Revision questions for NGC1 element 5 Measuring, review and audit

OK, this doesnt quite match the title in the syllabus, which is Measuring, audit
and review, but it puts things in the right order. Auditing should look at every
aspect of the management system, including the performance monitoring and
review procedures, and should therefore come last in the list. (The findings of
an audit should also be reviewed but this is an occasional procedure and is in
addition to the routine process of performance review.)
Hence, the mnemonic POPMAR, which is used to remember the elements of
HSG 65, would probably be better written as POPMRA, which unfortunately
doesnt trip off the tongue quite as easily!
A bit more guidance on examinations
Making the best use of your time in the examination
Two hours might seem like a long time but its surprising how quickly the time
passes in an examination. You should therefore plan your time and then stick
as closely to that plan as possible. Given that there are 100 marks available
and 120 minutes to gain them, this works out at just over one minute per
mark. So lets work on a minute per mark, which will then give a bit of time left
over to provide some flexibility. This means that you should allow 20 minutes
for the first (20 mark) question and eight minutes for each of the 10 shortanswer (8 mark) questions. If you can keep to this, without pausing for breath
between questions, you should have 20 minutes remaining. Those 20 minutes
will come in very handy: firstly, to read through the paper carefully at the start
of the examination to get a good feel for whats required (possibly underlining
key words); secondly, to pause for breath occasionally and regain composure;
and, thirdly, to tidy things up at the end.
The reality, of course, is that you wont find the questions of equal difficulty
since your knowledge will be better in some areas than others. You may
therefore complete some questions in less than the allotted time, which will
leave more time for the more difficult ones. However, its still a good idea
to spend a maximum of eight minutes on each of the other short questions
before moving on to the next. You can always come back to them later. The
reason for this is that the law of diminishing returns applies to examination
questions. Most of the marks tend to be picked up fairly quickly but then
they become more difficult to come by as we start to reach the periphery of
our knowledge. So instead of spending extra time on a question, scratching
around for an additional mark or two, why not move on to the next question
where you can hopefully find four, five or six marks relatively easily? If you are
careful with the time, you should be able to come back to each question at the
end in order to search for those more elusive points. Of course, if you come
to a full stop on any particular question before the eight minutes are up, then
you should move on. There is no point struggling to find marks when there are
easier ones to be found elsewhere on the paper. It is a waste of time and can
affect confidence. Sometimes, the answer to another question can spark off a
few ideas for the one that has stumped you.
Its not a bad idea to use some sort of digital timer for each question but, if you
do, make sure that any audible alarm feature has a mute function!

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How to approach the examination paper as a whole

It was suggested above that the first thing to do at the start of the examination
is to read through the paper very carefully in order to make sure that you
understand the subject matter of each question and exactly what aspect of the
subject is being addressed. You may want to underline or highlight important
words if you think this will help to retain focus. Some candidates highlight
the action verbs (or command words) to emphasis the depth of answer being
sought. However, the action verbs are already emboldened on the paper so
this is probably unnecessary. You may also want to write down a few words
or reminders on the paper as you go through if you think this will help to guide
your answer.
As you go through the questions, you will instantly recognise those that you
feel more comfortable with. These are the ones to tackle first (each question
must be written on the correspondingly numbered page of the answer book so
make sure you pick the right page). This will help to boost your confidence as
well as putting a whole lot of marks in the pot fairly quickly and easily. Since
the first question makes up one-fifth of the marks for the paper (equivalent to
two-and-a-half short-answer questions), you should try to tackle this fairly early
on - but not necessarily first if there are some easier short-answer questions.
Dont forget that if you dont answer the long-answer question at all, you are
very unlikely to pass; if you miss out a short-answer question, there is still a
possibility of picking up enough marks elsewhere for a pass.
Having said that, you should always strive to answer every question on the
paper (in whatever order you decide). Even if you dont know very much
about a particular topic, you should be able to find something to say about it
and pick up those first easier marks before moving on to another question.
But if there is a question like this, you have probably left it to the end anyway.
So do what you can before going back to those questions that you were
happier with in order to come up with some points that you missed the first
time around. If you have time, you can return to the more difficult question at
the end. Towards the end of the examination, you should make a final check
that you havent inadvertently missed a question out.
How to tackle individual questions
Having chosen which question to attempt, you will now need to read the
question again (maybe more than once) to make sure that you understood
it properly the first time. Remember that every word of the question is there
for a reason. Take note of the action verb so you are aware of how to format
the answer. If you are pretty certain of how you are going to write the answer
at this stage then carry on. Otherwise you might want to jot down a few
notes in random order from which you can select the points to be given in the
actual answer. You should write the notes on the same page as the answer
and dont cross them out afterwards. Theres always a chance that youve
mentioned a creditworthy point in the notes that hasnt been picked up in
the actual answer and for which the examiner can award a mark (anything
crossed out must be ignored). Dont worry if you have written something
wrong in the notes because the examiner cannot subtract marks - ie there
is positive marking only. You might want to put a line under your notes to
separate them from your answer.

