CITB SMSTS study guide
CITB SMSTS · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
SMSTS - the Site Management Safety Training Scheme - is a construction health, safety and environmental management course that sits within CITB's Site Safety Plus (SSP) family of courses. It is intended for people who manage or supervise construction work - site managers, agents, supervisors and others with day-to-day responsibility for the safety of those on site - and who therefore need a working command of both the legal framework and the practical controls expected of a site manager. The CITB SMSTS study guide has 5 sections and about 1,918 words.
01Legal and management framework, including CDM duties and roles
Start with the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974: section 2 (employers to employees), 3 (others affected), 4 (premises), 6 (articles and substances), 7 (employees' own duties) and 37 (offences by directors where consent, connivance or neglect is proved).
406 words, about 2 min02Site management responsibilities for health, safety and welfare
The site manager runs the site for the principal contractor, but the legal duties stay with the organisations. In practice the role is: provide welfare, induct and train, supervise, monitor, coordinate and consult.
353 words, about 2 min03Risk assessment, method statements and safe systems of work
Under MHSWR 1999 a risk assessment must identify the significant hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate the risk and the adequacy of existing controls, record the significant findings (mandatory at five or more employees) and set a review date. "Suitable and sufficient" does not mean long: it means all significant risks are addressed, it is proportionate to the activity, and trivial risks are ignored.
404 words, about 2 min04Occupational health, hazardous substances and accident reporting
These are slow, invisible, often irreversible effects - expect questions where the "accident" is really a disease. Under COSHH 2002: assess before starting, prevent or substitute first, control by engineering then RPE, monitor exposure, and provide health surveillance where residual risk remains.
349 words, about 2 min05High-risk construction activities and their control
Work at Height Regulations 2005 set the order: avoid work at height where possible, prevent falls where it cannot be avoided (collective protection - guardrails, scaffolds, nets, platforms), and minimise the consequences of any fall. Fragile surfaces such as roof lights and asbestos cement sheets need protection, signage and a safe system.
406 words, about 2 min