Safety and Work Procedure
Safety and Work Procedure tests the permit-and-control discipline used in industrial construction, erection and maintenance. The exam expects you to identify the hazard, apply the hierarchy of controls, and follow written isolation and work-permit steps rather than rely on experience alone.
Core rules and concepts
- Permit to Work (PTW) authorises defined work after hazards are assessed; it is not a substitute for isolation.
- Lockout–tagout: isolate all energy sources, lock, tag, release stored energy, and verify zero energy. For electrical work, use a proved tester: test on a known live source, test the conductor, then re-test the tester.
- Confined space entry requires gas testing for oxygen, flammable gas and toxic gas, ventilation, standby person and rescue plan.
- Height work requires inspected scaffolding, guardrails, harness anchored above, and a dropped-object plan.
- Fire triangle: fuel, oxygen, heat. Match extinguisher to fire class; never use water on live electrical equipment.
- Report near-misses and incidents; preserve the scene and follow the emergency plan.
Worked example
A two-leg sling carries a 10 kN load with a 60° included angle between legs. Each leg tension = W/(2 cos 30°) = 10/(2×0.866) = 5.77 kN. If the included angle opens to 120°, each leg tension = 10/(2 cos 60°) = 10 kN. The reasoning shows why sling angle matters: a wider angle increases leg tension for the same load.
Traps
Assuming a switched-off breaker means dead; bypassing a permit to save time; using the wrong fire extinguisher on an electrical fire; entering a confined space without continuous gas monitoring; and trusting PPE as the only control when isolation or engineering controls are required.