Trade Safety, Health and Environment
What is tested
This domain checks whether you can identify workshop hazards and choose the correct control before work starts. Expect PPE selection, machine guarding, safe jacking, fuel and chemical handling, electrical safety, fire response, first aid and waste disposal. Questions often ask for the first action, not the final repair.
Core rules
- Match PPE to the task: safety glasses for grinding, face shield for cutting, hearing protection near running engines, and no gloves near rotating shafts or PTOs.
- Isolate energy before adjusting belts, fans or linkages; lower raised implements, switch off the engine, remove the key and relieve hydraulic pressure.
- Jack only on firm ground and support with axle stands; never work under a machine held only by a jack.
- Store fuel and oil in labelled containers away from ignition sources; clean spills immediately with absorbent, not by washing into drains.
- Use the right extinguisher: foam or dry powder for fuel, CO2 for electrical, never water on live electrical equipment or burning fuel.
- Ventilate for exhaust gas; carbon monoxide is odourless and can kill in a closed shed.
Worked example
A 20-litre diesel spill occurs in a workshop. The correct sequence is: stop the source if safe, warn people and remove ignition sources, ventilate the area, contain the spill with absorbent or a bund, avoid washing it into a drain, place used absorbent in a labelled hazardous-waste container, and report the incident. The reasoning is that diesel is flammable and pollutes water; dilution or dry sweeping spreads the hazard.
Traps
Wearing gloves while clearing a rotating shaft, using water on a fuel fire, leaving a raised loader unsupported, and blocking emergency exits with parts. Also, a CO2 extinguisher is not the first choice for a person's clothing fire; use water or a blanket and get medical help.