Occupational Health & Wellbeing

Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, at what daily or weekly personal noise exposure must a manager first make hearing protection available to workers who ask for it?

• A87 dB(A)
• B80 dB(A)✓
• C75 dB(A)
• D85 dB(A)

Answer: The lower exposure action value of 80 dB(A) triggers the duty to make hearing protection available on request and to provide information and training. At the upper action value of 85 dB(A) protection becomes compulsory and zones must be marked, and 87 dB(A) is the exposure limit value, which is assessed with the protection worn taken into account.

Noise monitoring shows that a gang using a cut-off saw has a daily personal noise exposure of 86 dB(A). What must the site manager do?

• AStop all work in the area until the exposure can be brought below the peak action value of 135 dB(C)
• BIssue hearing protection and rely on it as the main control, because the reading is still below the exposure limit value
• CMake hearing protection available to any member of the gang who asks for it and record the reading in the site diary
• DReduce exposure by other means, make hearing protection compulsory and mark the area as a hearing-protection zone✓

Answer: At or above the upper exposure action value of 85 dB(A) the employer must reduce exposure through organisational and technical measures, enforce the wearing of hearing protection and designate a hearing-protection zone. Making protection available on request is the lower-action-value duty, relying on protection alone ignores the reduction duty, and the peak action values relate to impulsive noise measured in dB(C), so they have no bearing here.

How is the 87 dB(A) exposure limit value under the Noise Regulations applied differently from the two exposure action values?

• AIt is set as a weekly figure and may never be applied to a single day's work
• BIt takes into account the attenuation given by any hearing protection that is worn✓
• CIt is measured on the unprotected exposure at the ear, ignoring any protection
• DIt applies only to peak impulsive noise such as cartridge-operated tools

Answer: The exposure limit value of 87 dB(A) must never be exceeded, but unlike the action values it is assessed after allowing for the reduction provided by hearing protectors. The action values are based on the unprotected exposure, peak noise has its own dB(C) values, and both daily and weekly figures can be used depending on how exposure varies.

What is the daily exposure action value for hand-arm vibration under the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005?

• A2.5 m/s² A(8)✓
• B5.0 m/s² A(8)
• C10 m/s² A(8)
• D1.0 m/s² A(8)

Answer: The exposure action value is 2.5 m/s² A(8), the point at which the employer must introduce a programme of controls and health surveillance. The exposure limit value is 5 m/s² A(8) and must not be exceeded; the other figures are not values used by the regulations.

Trigger-time records show that an operative using a breaker has reached a daily vibration exposure of 5.2 m/s² A(8). Which statement correctly describes the manager's position?

• AThe figure is acceptable provided the operative is wearing anti-vibration gloves rated for the tool being used
• BThe exposure limit value has been exceeded, so exposure must be cut below it at once and the cause investigated✓
• CThe figure falls between the action and limit values, so health surveillance is the only additional duty triggered
• DThe exposure action value has been reached, so a programme of controls must be planned but work may continue as normal

Answer: The exposure limit value is 5 m/s² A(8), and 5.2 is above it, so the employer must reduce exposure below the limit immediately, find out why it was exceeded and change the controls to prevent a recurrence. The action value of 2.5 m/s² was passed long before this point, the figure is not between the two values, and anti-vibration gloves are not a reliable control and do not change the exposure calculation.

A doctor's written diagnosis confirms that a scaffolder's hand-arm vibration syndrome is linked to his work. What does this trigger for the employer?

• AAn entry in the accident book only, as no injury has occurred
• BA notification to the CITB as a construction health event
• CA report to the local authority environmental health team
• DA report to the HSE under RIDDOR as a reportable occupational disease✓

Answer: Hand-arm vibration syndrome is one of the occupational diseases listed in RIDDOR, and once the employer receives a written diagnosis from a doctor linking it to the work it must be reported to the HSE, the enforcing authority for construction. Local authorities enforce other sectors, the CITB has no reporting role, and an accident-book entry alone does not discharge the statutory duty.

What is the workplace exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica in the UK?

• A0.3 mg/m³ as an 8-hour time-weighted average
• B0.1 mg/m³ as an 8-hour time-weighted average✓
• C0.1 mg/m³ as a 15-minute short-term exposure limit
• D1.0 mg/m³ as an 8-hour time-weighted average

Answer: The WEL for respirable crystalline silica is 0.1 mg/m³ averaged over an 8-hour reference period, and because silica causes silicosis, lung cancer and COPD, exposure should be kept well below that figure by controlling dust at source. The higher figures are not the UK limit, and RCS has no 15-minute short-term exposure limit.

