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CITB Practice Test

COSHH Questions

By the CITB Practice Test Team. Checked against legislation.gov.uk and hse.gov.uk, 28 October 2026.

CITB COSHH questions test whether you know how hazardous substances can harm you and how exposure is prevented or controlled, and the right answer puts prevention before protection.

Seven construction workers in hi-vis vests and hard hats standing on a concrete deck beside reinforcement mesh

COSHH is short for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, and our questions are built on them and on HSE guidance, including its advice on cement. Many questions ask you to spot the odd one out among control measures, or to say what a COSHH assessment must consider. A common trap: a safety data sheet tells you about a product, but it is not the COSHH assessment. Take the timed quiz below, then read the 10 sample questions further down, each with a worked explanation. Practise COSHH here, then try a full Operatives mock test before your CITB Operatives or Specialist test.

Start the COSHH quiz

The timed COSHH quiz draws from our full COSHH set and shows a worked explanation after every answer. The quiz is free: 1 quiz every 7 days without an account, or 30 a day with a free account once you confirm your email. A paid plan gives you unlimited topic quizzes.

Free practice quiz

COSHH practice quiz (timed)

questions
20
questions
minutes
30
minutes
to pass (90%)
18
to pass (90%)
  • Answers and explanations are shown at the end, with every question to review.
  • A fresh set of questions every attempt, drawn across CITB's five core knowledge areas.
  • About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
  • Every answer comes with a worked explanation.

Ready when you are

Find a quiet 30 minutes. The clock starts when you press start, and you see your score the moment you submit.

How do CITB COSHH questions usually ask it?

COSHH questions usually ask you to pick the odd one out, put controls in the right order, or say what a COSHH assessment must look at.

Question patternWhat it looks like, in our wordsWhat the right answer usually does
Odd one outFour items, three of which are ways to control exposure and one of which is not, often the safety data sheetPicks the item that only gives information: a data sheet feeds the assessment, it does not control exposure
Order of controlsWhere gloves and masks sit, or what comes first when exposure cannot be preventedPrevents exposure first, then uses work methods, engineering controls and control at source, with PPE last and on top of the rest
What the assessment coversA list of things, and you choose what the assessment must considerIncludes the substance's hazards, the supplier's information, the level, type and length of exposure, and how much of the substance is used

Watch the word "first" in a question. It usually points to prevention, such as a safer product or a safer form of it, not to PPE.

Which law and guidance are COSHH questions based on?

Our COSHH questions are built mainly on the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, with HSE guidance for how the rules apply to cement, skin and everyday products.

Law or guidanceWhat the questions take from it
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002The assessment needed before work starts, the duty to prevent or control exposure, the order of controls, and the information and training you must be given
HSE INDG136, Working with substances hazardous to health: A brief guide to COSHHHow to read a safety data sheet, how substances get into the body, and the order for choosing controls, from a safer product down to PPE
HSE, Construction hazardous substances: CementWhy wet cement burns and causes dermatitis, and the controls HSE lists, such as pre-mixed products, waterproof gloves, boots and washing
HSE INDG233, Preventing contact dermatitis and urticaria at workAvoiding skin contact where possible, and the first signs of dermatitis

Cement powder also irritates the lungs, and HSE says dust from cutting or drilling dried concrete and mortar can cause more serious lung disease. Dust, masks and face fit testing have their own set in Respiratory Hazards Questions.

COSHH sample questions with worked explanations

Here are 10 COSHH practice questions, each with the answer and a worked explanation.

Sample question 1 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

How does COSHH say prevention should preferably be achieved?

  1. By reducing the number of hours the employees spend on the task
  2. By fitting local exhaust ventilation over the point of release
  3. By issuing respiratory protective equipment with a high protection factor
  4. By substitution, replacing the substance or process with a safer oneCorrect answer

Why D: Regulation 7(2) states that substitution shall by preference be undertaken, avoiding the use of the hazardous substance by replacing it with a substance or process that eliminates or reduces the risk.

Sample question 2 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

Which of these must a COSHH risk assessment consider?

  1. The hazardous properties and the supplier's safety data sheet informationCorrect answer
  2. Only whether a workplace exposure limit has been set for the substance
  3. Only the quantity of the substance that is kept in the site store
  4. Only the number of employees who will be present in the work area

Why A: Regulation 6(2) lists hazardous properties and information on health effects provided by the supplier, including any relevant safety data sheet, as the first two considerations.

Sample question 3 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

What does principle (h) of the principles of good practice require?

  1. That control measures are reviewed by an external consultant annually
  2. That control measures do not increase the overall risk to health and safetyCorrect answer
  3. That control measures are chosen by the employees who will use them
  4. That control measures are recorded in writing before work commences

Why B: Principle (h) guards against solving one problem by creating another, for example sealing an area for dust control and creating an oxygen-deficient or heat-stress hazard.

