Health and Safety - Hygiene, First Aid and Workplace Hazard Control
This domain tests how you protect yourself and others: personal hygiene, nutrition and disease prevention, first aid for common injuries, use of PPE, fire and electrical safety, ergonomics and accident reporting.
Core practices
- Personal hygiene: hand washing with soap before eating and after using the toilet; clean uniform; covered hair and footwear where food or machinery is involved.
- First aid basics: cool a burn under running water for about 20 minutes, do not apply ice, oil or toothpaste; for a cut, apply pressure with a clean cloth; for a suspected fracture, immobilise and do not attempt to straighten the limb; for fainting, lay the person flat and raise the legs.
- Electric shock: switch off the supply first, use a dry non-conducting object to separate the person from the source, then call for help and begin CPR if the person is unresponsive and not breathing normally.
- Fire: use the PASS sequence - Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep - and never use water on electrical or oil fires; use CO₂ or dry powder.
- PPE: helmet, goggles, gloves, ear plugs, safety shoes, dust mask, chosen to match the hazard.
- Ergonomics: keep the load close to the body, bend the knees, avoid twisting while lifting.
Worked example
A co-worker touches a live wire and collapses. Reasoning order matters: (1) do not touch the person while the supply is on; (2) switch off the mains or trip the breaker; (3) if that is impossible, move the source with a dry wooden or plastic object; (4) call for emergency help; (5) check response and breathing, and start CPR if trained and the person is not breathing normally; (6) report the incident and record it.
Traps that cost marks
- Throwing water on an electrical or oil fire.
- Applying ice or oil to a fresh burn.
- Moving a casualty with a suspected spinal injury without need.
- Wearing the wrong PPE for the hazard.
- Leaving an accident unreported because “nothing serious happened”.