COSHEM study plan
COSHEM · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 7 hours per week
Occupational health and safety legislation, regulations and standards & Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
Map the COSHM syllabus domain weightings onto a personal tracker so each domain has an allocated hour budget for the eight weeks.
Summarise the core duties placed on employers and workers under the applicable OHS statute, and explain the hierarchy of control with one worked example per control level.
Draft a one-page comparison of the roles of regulations versus approved codes of practice versus consensus standards in setting legal duties.
Practise 30 scenario questions on hazard identification and risk assessment, and log every wrong answer with the reason it was wrong.
Your checkpoint
A two-page legislation-and-risk-control summary sheet plus a scored 30-question practice log with error reasons.
Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
Apply a five-step risk assessment method to three different fictional workplaces (a workshop, a warehouse, a laboratory) and rank the risks found.
Construct a risk matrix with defined likelihood and severity anchors, then justify each rating in writing.
Distinguish hazard, risk and residual risk using concrete examples, and identify when a risk assessment must be reviewed.
Write control recommendations for the top five risks you identified, stating the control level and the evidence you would use to verify effectiveness.
Your checkpoint
Three completed risk assessments with a populated risk matrix and a prioritised control action list.
Occupational health and safety management systems & Chemical and biological hazards
Describe the plan-do-check-act structure of an OHS management system and list the documented elements an auditor would expect to see.
Explain how a management system links policy, objectives, legal register and operational controls, using one worked example.
Classify chemical hazards by hazard class and explain how safety data sheets and labelling support risk control.
Outline the chain of infection and the controls used for biological hazards in a non-healthcare workplace.
Your checkpoint
A one-page management-system element map plus a hazard-classification table covering at least eight chemical and biological agents.
Physical hazards (noise, vibration, thermal stress, radiation) & Ergonomics and manual handling
Calculate noise exposure metrics from given measurement data and determine whether action values are exceeded.
Explain the health effects of hand-arm and whole-body vibration and state the control measures for each.
Describe the body's response to heat and cold stress and name the indices used to assess thermal risk.
Apply a structured manual handling assessment to two lifting tasks and recommend ergonomic changes.
Identify the main types of occupational radiation and the basic principles of protection against each.
Your checkpoint
A physical-hazards calculation workbook with four worked exposure problems and two completed manual handling assessments.
Psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing & Incident investigation, reporting and emergency preparedness
Identify the main psychosocial hazard categories and describe how each can be assessed at organisational level.
Draft a workplace wellbeing intervention outline that links a hazard to a control, an owner and a success measure.
Explain the purpose and structure of an incident investigation and distinguish immediate causes from root causes.
Apply a causal-analysis technique to a written incident scenario and produce findings and recommendations.
Outline the components of an emergency plan and the reporting obligations that follow a serious incident.
Your checkpoint
A completed incident investigation report for the scenario, including a causal tree and five recommendations with owners.
Health and safety training, communication and consultation & Monitoring, auditing and performance evaluation
Design a training needs analysis that links required competencies to job roles and to identified risks.
Write measurable learning objectives and select an assessment method for each.
Explain the difference between leading and lagging indicators and give three examples of each.
Build a simple audit checklist against management-system clauses and describe how findings are graded.
Describe how consultation with workers and their representatives should be structured and recorded.
Your checkpoint
A training plan for one job role plus a 15-item audit checklist with grading criteria.
Occupational health and safety legislation, regulations and standards & Occupational health and safety management systems & Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control
Revisit the legal register and update it with any duties you misstated in earlier practice questions.
Re-test your weakest management-system element by writing a short gap analysis against it.
Complete a timed 60-question mixed set weighted to the heavy domains and record your score by domain.
Rewrite your error log into a condensed revision sheet of no more than two pages.
Your checkpoint
A domain-by-domain score report from the timed set plus a two-page condensed revision sheet.
Chemical and biological hazards & Physical hazards (noise, vibration, thermal stress, radiation) & Ergonomics and manual handling & Psychosocial hazards and workplace wellbeing & Incident investigation, reporting and emergency preparedness & Health and safety training, communication and consultation & Monitoring, auditing and performance evaluation
Run two full-length timed mock exams under exam conditions and record scores by domain.
Review every incorrect answer from the mocks and confirm you can state the correct reasoning without notes.
Recite the key formulas, action values and definitions from memory in a single self-test.
Finalise a one-page exam-day strategy covering question order, time per question and how to handle uncertain items.
Your checkpoint
Two completed mock exam score sheets with a final one-page exam-day strategy.
Milestones
Week 2: You can complete a risk assessment unaided, justify each risk rating in writing, and correctly assign a control level to every recommendation.
Week 4: You score at least 70% on a self-made 20-question set drawn from domains 1, 3, 5 and 6, and your noise and manual handling calculations are correct.
Week 6: You can explain, without notes, the difference between leading and lagging indicators and name the documented elements of an OHS management system.
Week 8: Both full mock exams are complete, every domain score is recorded, and no domain sits below 60% on the second mock.