CITB Specialist Supervisory Test

Sample question 1 · Supervisory

A supervisor spends part of each shift walking the job and checking the gang is still working to the agreed method. Which element of regulation 5(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 is he carrying out?

1. ACertification, which regulation 5(1) requires of a competent person
2. BConsultation, which regulation 5(1) lists as a separate sixth element
3. CNotification, which regulation 5(1) requires before every shift begins
4. DMonitoring, which regulation 5(1) lists alongside control and reviewCorrect answer

Why D: Regulation 5(1) lists planning, organisation, control, monitoring and review. Checking that agreed measures are still being followed in practice is monitoring. Consultation is dealt with elsewhere in health and safety law and is not one of the five elements, and regulation 5 contains no notification or certification element.

Sample question 2 · Supervisory

Section 2(2)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 names four things an employer must provide so far as is reasonably practicable. What are they?

1. AWages, holiday entitlement, sick pay and a written employment contract
2. BInformation, instruction, training and supervision for the employeesCorrect answer
3. CHead protection, gloves, safety boots and eye protection free of charge
4. DSite induction, toolbox talk, written site rules and a permit to work

Why B: Section 2(2)(c) covers the provision of such information, instruction, training and supervision as is necessary to ensure health and safety at work. Supervision is written into the Act itself, which is why supervisory competence is a legal matter and not just good management. The other options list employment terms, equipment or site documents.

Sample question 3 · Supervisory

Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 sets out the employer's general duty to employees. How is that duty qualified?

1. ABy the words so far as is reasonably practicable, not absolutelyCorrect answer
2. BBy a fixed safety budget agreed with the client before work starts
3. CBy the number of workers employed on the site on any given working day
4. DBy whether the employer holds current employers liability insurance

Why A: Section 2(1) makes it the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees. That phrase allows the risk to be weighed against the cost, time and trouble of controlling it, but the balance must genuinely favour safety. Budget, headcount and insurance do not alter the standard.

Sample question 4 · Supervisory

Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 allows an individual to be prosecuted alongside the company. Which individuals does section 37(1) name?

1. AAny operative who happened to be working on the site on the day in question
2. BAny director, manager, secretary or similar officer of the body corporateCorrect answer
3. CAny safety representative elected by the workforce at that same workplace
4. DAny agency worker supplied to the company by an employment business

Why B: Section 37(1) reaches a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, and anyone purporting to act in such a capacity. Supervisory and management grades can fall within manager. Ordinary operatives, safety representatives and agency workers are not covered by section 37, though other duties still apply to them.

Sample question 5 · Supervisory

A supervisor is allocating tasks among his gang. What does regulation 13(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 require to be taken into account?

1. AThe number of hours each operative worked during the preceding week
2. BThe rate of pay agreed for each trade under the working rule agreement
3. CThe order in which the contract programme lists the various activities
4. DThe capabilities of those employees as regards health and safetyCorrect answer

Why D: Regulation 13(1) requires an employer, in entrusting tasks to employees, to take into account their capabilities as regards health and safety. For a supervisor this means matching the job to the person's training, experience and physical fitness rather than simply to who is free. Pay rates, programme order and last week's hours are not the test.

Sample question 6 · Supervisory

Regulation 7(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires the appointment of one or more competent persons. What is the role of such a person?

1. ATo assist the employer in taking the measures needed to comply with the lawCorrect answer
2. BTo sign off the risk assessments on behalf of the relevant enforcing authority
3. CTo take over the employer's own legal duties for the whole project
4. DTo act as the site first aider whenever the appointed person is absent

Why A: Regulation 7(1) requires competent persons to be appointed to assist the employer in undertaking the measures needed to comply with the relevant statutory provisions. The word is assist: the legal duty stays with the employer and cannot be handed over. A competent person has no first aid role by virtue of regulation 7 and does not act for the regulator.

Sample question 7 · Supervisory

Regulation 10(1) of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 covers the information an employer gives employees. What two qualities must it have?

1. AIt must be in writing and countersigned by a director of the firm's board
2. BIt must be comprehensible to them and relevant to their own situationCorrect answer
3. CIt must be translated into at least three commonly spoken languages
4. DIt must be displayed on a notice board at the main entrance to the site

Why B: Regulation 10(1) requires employers to provide comprehensible and relevant information on the risks identified by the assessment and the preventive and protective measures, among other things. Comprehensible is the practical test a supervisor should apply when briefing a gang, including anyone whose first language is not English. The regulation does not prescribe a format, a fixed number of languages or a notice board.

Sample question 8 · Supervisory

A supervisor is issued with a method statement setting out how a lift will be carried out. Which duty in CDM 2015 regulation 15 does working to it, and checking that others do, most directly support?

1. AThe contractor's duty to plan, manage and monitor the construction workCorrect answer
2. BThe contractor's duty to appoint a principal designer for the project
3. CThe contractor's duty to notify the project to the enforcing authority
4. DThe contractor's duty to prepare and hold the health and safety file

Why A: Regulation 15(2) requires a contractor to plan, manage and monitor construction work carried out by the contractor or by workers under their control, so that so far as is reasonably practicable it is done without risks to health and safety. A method statement is a common way of recording the plan, and supervising against it is the manage and monitor part. The health and safety file, appointments and notification sit with other duty holders.

Sample question 9 · Supervisory

Work has started and site conditions have changed since the construction phase plan was written. What does regulation 12(4) of CDM 2015 require of the principal contractor?

1. ATo replace it with a method statement once the groundworks are complete
2. BTo lock it away unchanged so the original version stays on the record
3. CTo send a fresh copy to the enforcing authority before work restarts
4. DTo review, update and revise it so it remains sufficient for the workCorrect answer

Why D: Regulation 12(4) requires the principal contractor to ensure the construction phase plan is appropriately reviewed, updated and revised from time to time so that it continues to be sufficient to ensure the work is carried out without risks so far as is reasonably practicable. A plan frozen at day one quickly stops matching the job. Method statements sit under the plan and do not replace it.

Sample question 10 · Supervisory

Under the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations 1977, what triggers an employer's duty to establish a safety committee, and by when must it exist?

1. AA majority vote of the workforce taken at a properly convened meeting
2. BA written request by two safety representatives, met within three monthsCorrect answer
3. CA direction issued by an inspector following a routine visit to the site
4. DThe site headcount passing one hundred operatives at any point in time

Why B: Regulation 9(1) prescribes the case as one where at least two safety representatives ask the employer in writing to establish a safety committee. Regulation 9(2)(c) then requires the committee to be established not later than three months after that request. Workforce ballots, inspector directions and headcount thresholds are not the statutory trigger.