ISPON HSE Level 2 cheat sheet

Hazard = any source or situation with potential to cause harm; risk = the likelihood that harm occurs combined with its severity.

Accident = unplanned event that caused or could have caused injury, damage or loss; a near miss is the same event with no actual loss.

Hierarchy of control, most to least reliable: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, PPE.

Heinrich ratio: for every 1 serious injury there are about 29 minor injuries and 300 no-injury incidents; Bird's triangle is 1:10:30:600.

Health, safety and environment covers three receptors: people (health and safety), plant/process (asset loss) and the environment.

ALARP means risk is reduced as low as reasonably practicable; further control is required unless its cost is grossly disproportionate to the benefit.

Direct accident costs (medical, compensation, repair) are usually exceeded by indirect costs (lost time, retraining, replacement, reputation, morale).

Safety culture maturity commonly moves from reactive to dependent to independent to interdependent (Bradley curve).

Competence = the combination of training, knowledge, skill and experience needed to perform a task safely and unaided.

Factories Act (now Cap F1, LFN 2004) sets duties on factory occupiers for safety, health and welfare, requires registration and accident notification, and is enforced by the Factories Inspectorate of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Employee's Compensation Act 2010, administered by NSITF, provides compensation for work-related injury, disability or death and replaced the Workmen's Compensation Act.

NESREA Act 2007 established the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, which enforces environmental standards, permits and effluent/emission regulations in most sectors.

Environmental Impact Assessment Act No. 86 of 1992 requires an EIA before approval of projects likely to cause significant environmental effects.

Petroleum Industry Act 2021 splits regulation between NUPRC (upstream) and NMDPRA (midstream/downstream); NOSDRA retains oil spill response and notification duties.

Other Nigerian bodies: NISCN (National Industrial Safety Council of Nigeria), NAFDAC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority, ISPON (professional institute).

ILO Convention C155 (Occupational Safety and Health, 1981) requires a national policy, employer duties and worker participation; C161 covers occupational health services.

International management standards: ISO 45001:2018 (OH&S), ISO 14001:2015 (environment), ISO 9001:2015 (quality); OHSAS 18001 was withdrawn in 2021.

Other reference regimes: UK Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and COSHH 2002; US OSHA 29 CFR 1910; UN GHS for chemical classification and labelling.

Hazard types to screen for: physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, psychosocial, mechanical, electrical and environmental.

Risk score = likelihood × severity, plotted on a matrix (commonly 5×5) to rank risk as low, medium, high or extreme against defined acceptance criteria.

The five assessment steps: identify hazards; decide who may be harmed and how; evaluate risk and controls; record significant findings; review and update.

Residual risk is the risk remaining after controls; work may only proceed where residual risk meets the organisation's acceptability criteria or is ALARP.

Techniques: job safety analysis, HAZOP, FMEA, fault tree analysis, bow-tie, what-if analysis, checklists and workplace inspections.

Engineering controls require verification - for example local exhaust ventilation examination and test at least every 14 months under UK COSHH practice.

A dynamic risk assessment is carried out at the point of work when conditions change; every worker has stop-work authority.

The risk register records hazard, exposed persons, existing and additional controls, risk owner, residual rating and review date.

Exposure limits: TLV-TWA averages exposure over an 8-hour shift; TLV-STEL is a 15-minute average (max 4 per day); ceiling limits must never be exceeded.

Routes of entry for workplace substances: inhalation, ingestion, skin absorption and injection (needlestick, high-pressure).

Noise: 85 dB(A) 8-hour TWA is the usual action level for hearing protection and audiometry; a 3 dB increase halves the permitted exposure time; 140 dB(C) peak is the upper limit.

Classic diseases: respirable crystalline silica → silicosis; asbestos → asbestosis, mesothelioma, lung cancer; coal dust → coal workers' pneumoconiosis; cotton dust → byssinosis.

Chemical effects: carbon monoxide binds haemoglobin; hydrogen sulphide causes olfactory fatigue above about 100 ppm; benzene is a leukaemia risk; lead causes anaemia and neuropathy.

Occupational diseases typically have long latency and are reportable/notifiable in the same way as serious injuries.

Health surveillance includes pre-employment, periodic and exit examinations, audiometry, spirometry, biological monitoring and skin checks.

Industrial hygiene cycle: anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control; control options include substitution, LEV, dilution ventilation, wet methods and RPE.

Ergonomic hazards cause work-related musculoskeletal disorders; controls include mechanical aids, correct working height, job rotation and VDU breaks.

PPE is the last line of defence because it protects only the wearer, depends on correct fit and use, and fails without warning.

