Easing the Burden – Train your Memory

This guidance document is intended to provide you with some clear focus in relation to
helping you to answer knowledge-based questions in your examination

“How to train your memory to answer knowledge-based

questions”
It has been said that we remember things for 2 reasons:

• Firstly we remember things we want to remember and therefore we make a

conscious effort to try to remember it.

• Secondly we remember things that have a profound impact on us. Something very
powerful, strange or interesting happened that has lodged into our memories. These
are often based on very strong images and in many instances we couldn’t forget them
even if we tried!

It stands to reason then, that if we want to maximise the chances of remembering things we
need to start by creating a powerful image of the thing to be remembered and then work at
remembering it.

Easier said than done? I agree it doesn’t come naturally to all of us but I have proven to
myself that it really works if you’re willing to try.

This section will explain one or 2 useful methods for remembering things and I’ll keep it
meaningful by demonstrating their application in relation to your health and safety studies.

A short while ago I was considering a past examination question that required an outline of
the duties contained in the Control of Lead at Work Regulations 2002. My mind went blank. I
know the duties but I was trying the question under exam conditions and I got really stuck. I
went back to basics (risk assessment, control risks, information and training, monitoring etc)
which helped a lot but it wasn’t precise.

I was going to develop a memory aid to help me remember and recite these duties with ease
whenever I needed to (maybe in an examination??)

Method of Loci

I researched a technique called “The method of “Loci”. It’s all about visualising things in
certain places with which you are familiar. Try to think about all of the things in your own
kitchen. I’ll bet you can remember 90% of everything you have on the shelves, worktops,
window sill etc. in your kitchen. You have a strong mental image of those things.

Now we have to think of how we might develop this notion to remembering mundane things
(like lists). We’ll use the Control of Lead at Work Regulations as the basis to practice the
technique…

Step 1 – Think of a place, area or object that you are very familiar with. The best places are
those that can be connected to the facts to be remembered. For my experiment, I thought of

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 a kitchen cooker (no other reason than it generates heat and heat is used for lead
smelting). I could have thought of my car or my front room or the pockets in my briefcase etc

Step 2 – This is the tricky bit. You need to think of an image that you can use to associate
with each duty. The more silly and strange the better so long as there is a clear connection in
your own mind. If the image is not strong it will not work.

Here are my own images for the 9 main duties of the Control of lead at work regulations
2002:

Control of Lead at Work Regulations

Duty Image
Risk assessments to be carried A small donkey key ring (donkey = Ass = risk
out assessment)
Prohibit eating, drinking and A no smoking sign (prohibition)
smoking

Prevent or control exposure A padlock (prevent exposure)

Air monitoring An extractor hood

Maintenance of controls 4 control knobs

Medical surveillance A checkerboard (check-ups)

Action and suspension levels A Hitchcock novel (suspense)

Training, instruction and A model train

information

Arrangements for accidents A first aid kit

Step 3 – You now need to visualise each image placed around your place or object and
actually see it there in your mind. You should physically draw this while you create the
image.

This is where I’ve placed them…..

Image Place in / on cooker

A small donkey key ring (donkey
= ass = risk assessment)
A no smoking sign (prohibition)
A padlock (prevent exposure)
An extractor hood
4 control knobs
A checkerboard (checks)
A Hitchcock novel (suspense)
A model train
A first aid kit
Hanging on the right hand side of the cooker
Underneath the donkey on the side of the cooker
On the oven door
Above the cooker at head height
Above the grill, but below the hob
Bottom shelf of oven
Middle shelf of oven
Top shelf of oven
Inside the grill

Now look at the whole drawing and visit each image in turn around the cooker stating what
that image represents. Do this a few times until you are quite familiar with it.

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 Step 4 – Now close your eyes and actually see the images in their place. Say it out loud “ the
donkey is on the side of the cooker and the donkey represents risk assessment” the sign is
underneath the donkey and represents a prohibition on eating, smoking and drinking” etc.
Try drawing your scene without referring to your crib sheet. Do this a few times and the
duties will be stored for later recall.

Here’s another to practice ……

Pressure Systems Safety Regs 2000

For this set I am visualising items placed around a car with huge inflated tyres (Pressure!!)

Duty Image Place in car

Design and construction A Nike tick (designer label) Nike tick in the wheel hub
caps
Provide information The Information symbol (i) Info symbols on the door
handle
Safe Installation A Spanner Spanner on the seat

Safe operating limits Dashboard Dials Sit in the car. Dials are in
the normal place

Written scheme of A Ski (sounds like scheme Long ski from rear seat
examination through the gap between
the 2 front seats going right
up to the windscreen

Examination in A magnifying glass Little magnifying glass

accordance with written dangling from the rear view
scheme mirror

Imminent danger – A Duck (duck down! = avoid Hanging from the mirror
actions to take danger)

Safe operation A surgeon’s scalpel (operation) In the glove compartment

Properly maintained The driver’s manual In the glove compartment

underneath the scalpel

As you place each item in and around the car, you must “see it there” and take a journey
from one place to another.

