Occupational Health and Safety and Environmental Protection
Core concepts
You must know hazard identification, risk assessment (likelihood × severity), and the hierarchy of control: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administer, then PPE as the last line. Understand routes of exposure - inhalation, skin contact, eye splash, ingestion. Know the purpose of Safety Data Sheets (SDS) and the correct handling, labelling, dilution, and storage of chemicals. Electrical safety (no wet hands, damaged cords tagged out), slip and fall prevention, safe manual handling, and fire safety (extinguisher types, evacuation routes) are commonly examined. Environmental protection includes waste segregation, correct disposal of sharps and chemical waste, energy and water conservation, and safe storage to prevent spills.
Traps in questions
- Placing PPE first in the hierarchy - PPE is the last control, not the first.
- Thinking an SDS is optional; it must be accessible for every hazardous product.
- Forgetting to report incidents and near-misses, not just injuries.
- Confusing disinfection with sterilisation (see Domain 3).
- Assuming a signed form removes the duty of care - it does not.
Worked example / rule of thumb
A bottle of diluted product is unlabelled. Correct action: stop use, do not guess contents, dispose of or relabel only if identity is certain, and report to the supervisor. Rule of thumb: if you can't identify it, you can't safely use it - label everything at the point of decanting.
Key terms to recognise
Risk matrix, hierarchy of control, SDS, PPE, incident report, near-miss, spill kit, waste segregation, ergonomics.