Safe Use of Tools, Plant and Equipment
Hand tools, power tools and plant cause a large share of serious site injuries, and almost all of them are avoidable. This domain tests whether you know the conditions for using equipment legally and safely: training, authorisation, pre-use checks, guarding and segregation.
Tools
- Be competent, trained and authorised by your employer before use.
- Pre-use check: guards, leads, plugs, casing, sharpness. Tag out defective tools and report them.
- Guards are never removed or wedged back. Use the correct blade or disc for the material and the tool's rated speed.
- Site power: 110V centre-tapped earth or battery tools; 230V only through an RCD and only where the site permits it.
- Isolate before changing discs or blades and before clearing blockages.
- Abrasive wheels and cartridge-operated tools need specific training.
Plant and vehicles
- Only trained, authorised operators holding a valid SOLAS/CSCS plant card; never 'just move it a few feet'.
- Segregated routes, one-way systems, exclusion zones and trained vehicle marshals; never stand in a blind spot or under a suspended load.
- Keys out when parked; quick-hitch and reversing checks are part of the routine.
Worked example
A mini-digger must track past a pedestrian route on a tight site. Correct controls: the operator stops and acknowledges the marshal, pedestrians are held at the barrier until the machine has passed, a one-way route and wider segregated walkway are agreed, and a banksman controls the blind-side slew. A hi-vis vest does not make a pedestrian visible enough to justify sharing the route.
Traps
Using an angle grinder without its guard 'for a second'; assuming any card from any source is accepted on site; working under a raised load; using a 230V tool with a damaged or missing RCD.
Key rule
If you are not trained, not authorised, or not sure - stop and ask. That is always the mark-scoring answer.