Common certification marks: EN 397/ANSI Z89.1 (helmets), EN 166 (eye), EN 388 (mechanical gloves), EN 374 (chemical gloves), EN ISO 20345 (safety footwear), EN 361 (full body harness).

Tight-fitting respirators need a user seal check at every donning and a formal fit test; facial hair at the sealing surface invalidates the fit.

SCBA or supplied-air breathing apparatus is required in IDLH atmospheres or where oxygen is below 19.5% by volume; escape sets are for escape only.

Fall protection: full body harness with shock-absorbing lanyard, anchorage capable of 22 kN or 2× the potential free-fall, 100% tie-off and a rescue plan.

Tool and plant rules: pre-use inspection, colour-coded inspection tags, correct tool for the task, guards in place, defective items tagged out of service.

Abrasive wheels must run below their marked maximum speed, with the guard fitted; grinding on the side of a cutting wheel is prohibited.

Portable electrical tools on site should be 110 V centre-tapped-to-earth or protected by a 30 mA RCD; damaged leads are removed from service.

Lifting equipment must be marked with its safe working load and inspected by a competent person at statutory intervals.

The fire tetrahedron requires fuel, oxygen, heat and the chemical chain reaction; removing any one element extinguishes combustion.

Fire classes: A = solids, B = flammable liquids, C = flammable gases, D = combustible metals, F = cooking oils and fats; electrical fires are de-energised rather than classed separately.

Extinguisher selection: water for class A, foam for A and B, CO2 for B and electrical, dry powder for A, B and C, wet chemical for class F.

Use the PASS sequence - Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side - and keep an escape route behind you.

Key flammability terms: flash point (ignitable vapour), fire point (vapour sustains burning), auto-ignition temperature, and LFL/UFL define the flammable range.

Hot work controls: remove combustibles within about 15 m, use a trained fire watch during work and for at least 30–60 minutes after, and gas-test where required.

Fire detection devices are selected by expected fire signature: smoke, heat, flame or gas detection; alarms must be audible above ambient noise and plant alarms.

Evacuation requires marked routes, fire doors kept closed, nominated assembly points, roll call and headcount reconciliation.

Flammable liquids need bonded and earthed dispensing, ventilation, approved containers and separation from ignition sources.

Primary survey DRABC: Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing, Circulation - treat immediate life threats before any secondary assessment.

Adult CPR: 30 compressions at 100–120 per minute, depth 5–6 cm, followed by 2 rescue breaths; attach an AED as soon as it arrives and follow prompts.

Burns: cool with running water for at least 20 minutes, remove jewellery and loose clothing, do not apply ice or ointments, cover with cling film or a sterile non-adherent dressing.

Chemical eye splash: irrigate with clean water or eyewash for at least 15–20 minutes, holding the eyelid open, then seek medical attention.

Choking adult: give up to 5 sharp back blows, then up to 5 abdominal thrusts, alternating until the obstruction clears.

Severe bleeding is controlled by direct pressure and elevation; a tourniquet is a last resort. For shock, lay the casualty flat, raise the legs and keep them warm.

START triage sorts casualties into Immediate, Delayed, Minor and Deceased using respiration, perfusion and mental status - assessment only, no treatment at the triage point.

Emergency response plan components: emergency contacts and alarm levels, roles and responsibilities, muster points, evacuation routes, mutual aid, drills and post-drill review.

Confined space rescue must be planned before entry, with non-entry rescue preferred and rescuers wearing SCBA; untrained bystanders must not enter.

Injury classification ladder: first aid case, medical treatment case, restricted work case, lost time injury, permanent disability, fatality.

LTIFR = (number of lost time injuries × 1,000,000) ÷ total hours worked; TRIR commonly uses a 200,000-hour (100-employee-year) base.

Incident investigation sequence: secure and preserve the scene, gather physical and documentary evidence, interview witnesses separately, build a timeline, identify immediate and root causes, recommend and track actions.

Root cause analysis tools: 5 Whys, fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram, fault tree analysis, events and causal factors charting, bow-tie.

Immediate causes are unsafe acts and unsafe conditions; root causes are the underlying management-system failures (training, design, supervision, procedures, purchasing).

Human failure is classified as error (slip, lapse, mistake) or violation (routine, situational, exceptional); blame-focused reporting suppresses future reporting.

Reports must state who, what, when, where, how, consequences, immediate actions taken and notifications made; notification timelines to regulators apply.

The Swiss cheese model explains accidents as alignment of holes in multiple defensive layers rather than a single failure.

Recording systems: internal incident register, statutory registers for reportable incidents and occupational diseases, and injury frequency/severity statistics for trend analysis.

