IOSH Working Safely common mistakes
IOSH Working Safely · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Treating the three-step hierarchy as 'spot the hazard, report it, forget it' and omitting the middle step of deciding who might be harmed and how, when answering questions about what a risk assessment actually involves.
Candidates memorise 'hazard' and 'control' but compress the process, because the word 'assessment' feels like a single act rather than a sequence of hazard identification, evaluation of harm and severity, and control.
What to do instead
Learn the working definition as five linked steps: identify the hazard, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risk and decide on precautions, record and implement, review and update. Practise writing all five for one workplace scenario, such as a wet warehouse floor, until the sequence is automatic.
Using 'hazard' and 'risk' interchangeably in scenario questions, for example answering that a trailing cable 'is a risk' rather than 'creates a risk of tripping'.
Everyday speech uses the words as synonyms, and the exam deliberately tests the distinction in short definition items and in longer scenario stems.
What to do instead
Fix the pairing in memory: a hazard is the thing with potential to cause harm (the cable, the chemical, the unguarded blade); risk is the chance, high or low, that somebody will be harmed by it, combined with how serious that harm could be. Rehearse three examples aloud, each phrased as 'X is a hazard because it could cause Y; the risk is higher when Z'.
Answering that the employer is solely responsible for safety, or that the individual worker has no duty, when asked who must act to control a hazard.
Candidates remember the headline duty on employers and overlook the parallel duty on workers to take reasonable care of themselves and others, follow training and report hazards.
What to do instead
Learn the duty as a two-way split: employer provides safe systems, training, equipment and supervision; worker follows them, uses PPE as instructed, reports defects and does not misuse equipment. For any 'who is responsible' item, check whether the option describes a shared duty before choosing an employer-only answer.
Selecting the most dramatic hazard in a scenario, such as a fire risk, while missing the everyday hazard the question is describing, such as a blocked walkway or poor housekeeping.
Candidates associate 'health and safety' with major incidents and underestimate how often the exam tests ordinary, high-frequency causes of injury like slips, trips and manual handling.
What to do instead
Before answering a scenario item, list the hazards actually named in the text and rank them by likelihood, not by severity alone. Remember that slips and trips are among the most common causes of workplace injury, so housekeeping, flooring and obstructions are frequent correct answers.
Classifying a hazard into the wrong family, for example calling noise or vibration an 'environmental' hazard rather than a physical one, or missing that stress and fatigue are health hazards.
The hazard categories overlap in everyday language, and candidates group by where the hazard occurs rather than by the type of harm it causes.
What to do instead
Learn four working groups with examples: physical (noise, vibration, electricity, temperature, radiation), chemical (solvents, dusts, fumes, gases), biological (bacteria, viruses, moulds, sharps), and ergonomic or psychosocial (manual handling, repetitive work, display screen use, stress, fatigue, violence). Sort a list of ten workplace items into these groups until it is quick.
Answering a control question with 'tell workers to be careful' or 'put up a warning sign' when a more reliable control such as elimination, substitution or engineering guarding is available.
Signs and instructions are visible and cheap, so candidates pick them as the obvious answer, missing that controls acting on the hazard itself are more reliable than those relying on human behaviour.
What to do instead
Rank controls from most to least reliable: eliminate the hazard, substitute something safer, use engineering controls such as guarding or ventilation, then safe systems of work and training, and finally PPE as a last resort. For each control option, ask 'does this remove the hazard, separate people from it, or just ask people to behave differently?'
Treating PPE as the first answer for a dust, fume or noise problem instead of recognising that PPE is the last line of defence and depends on correct fit and use.
PPE is the most familiar control and appears in many workplace images and procedures, so it feels like the default answer.
What to do instead
Learn the phrase 'PPE is the last resort' and be able to say why: it protects only the wearer, only while it is worn correctly, and it can fail. When a question asks for the best control of airborne dust, prefer extraction or substitution; choose PPE only when the question asks what the individual worker should wear or when higher controls are not reasonably practicable.
Choosing 'report it to a manager' as the complete response to a hazard, without also describing immediate action such as stopping work, isolating the area or making the situation safe.
Candidates learn reporting as the correct behaviour and treat it as sufficient, forgetting that the exam often asks what to do first or what immediate action is needed.
What to do instead
Use the sequence: make safe or stop the job if there is imminent danger, warn others, isolate or secure the area where possible, then report to the supervisor and record it. Check whether the question asks for the first action or the overall response, and answer accordingly.
Confusing the purposes of accident and incident reporting, answering that near misses need not be recorded because no one was hurt.
The word 'accident' implies injury, so candidates classify a near miss as unimportant and skip it, missing that near misses reveal failures before harm occurs.
What to do instead
Learn that an incident includes any undesired event, whether or not it caused injury: accidents cause harm, near misses do not but could have. The purpose of recording both is to find causes and prevent recurrence, so a near miss is a free warning. Expect questions asking why near misses are reported and answer in terms of prevention and identifying trends.
Giving vague answers about improving safety performance, such as 'be more aware' or 'have a positive culture', without naming a measurable mechanism like inspections, audits, training records, toolbox talks or monitoring of accident trends.
Culture and attitude language is easy to recall but the exam rewards specific, checkable activities that show whether controls are working.
What to do instead
Build a list of concrete performance measures: routine workplace inspections, safety audits, statutory examinations of equipment, induction and refresher training, toolbox talks, near-miss and accident statistics reviewed over time, and consultation with workers. For each, be ready to say what it measures and how it would reveal a failing control.