Trade Practical Skills and Workshop Safety
Workshop discipline
Trade Practical Skills and Workshop Safety tests safe, correct use of tools, measurement, work procedure and emergency response. Marks are lost for unsafe habits as much as for wrong answers.
Core rules
- PPE: safety shoes, goggles, helmet, gloves, ear protection and dust mask-selected for the hazard, not worn blindly.
- Isolation: switch off, lock out and tag out, test for dead, then work. Never rely on a switch position alone.
- Hand tools: pull a spanner toward you rather than push; use a file with a handle; keep cutting edges sharp and stored separately.
- Housekeeping: 5S-sort, set in order, shine, standardise, sustain; keep walkways clear.
- Fire classes: A solids, B flammable liquids, C electrical and gas, D metals. Use CO₂ or dry powder on electrical fires; water conducts.
- First aid: stop bleeding with pressure, cool burns with clean running water, and do not apply oil or toothpaste.
Worked example
A panel catches fire while a machine is running. Correct sequence: raise the alarm, isolate the power at the main switch if safe, then use a CO₂ extinguisher aimed at the base of the fire, and evacuate if it spreads. Using water first is wrong because the panel may still be live; opening the panel wider is also wrong because it feeds oxygen.
Traps that cost marks
- Choosing water for an electrical or oil fire.
- Removing a machine guard to see better.
- Wearing loose clothing near a lathe or drill.
- Returning a damaged tool to the rack without tagging it.
- Assuming a switched-off machine is isolated without testing.