Operatives will chase brickwork for cable runs over several days. Which control approach should the manager specify first?

• ASweeping the work area regularly and rotating operatives every hour
• BOn-tool extraction or water suppression first, with FFP3 RPE as a back-up✓
• CDisposable FFP2 masks for everyone in the area, with regular breaks
• DA face-fit tested FFP3 mask as the primary control, with wet-down after

Answer: Chasing masonry releases respirable crystalline silica, so the dust must be controlled at source by on-tool extraction or water suppression, with respiratory protection used to deal with the residual exposure. RPE on its own sits at the bottom of the hierarchy, FFP2 masks give inadequate protection against silica, and sweeping and rotation do nothing to stop the dust being generated.

A bricklaying gang report sore, cracked skin on their hands after weeks of handling mortar. Which control should the manager rely on?

• AA barrier cream applied before each shift in place of gloves
• BRotating the gang onto a different mix of mortar every few days
• CGloves and avoidance of skin contact, backed by regular skin checks✓
• DWashing hands with a solvent-based cleaner at the end of every working shift

Answer: Wet cement is alkaline and a known cause of both irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, so the control is to prevent skin contact with suitable gloves and working methods and to check skin regularly for early signs. Pre-work creams do not replace gloves, solvents strip the skin's natural oils and make dermatitis worse, and changing the mortar mix does not remove the cement.

A groundworker develops flu-like symptoms a week after working in a rat-infested culvert. What should site guidance have told him to do?

• ARest at home for a week and return once the fever has fully settled
• BTake over-the-counter cold remedies and avoid the culvert until it is dry
• CSee a doctor promptly and mention that his work exposes him to rats✓
• DReport to the site first-aider for a tetanus booster before continuing work

Answer: Flu-like symptoms after contact with water or soil contaminated by rat urine may be leptospirosis, or Weil's disease, which is treatable if caught early but can be fatal if missed. Telling the doctor about the work exposure prompts the right test and treatment. Resting at home or self-medicating risks a serious delay, and a tetanus booster addresses a different hazard entirely.

When is an employer legally required to put health surveillance in place for a group of workers?

• AWhere the client has specified it in the pre-construction information for the project
• BWhere risk assessment shows an identifiable work-related disease that can be detected✓
• CWhere the workforce exceeds twenty people on a site expected to last over a year
• DWhere any worker asks for it, regardless of what the risk assessment has found

Answer: Health surveillance is required where the risk assessment shows there is an identifiable disease or adverse health effect related to the work, a reasonable likelihood it will occur under the conditions of the work, and a valid technique for detecting it, as with noise, vibration, silica and dermatitis. Individual requests, headcount thresholds and client preferences do not create the legal duty.

A project manager wants to assess work-related stress across the site team using the HSE Management Standards. Which set of factors do those standards cover?

• ADemands, control, support, relationships, role and change at work✓
• BPlanning, doing, checking, acting, reviewing and reporting
• CWorkload, pay, hours, travel time, weather and site conditions
• DHazards, risks, controls, monitoring, review and audit

Answer: The HSE Management Standards define six areas of work design that, if poorly managed, are associated with poor health, lower productivity and increased sickness absence: demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. The other sets mix general risk-management or quality-cycle terms and are not the stress standards.

Why has the construction industry placed particular emphasis on mental-health initiatives such as Mates in Mind?

• AThe industry has a suicide rate well above the national average for men✓
• BThe industry has a legal duty to appoint a mental-health first aider on each site
• CThe industry has the highest sickness-absence rate of any sector in the UK
• DThe industry is required by CDM 2015 to offer counselling on every project

Answer: Male construction workers are significantly more likely to die by suicide than the national average for men, which is why the industry has developed programmes such as Mates in Mind and trained mental-health first aiders. There is no statutory requirement to appoint mental-health first aiders or to provide counselling, and sickness absence is not the driver.

A site supervisor mentions that he has started a prescription medicine that makes him drowsy. What should the manager's response be under a typical drugs and alcohol policy?

• ARequire him to stop taking the medicine before he is allowed back on site
• BAllow him to carry on as normal because prescribed medicines are outside the policy
• CAssess whether the medicine could impair him and adjust his duties while it does✓
• DSend him home immediately and treat the disclosure as a positive drugs test

Answer: Prescription and over-the-counter medicines can impair judgement, reaction time and alertness just as illegal drugs can, so a good policy asks workers to declare them and the manager to assess the impairment risk and adjust duties, for example keeping him away from plant or working at height. Treating a voluntary disclosure as a positive test or ordering him off his medication would be unreasonable and discourage reporting.