When I do this one I say to myself “I’m approaching the car and I can see Nike ticks in the
wheels, as I get closer I see an information sign in the door handle. I open the car door and I
can see a spanner on the seat. As I sit down I look forward and see the dials on the
dashboard. A ski is lying across my shoulder from the back seat. A magnifying glass is
hanging from the rear view mirror and so is a small yellow duck. I lean across to the glove
compartment and inside is a surgeon’s scalpel on top of the drivers manual.

I can now remember the Pressure Systems Safety regulations

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 And another…..
Work at Height Regulations 2005

For this set I am visualising an office desk perched on top of a tree (heights)

Duty Image Place on desk

Work at height to be Document holder (Plan) On desk – left of computer
properly planned and monitor
carried out

Avoid work at height if Yellow Duck (Avoid) Swinging from document holder
possible

Selection of appropriate Computer keyboard (selection) In front of computer monitor

work equipment for the
task
Requirements for particular Singing choir (Rechoir ments) On the screen
work equipment (schedule
2)

Fragile surfaces Box of eggs (fragile) On desk to right of keyboard

Protect against falling 1 egg falling (falling) On floor

objects

Prevent access to danger Bomb (danger) Bottom right hand drawer

areas

Inspection of work Magnifying glass with “2” Next draw up

equipment and Inspection
of places of work at height
Duties of all persons at 2 cups of tea (2 teas = duties) On top of desk in front of
work document holder

Using Stories

Let’s now look at using stories to help us remember lists of things. There is a distinct
similarity to the “method of loci” as they still rely on you creating a vivid picture of something
that represents something else but instead of placing the object in a place you will create
story where that object is referred to.

Assume we want to try to remember the 8 Principles of Prevention as discussed in

regulation 4 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Here are the principles:

1. Avoid risks
2. Evaluate risks which cannot be avoided
3. Adapt work to the individual
4. Combat risks at source
5. Adapt to technology
6. Replace the dangerous with the non or less dangerous
7. Develop a coherent overall prevention policy
8. Give priority to collective prevention measures over individual ones
9. Provide all necessary information and instructions

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 I remember the principles by reciting this short story:

A duck was weighing her eggs when a shot was fired close by. “Was he shooting at me?”
she asked.
She googled how to swap places and got dressed in an old overall, picked up a collection tin
and walked off with her instructions.

This is how it works (note that the principles are shown inside the brackets)

A duck (avoid the risk) was weighing (evaluate the risks that cannot be avoided) her eggs
when a shot (combat the risk at source) was fired close by. “Was he shooting at me?”
(Adapt the work to the individual) she asked.

She googled (adapt to technology) how to swap (replace dangerous with non-dangerous)
places and got dressed in an old overall, (coherent overall prevention policy) picked up a
collection tin (give priority to collective prevention measures) and walked off with her
instructions (provide instructions).

If the images don’t work for you then come up with other images – the stranger the better.

Use this story to help remember the 8 principles of good practice from the COSHH
Regulations.

Here are the principles:

1. Minimise the emissions, release and spread of hazardous substances
2. Take into account all routes of exposure when developing control measures
3. Use proportionate control measures
4. Choose the most effective and reliable control measure
5. Provide PPE (in conjunction with other control measures) if control cannot be
achieved by other means
6. Regularly check all control measures
7. Inform and train employees on hazards, risks and control measures
8. Ensure that the introduction of control measures does not increase the overall risk

Here’s the story I use:

A prisoner was trying to escape from the prison chapel whilst eating his sandwich. Trouble is
he didn’t know which route to take, so he weighed up all the options. He thought he’d try to
steal a VW. He put on his goggles and measured how far it was to the next town. “Too far”
he thought, so he jumped on the next train wearing some overalls as a disguise.

This is how it works…

A prisoner was trying to escape (minimise the release,) from the prison chapel (emissions,)
whilst eating his sandwich (and Spread).
Trouble is he didn’t know which route (consider route of entry) to take, so he weighed up
(measure to be proportional to the risk) all the options. He thought he’d try to steal a V W
(measures to be effective and reliable).
He put on his goggles (PPE if required) and measured (check and review to ensure
measures are effective) how far it was to the next town. “Too far” he thought, so he jumped

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 on the next train (information and training) wearing some overalls (not to increase overall
risk).
Use this story to help you remember the contents of an On-site emergency plan as
required under COMAH Regulations

On planning his new book, a writer started to discuss with the council how he could prevent
or limit the chances of people stealing it. They agreed that he would provide early warning
whenever he heard the train and they would come and help.

This is how it works:

On planning (on-site plan) his new book, a writer started (“author”ised person to start and
coordinate) to discuss with the council (liaise with Local Authority) how he could prevent
(prevent major accidents) or limit (limit the consequences) the chances of people stealing it.
They agreed that he would provide early warning (provide early warning to LA) whenever he
heard the train (provide information and training) and they would come and help (provide
assistance in off site emergency plan).

