Workplace safety, 5S, and environmental regulations
Workplace safety, 5S, and environmental regulations questions test whether you can identify and control hazards before and during mechatronic maintenance, and whether you can keep the work area and waste streams compliant. Expect scenarios involving lockout/tagout, compressed air, chemicals, housekeeping, and waste segregation rather than definitions alone.
Core rules
- Apply the hierarchy of controls: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, then PPE. PPE is the last line, not the first step.
- For LOTO, notify affected workers, shut down, isolate every energy source, apply lock and tag, release stored energy, and verify zero energy. On a pneumatic press, isolate and lock the air supply, bleed residual pressure at the drain, and block any gravity-loaded member.
- 5S means seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardize), shitsuke (sustain). Shadow boards, floor markings, and min/max labels are visual controls, not decoration.
- Keep SDS accessible; segregate used oil, solvent, batteries, and e-waste; use the spill kit; never pour chemicals into a floor drain. In the Philippines, RA 6969 governs toxic substances and hazardous waste.
Worked example
A technician services a pneumatic clamping press. The correct sequence is: inform production, stop and isolate the electrical supply, lock and tag, isolate the air supply, lock that valve, bleed the receiver and cylinder lines, verify the gauge reads zero, and insert a mechanical block before reaching into the clamp. Used absorbent from a hydraulic seep is bagged and labeled as hazardous waste. The reasoning is that locking without dissipating stored air still leaves a crush hazard.
Traps
Treating 5S as one-time cleaning; relying on a tag without a lock; assuming a closed valve has isolated pressure; mixing hazardous waste with general refuse; selecting PPE before eliminating the hazard. Each of these loses marks because it leaves a credible energy or exposure path.