Environmental aspect = an element of activity, product or service that interacts with the environment; impact = the resulting change. Significance is scored by severity, likelihood and scale.

Waste hierarchy, most to least preferred: prevention, reuse, recycling, recovery (including energy), disposal.

Segregation at source is the basis of waste control; containers are colour-coded and labelled, and hazardous waste moves under a manifest (cradle-to-grave tracking).

Pollution media to monitor: air (SOx, NOx, particulates, VOCs, flaring), water (BOD, COD, oil and grease, pH), soil and noise.

EIA process under the EIA Act 1992 covers screening, scoping, baseline studies, impact prediction, mitigation, environmental management plan and public participation.

Oil spill response: stop the source, notify NOSDRA, contain with booms, recover with skimmers/absorbents, restrict dispersant use to approved areas, then remediate.

NESREA standards and permits govern effluent discharge, air emissions, noise limits and waste handling; non-compliance attracts sanctions.

Monitoring tools include stack emission testing, effluent sampling, groundwater wells, noise surveys, and environmental audits against the environmental management plan.

Greenhouse gas control measures: energy efficiency, flaring reduction, leak detection and repair, and carbon footprint accounting.

ISO 45001:2018 clauses: 4 context of the organisation, 5 leadership and worker participation, 6 planning, 7 support, 8 operation, 9 performance evaluation, 10 improvement.

The continual improvement engine is PDCA - Plan, Do, Check, Act - and applies equally to ISO 45001 and ISO 14001.

Core system elements: HSE policy signed by top management, hazard identification and risk assessment, legal and other requirements register, objectives and programmes, operational control, emergency preparedness, competence and training, communication, document control.

Leading indicators (inspections, training hours, near-miss reports, audit closure) predict performance; lagging indicators (injury rates, spills, lost time) record outcomes already achieved.

Assurance layers: daily supervision, monthly inspections, internal audits, external certification audits and management review at planned intervals.

Contractor management: pre-qualification, HSE bridging document, interface risk assessment, supervision, permit alignment, performance review.

Nonconformities require correction, root cause analysis, corrective action and verification of effectiveness; findings feed the next management review.

ISO management systems share the harmonised high-level structure, enabling integration of quality (9001), environment (14001) and OH&S (45001).

Common permit types: hot work, cold work, confined space entry, excavation, electrical isolation, working at height, lifting operations and radiological work.

Permit flow: request → risk assessment/JSA → isolation and gas test → authorisation by the area authority → issue → work within validity → handover → close-out and records.

A permit is time-limited (typically one shift, up to about 12 hours), displayed at the worksite, and cancelled immediately if conditions change.

Isolation standard: identify all energy sources, isolate, lock and tag, dissipate stored energy, then verify by attempting to start (try-out).

Confined space entry criteria: oxygen 19.5–23.5%, flammable gas below 10% LEL, toxic gases (e.g. H2S below 5 ppm, CO below 25 ppm), continuous monitoring, trained entrants, standby attendant and rescue plan.

Excavation controls: locate buried services before digging, support or batter sides beyond about 1.2 m, provide ladder access, keep spoil back from the edge, gas-test deep excavations.

Work at height controls: guardrails and toe boards preferred, harness with 100% tie-off where fall arrest is used, exclusion zone beneath, no work in unsafe wind conditions.

Before any permitted job, a toolbox talk confirms scope, hazards, controls, roles and emergency arrangements; SIMOPS must be coordinated between permit holders.

Critical lifts require an approved lifting plan, certified equipment, a banksman and a defined exclusion zone.

Safety sign conventions (ISO 7010): red circle = prohibition, blue circle = mandatory action, yellow triangle = warning, green square = safe condition/first aid, red square = fire equipment.

Behaviour-based safety cycle: observe behaviour, intervene and give feedback, record data, analyse trends, reinforce safe behaviour and remove barriers to it.

ABC model: Antecedents trigger behaviour, Consequences determine whether the behaviour is repeated; positive reinforcement is more effective than punishment.

Safety culture stages on the Bradley curve: reactive, dependent, independent, interdependent; measured through climate surveys and reporting rates.

Training cycle: training needs analysis → design and objectives → delivery → evaluation; Kirkpatrick's four levels are reaction, learning, behaviour and results.

Induction must cover site rules, principal hazards, emergency arrangements, PPE requirements, incident and near-miss reporting, and welfare facilities, with attendance recorded.

Toolbox talks are short (about 5–15 minutes), task-specific, two-way and documented; they are not a substitute for formal training.

Communication barriers include language, literacy, jargon, noise and fear of blame; pictograms and local-language delivery improve understanding.

Workers must be consulted on HSE matters and have the right to refuse work they reasonably believe is unsafe.