Using Mnemonics

Mnemonics are patterns of words, letters or ideas which aid the memory. Common
mnemonics are simple rhymes used to remember lists of things. You may have come across
the well known mnemonic used to help remember the colours of the rainbow:
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet)

Creating a silly phrase or sentence using the first letter from each of the words can help with
your recall. Lets see if we can apply this to our H&S studies….

Having problems remembering what the Turnbull report was all about?

Overview of key elements of the report Memory aid

Deals with all Business risks Big

Prepare clear Policies which highlight management’s commitment Plastic

Evaluate all risks through Risk assessment process Records

Management processes that control risks to an acceptable level Makes

Monitoring arrangements Me

Communication arrangements Chant

Reporting arrangements Rock

Process of internal Audit And

Annual Review of risk controls at board level Roll

Statement to shareholders on outcomes of annual review Songs

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 The drawback of this method is that you still have to remember what the word stands for.

The HSE has developed a set of Stress Management Standards. They are:

C ontrol
D emands
S upport
R ole
R elationship
C hange

Here’s a simple Mnemonic to help remember them

Can Dogs See Rolls Royce Cars

Using Acronyms

Acronyms are a type of mnemonic that relies on creating a word (instead of rhymes and
stories) out of the letters for the things to be remembered. A simple well-known example is
the word SCUBA (as in scuba diving). SCUBA stands for Self Contained Underwater
Breathing Apparatus.

Now lets make up an acronym for something related to Health and Safety. Can you
remember the main duties contained in the Dangerous Substances and Explosive
Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR)?

My Acronym for this is “DIZZY RACETZ”

The “DIZZY” helps me remember that what I’m trying to remember relates to the DSEAR
regulations (Dizzier)

Now take the first letter from the beginning of the duties I want to remember

R = Risk Duty to carry out risk

A = Assessment } assessments
C = Control (duty to eliminate or reduce the risks)
E = Emergencies (Arrangements to deal with emergencies)
T = Training (Duty to provide information. instruction and training to employees)
Z = Zoning (Classify hazardous zones with warning sign)

To make this more powerful for the memory we could easily create a visual image to
represent the acronym. This one lends itself well. These are “Dizzy Rackets”.

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 Now when I want to remember the DSEAR regs I will see some dizzy tennis rackets in my
mind and try to remember what it all stands for.

The best acronyms are those that are related in some way to the thing being remembered.
Tennis rackets have nothing to do with explosive atmospheres and therefore I might still find
it difficult to remember the facts…but it will provide a prompt.

Let’s try a more complicated one. Here’s one for remembering 12 of the regulations
contained within the Control of Asbestos Regulations.

After deciding on the key letters I wanted to use I rearranged the letters and dreamt up a
fictitious gadget to keep the asbestos fibres from becoming airborne by damping them down.
It’s called a…

“DAMP DRIPLINE”

D – Designated areas
A – Air monitoring
M – Medical surveillance
P – Prevent or reduce exposures

D – Duty to manage asbestos

R – Risk Assessment
I – Identify Asbestos Containing Materials
P – Plan of work to be developed
L - Licensing requirements
I – Information and training
N - Notification of asbestos work
E – Emergency and accident arrangements

You will of course have noted that these duties are neither complete nor in the correct order
within the regulations. My aim was to be able to discuss a good range of duties not recite
them all in order. If this was the case can you think of how I might have developed this
further? (refer to earlier section called “Method of Loci” for a clue)

Using Pictures

Every heard the phrase “A picture paints a thousand words” ?

Images can conjure up a range of memories. The more vivid the image the better. The closer
it relates to the thing your trying to remember- the better.

I was recently helping my son to revise for his chemistry GCSE examinations and for each of
8 different substances he needed to discuss their properties, their uses and their
composition. This equated to learning approximately 6 facts for each one (48 facts!). We
broke each fact down and thought of an object or image to represent each one, then we
thought of how we could add all of the pictures together into a larger “scene” which would
represent the substance. Once all decided he drew them out carefully explaining what each
one meant, then went on to reproduce the pictures (and the facts) without reference. The
whole process took us about 40 minutes. Not easy at all, but he can now remember his facts.

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 Here’s a very simple example of how pictures can help to remember health and safety
related facts.

Use these images to help you remember the various pieces of no-smoking legislation
introduced into England and Wales in 2007.

EX

£
This is intended to be a theatrical stage. The stage represents an Act…in this case the
Health Act 2006.

The pictures provide a trigger for the title of each of the supporting regulations. They all start
with “Smoke-free” and end with the word “Regulations” so the tip is to try to remember the
middle bit only. This is what they mean:

The House / Jail means (Smoke free (Premises and Enforcement) Regulations)
The Vehicle with EX means (Smoke free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations)
The Vehicle with the goal means (Smoke free (vehicle operators and Penalty Notices)
Regulations)
The Prohibition Sign means (Smoke free (Signs) Regulations)
The Pound sign means (Smoke free (Penalties and discounted amounts) Regulations)

Now get practicing!!

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