Occupational Health and Safety and Housekeeping
What this domain covers
OHS and housekeeping questions test whether you can set up, work on and leave a scaffold site without endangering yourself, your mates or the public. In the Philippines the frame is RA 11058 and its IRR (DO 198-18) plus the construction safety guidelines in DO 13, s. 1998; the technical rules for the scaffold itself follow the project specification and the manufacturer's instructions.
Core rules
- PPE is the last line of defence, not the first. Hard hat with chin strap, safety shoes, gloves, hi-vis vest; full-body harness with double lanyard on an independent anchor when exposed to a fall (commonly from 1.8 m).
- Apply the hierarchy of control: eliminate the need to work at height, engineer it out with guardrails, toe boards, debris netting and fans over walkways, then administrate with barricades, signage, permits and toolbox talks.
- Housekeeping is continuous (5S): keep walkways, ladders and stairs clear; no offcuts or cement bags left on a platform; use rubbish chutes; never drop or throw material.
- Barricade the area below with "Men working above" signage, and check for excavations, overhead lines and public traffic before the first tube goes up.
Worked example
A 6 m scaffold is to be erected on a public sidewalk in front of a shop. Controls in order: time the work outside peak hours, install a fan and netting with toe boards over the walkway, barricade and sign the drop zone, brief the crew in a documented toolbox talk, and wear harnesses anchored to an independent lifeline - never to a guardrail or coupler.
Traps that cost marks
Answering "wear PPE" only; anchoring lanyards to the scaffold being erected; stacking planks on a platform; having no rescue plan for a fallen, suspended worker.