COSHEM study guide
COSHEM · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
COSHEM is a professional certification in occupational safety and health management. It is aimed at practitioners who must build, run and defend a safety and health programme rather than simply recite regulations: safety officers, HSE coordinators, operations and facility managers with safety responsibilities, and consultants advising employers. The COSHEM study guide has 10 sections and about 4,044 words.
01Occupational health and safety legislation, regulations and standards
This domain - OHS legislation, regulations and standards - tests whether you can find the legal duty behind a scenario, identify who owes it, and separate enforceable law from guidance. Questions commonly mix statutes, regulations, approved codes and consensus standards, then ask what the employer must do first.
429 words, about 2 min02Occupational health and safety management systems
This domain - OHS management systems - tests process thinking: how an organisation sets objectives, controls risk, checks performance and improves. Expect questions on ISO 45001 clause structure, the PDCA cycle, worker participation, contractors and management review.
400 words, about 2 min03Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
This domain - hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control - tests whether you can identify hazards before they cause harm, assess risk consistently, and select controls in the right order. Scenarios often ask for the next step, the residual risk, or the weakness in a proposed control.
428 words, about 2 min04Chemical and biological hazards
This domain - chemical and biological hazards - tests exposure routes, occupational exposure limits, control of substances and biological agents, and the use of SDS and monitoring. Questions often require a TWA calculation or identification of the weakest control.
429 words, about 2 min05Physical hazards (noise, vibration, thermal stress, radiation)
This domain - physical hazards including noise, vibration, thermal stress and radiation - tests the physics and health effects, action levels, exposure metrics and control selection. Expect noise dose calculations, vibration metrics and radiation protection principles.
436 words, about 2 min06Ergonomics and manual handling
This domain - ergonomics and manual handling - tests how work is fitted to people: posture, force, repetition, duration and recovery, and the assessment of manual handling and display screen work. Questions often ask whether a lifting task is acceptable or which control changes risk most.
412 words, about 2 min07Psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing
This domain - psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing - tests organisational causes of stress and mental ill health, psychosocial risk assessment, and controls that change work rather than blame individuals. Expect questions on bullying, violence, workload, job control and wellbeing programmes.
384 words, about 2 min08Incident investigation, reporting and emergency preparedness
This domain - incident investigation, reporting and emergency preparedness - tests the difference between incidents, accidents and near misses, the investigation process, root-cause analysis, corrective action and emergency planning. Questions often ask what to do first or why an investigation failed.
397 words, about 2 min09Health and safety training, communication and consultation
This domain - health and safety training, communication and consultation - tests how training needs are identified, how competence is built and verified, and how workers are consulted and informed. Expect questions on induction, refresher training, toolbox talks, barriers to communication and evaluation.
375 words, about 2 min10Monitoring, auditing and performance evaluation
This domain - monitoring, auditing and performance evaluation - tests how performance is measured, how monitoring differs from auditing, and how data drive improvement. Expect calculations of incident rates and questions on leading and lagging indicators.
354 words, about 2 min