The location of all fire extinguishers
d) The identity of the first aiders

9. Who is responsible for signing a Company Safety Policy?
a) Site Manager
b) Company Safety Officer
c) Company Secretary
d) Managing Director

10. In what circumstances can an HSE Improvement Notice be issued?
a) If there is a breach of legal requirements
b) By warrant through the police
c) Only between Monday and Friday on site
d) Through the prosecution office

11. Which one of the following must be in a company’s written Health and Safety Policy
a) Aims and objectives of the company
b) Organisation and arrangements in force for carrying out the health and safety policy
c) Name of the Health and Safety Adviser
d) Company Director’s home address

12. Employers have to produce a written Health and Safety Policy statement when:
a) A contract commences
b) They employ five people or more
c) The safety representative requests it
d) The HSE notifies them

13. Companies employing five or more people must have a written Health and Safety Policy because:
a) The principal contractor gives them work on site
b) The HSAWA 1974 requires it
c) Social Security Act requires it
d) The trade unions require it

14. What do the letters HSC stand for
a) Health and Safety Contract
b) Health and Safety Consultant
c) Health and Safety Conditions
d) Health and Safety Commission

15. Which ONE of the following statements is correct? The Health and Safety Executive is:
a) a prosecuting authority
b) an enforcing authority
c) a statutory provisions authority
d) an instructor of proceedings

16. The Health and Safety at Work Act requires employers to provide what for their employees?
a) Adequate rest periods
b) Payment for work done
c) A safe place of work
d) Suitable transport to work

17. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and any regulations made under the Act are:
a) Not compulsory, but should be complied with if convenient
b) Advisory to companies and individuals
c) Practical advice for the employer to follow
d) Legally binding

18. Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which of the following have a duty to work safely?
a) Employees only
b) The general public
c) Employers only
d) All people at work

19. What is the MAXIMUM penalty that a Higher Court, can currently impose for a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act?
a) £20,000 fine and two years imprisonment
b) £15,000 fine and three years imprisonment
c) £1,000 fine and six months imprisonment
d) Unlimited fine and two years imprisonment

20. What do the letters ACoP stand for?
a) Accepted Code of Provisions
b) Approved Condition of Practice
c) Approved Code of Practice
d) Accepted Code of Practice

21. Where should you look for Official advice on health and safety matters?
a) A set of health and safety guidelines provided by suppliers
b) The health and safety rules as laid down by the employer
c) Guidance issued by the Health and Safety Executive
d) A professionally approved guide book on regulations

22. Regulations that govern health and safety on construction sites:
a) apply only to inexperienced workers
b) do not apply during ’out of hours’ working
c) apply only to large companies
d) are mandatory (that is, compulsory)

23. Which of the following statements is correct?
a) The duty for health and safety falls only on the employer
b) All employees must take reasonable care, not only to protect themselves but also their colleagues
c) Employees have no responsibility for Health and Safety on site
d) Only the client is responsible for safety on site

24. Who of the following would you expect to be responsible for managing health and safety on site?
a) Foreman
b) Your employer
c) Main sub-contractor
d) HSE Inspector

25. Which of the following is correct for risk assessment?
a) It is a good idea but not essential
b) Only required to be done for hazardous work
c) Must always be done
d) Only required on major jobs

26. In the context of a risk assessment, what do you understand by the term risk?
a) An unsafe act or condition
b) Something with the potential to cause injury
c) Any work activity that can be described as dangerous
d) The likelihood that harm from a particular hazard will occur

27. Who would you expect to carry out a risk assessment on your working site?
a) The site planning supervisor
b) A visiting HSE Inspector
c) The construction project designer
d) A competent person

28. What is a HAZARD?
a) Where an accident is likely to happen
b) An accident waiting to happen
c) Something with the potential to cause harm
d) The likelihood of something going wrong

29. What must be done before any work begins?
a) Emergency plan
b) Assessment of risk
c) Soil assessment
d) Geological survey

30. Complete the following sentence: A risk assessment
a) is a piece of paper required by law
b) prevents accidents
c) is a means of analysing what might go wrong
d) isn’t particularly useful

31. Why would your supervisor ask you to read the method statement and risk assessment before you start your next job?
a) He thinks you have got nothing better to do
b) They contain information on how to carry out the job in a safe manner
c) He wouldn’t, he thinks they are a waste of time
d) As someone has taken the time and trouble to write them, you might as well read them

32. What do the blue and white health and safety signs tell you?
a) Things you must do
b) The nearest fire exit
c) The hazards in the area
d) Things you must not do

33. What colours are fire exit signs
a) Green and white
b) Red and yellow
c) Red and white
d) Blue and white

34. What is the main colour on a safety sign stating that you must NOT do something?
a) Blue
b) Green
c) Red
d) Yellow

35. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations require the colour coding of signs. What colours are used on a sign indicating a warning, for example "Fork-lift trucks operating”?
a) Blue and white
b) Green and white
c) Yellow and black
d) Red and white

36. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations require the colour coding of safety signs. What colours are used on a sign indicating a prohibited activity, for example “No access for pedestrians”?
a) Green and white
b) Red, black and white
c) Blue and white
d) Yellow and black

37. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations require the colour coding of safety signs. What colours are used on a sign indicating a mandatory activity, for example “Safety helmets must be worn”?
a) Green and white
b) Red, black and white
c) Blue and white
d) Yellow and black

38. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations require the colour coding of safety signs. What colours are used on a sign indicating a safe condition, for example “First Aid kit”?
a) Red, black and white
b) Blue and white
c) Yellow and black
d) Green and white

39. Why should regular inspections of the workplace take place?
a) To check whether the working environment is safe
b) To check that all employees are present
c) To check that everyone is doing their job
d) To prepare for a visit from an HSE Inspector

40. How can you help to prevent accidents?
a) Don’t report them
b) Know how to get help quickly
c) Report any unsafe conditions
d) Know where the first-aid kit is kept


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