Sample question 4 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

What is a safety data sheet used for on site?

  1. It records which employees have handled the substance, and on what dates
  2. It gives supplier information on hazards, health effects and handlingCorrect answer
  3. It is the employer's written COSHH assessment for that substance
  4. It certifies that the substance has been approved for use in the UK

Why B: Regulation 6(2)(b) treats the safety data sheet as supplier information feeding the assessment. It is an input to the COSHH assessment, not the assessment itself.

Sample question 5 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

COSHH requires the number of employees exposed to be what?

  1. Recorded in a register that is kept for forty years after the work
  2. Reported to the enforcing authority before the work is started
  3. Reduced to the minimum required for the work being carried outCorrect answer
  4. Increased so that the individuals spend less time on the task

Why C: Regulation 7(4)(c) requires reducing to the minimum required for the work the number of employees subject to exposure, along with the level and duration of exposure.

Sample question 6 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

Silica dust is created by cutting paving. Which COSHH duty applies first?

  1. Issue the operatives with disposable dust masks before any cutting starts
  2. Place all cutting operatives under immediate health surveillance
  3. Prevent the exposure if reasonably practicable, for example by ordering to sizeCorrect answer
  4. Measure the airborne concentration before any cutting is carried out

Why C: Regulation 7(1) and 7(2) put prevention and substitution first. Buying units cut to size, or using a different material or process, removes the exposure rather than managing it.

Sample question 7 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

Under principle (g), who must be informed and trained?

  1. Only those supervisors who directly manage work with hazardous substances
  2. Only new starters during their first full week on the construction site
  3. All employees, on the hazards and risks and on the control measuresCorrect answer
  4. Only those employees who are under health surveillance already

Why C: Principle (g) requires all employees to be informed and trained on the hazards and risks from the substances they work with and on the use of the control measures.

Sample question 8 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

Waste containing a hazardous substance is produced. What does COSHH require?

  1. It may be disposed of with general site waste once it has dried out
  2. Arrangements for its safe handling, storage and transport are requiredCorrect answer
  3. It must be returned to the supplier who provided the original substance
  4. It falls outside COSHH because waste is covered by other regulations

Why B: Regulation 7(4)(a) expressly extends the safe handling, storage and transport arrangements to waste containing substances hazardous to health.

Sample question 9 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

The COSHH assessment must consider the circumstances of the work, including what?

  1. The names of the workers who will be present throughout the activity
  2. The amount of the hazardous substance that is involved in the workCorrect answer
  3. The insurance cover held by the main contractor carrying out the work
  4. The programme dates on which the activity is currently due to take place

Why B: Regulation 6(2)(d) requires the circumstances of the work, including the amount of the substance involved, to be considered. Quantity changes the risk.

Sample question 10 · Hazardous Substances (COSHH)

An employer provides PPE but gives no training on its use. Which duty is breached?

  1. None, because providing the equipment satisfies the COSHH duties
  2. Only the duty to keep records of the equipment that has been issued
  3. The duty to provide suitable and sufficient information and trainingCorrect answer
  4. Only the duty to carry out health surveillance on all of those exposed

Why C: Regulation 12(1) requires suitable and sufficient information, instruction and training, and principle (g) requires training on the use of the control measures developed.

Which COSHH answers catch people out?

Three COSHH answers catch people out: treating the data sheet as the assessment, starting with PPE, and forgetting that storage and waste are part of control.

A safety data sheet is not the COSHH assessment. The supplier writes the sheet about the product in general. Your employer's assessment applies it to this job, this amount, this length of exposure and these people, which the supplier cannot know. The sheet is one of the things the assessment must consider.

Prevention comes first, not PPE. The law says exposure must be prevented, and only where that is not reasonably practicable is it controlled instead. Even then, gloves, masks and other PPE come last, and they are used on top of the other controls, not in place of them.

Control is more than the order of priority. The regulations also require safe arrangements for handling, storing and moving hazardous substances, and for waste that contains them. So an answer about storage or disposal can be the right one for a question about control.

Where does COSHH sit in the CITB test?

COSHH is part of the core knowledge you practise for the CITB Operatives test. Every CITB Specialist test also includes core questions, so COSHH is worth practising for those papers as well.

COSHH FAQs

Is a safety data sheet the same as a COSHH assessment?

No. The safety data sheet is the supplier's information about the product, and the law lists it as one of the things your employer's COSHH assessment must consider before the work starts.

Are these the real CITB test questions?

No. These are practice questions written for this site, each tied to the law or HSE guidance it tests; CITB does not publish its test questions.