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Return to the question once or twice while writing your answer to ensure that
you arent veering off the point. Examiners frequently make the comment that
candidates have answered the question that they wish had been there rather
than the one that actually was. Whether this is due to misunderstanding the
question or wandering off into more familiar territory in the hope that it might
count for something remains uncertain. What is certain, though, is that giving
an answer that doesnt address the question will gain few, if any, marks and
valuable time will have been wasted.
Some questions are divided into two or more parts. Take note of the number
of marks available for each part and make sure that each part of your answer
is in proportion. Clearly indicate which part is which in your answer.
Stop writing an answer when you think it is complete, when you have reached
your time limit for that question or if you are struggling to find things to say. (If
you dont think the answer is complete, come back to it later.) Whatever the
case, have another look at the question and make sure again that you have
done exactly what has been asked.
And finally ...
This completes our series of brief guidance notes on examinations. It is
important now, particularly if you arent used to examinations, that you have
a go at some of the questions from past papers (preferably under simulated
examination conditions) and ask for a tutor to comment on your answers. As we
all know, practice makes perfect!
Now lets press on with some revision questions for this element
Question 1
Can you draw the HSG 65 management system model to show where the three
elements of measuring performance, reviewing performance and auditing
belong? (This will be the final check that you are familiar with the model, which is
actually likely to change in a revision of HSG 65 that is due late 2012.)
Question 2
Monitoring of health and safety performance can make use of active or reactive
systems. What is the difference between active and reactive monitoring?
(For some reason, the word active was adopted by HSE some years ago even
though proactive is probably a more understandable term.)
... continued ...

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Question 3
Identify whether each of the following should be considered as part of active or
reactive monitoring:
accident records
workplace inspections
review of risk assessments
analysis of near misses
noise surveys
behavioural studies
complaints from employees concerning health and safety
enforcement actions
sickness / absenteeism records
health and safety audits
RIDDOR reports
training records
Question 4
What are the strengths and weaknesses of using accident rates as the sole
indicator of health and safety performance?
Question 5
What are the various ways in which an organisation may categorise its accident
statistics in order to help build a full picture of any trends and to highlight problem
areas?
Question 6
What are the differences between health and safety tours, surveys and sampling?
Question 7
What are the benefits and weaknesses of using a checklist on a health and safety
inspection of a workshop?
Question 8
What features of a critical health and safety report are likely to increase the
chances of senior management taking action?
... continued ...

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Question 9
HSG 65 includes a definition of health and safety auditing. The definition is
given below with some of the words missing. In each case, select the correct
word from the choices given:
much personal independent
structured annual time-consuming
evasive corrective

expensive

Auditing is the .............. process of collecting .............. information on

the efficiency, .............. and reliability of the .............. health and safety
management system and drawing up .............. for .............. action.
effort

effectiveness

effluence

Question 10

excuses

contracts

plans

total

suspect

restricted

Why would even the most thorough inspection of a workplace not constitute an
audit?
Question 11
Give some examples of the documents and other information that should be
made available to persons carrying out an audit of an organisations health and
safety management system.
Question 12
Other than examining documentation, what else should an auditor do in
order to gather information about the management of health and safety in an
organisation?
Question 13
What are the advantages and disadvantages of selecting a health and safety
auditor who is external to the organisation?
Question 14
An accident has occurred in which an employee suffered a broken arm. Hes
been taken to hospital and the area has been made safe. What post-accident
procedures should now be applied?
Question 15
What are the reasons for an organisation investigating accidents and similar
events that have happened?
Question 16
What are the factors that may determine the depth of any such investigation?
Question 17
How should a typical accident investigation be conducted?

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Question 18
Imagine that you are investigating an accident in which Harry Harris dislocated
his ankle after falling from a ladder while descending. The second rung of the
ladder was broken, which Harry carefully avoided on his way up. Present the
accident in tree form to show the possible root and immediate causes, as well as
any factors that may have contributed to the final outcome. (Refer back to the
course notes for information on accident trees if you need to.)
Note: The next five questions relate to RIDDOR. At the time of writing these
questions (October 2012), there are proposals to make extensive changes to the
Regulations. You may be attempting the questions after the changes have been
made and before the suggested answers have been updated so you will need
to check that your answers are up-to-date. NEBOSH does not ask questions on
new or amended legislation within six months of any changes.
Question 19
What does RIDDOR stand for? (This may seem like an easy question but so
many people get it wrong that its worth checking.)
Question 20
Other than gas incidents, what categories of incident need to be reported under
RIDDOR?
Question 21
What are the time limits and methods for notifying or reporting each type of
incident to the relevant enforcing authority?
Question 22
Can you give four examples of (a) a major injury; (b) a dangerous occurrence;
and (c) a reportable disease?
Question 23
What reasons might there be for employees failing to report an accident that has
happened to them at work?
Question 24
Write down everything you know about the accident book (BI 510).
Question 25
Why should an organisation review its health and safety performance on a
regularly basis?
Question 26
What particular items should be considered in a management review of health
and safety performance? (Think about active and reactive data here.)

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Question 27
An organisations Annual Report primarily looks at financial and business
performance over the year in question. Why do think HSE encourages the
inclusion of health and safety performance in the Annual Report?
Question 28
A companys annual report for 2011/12 includes the following section on health
and safety performance:
Health and safety
This year produced a lost-time accident frequency rate of 2.1, the lowest
for five years (compared with 3.3 in 2010/11, 3.6 in 2009/10, 2.4 in
2008/09 and 2.2 in 2007/08). The relocation of the main works during
the year led to some significant improvements in working conditions and
facilitated the companys BS OHSAS 18001 accreditation. The major
cause of accidents across the company in 2011/12 was slips, trips and
falls (26%), followed by manual handling (20%) and contact with moving
or stationary objects (14%).
Taking into account the intended audience, what is wrong with this report? How
could it be improved?
(This question is based on a previous Diploma question but there should be
some fairly obvious points to make. See how you get on.)

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