Please note this advice is for the practical assessment from the old syllabus qualifications – National/International Certificate Certificate in Construction Health and Safety.
To maximise your marks, check this list of Do’s and Dont’s.
Observation sheets – Worth 30 marks.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| 1) Observe 25 – 30 hazards and write them down giving some explanation of the hazard. To maximise your marks find 30 hazards. | 1) Don’t make these up, write down the hazards you see. A common mistake is to only give 15 – 20 hazards. Don’t include mention of legal breaches in the observation sheets. |
| 2) Ensure every hazard has a consequence that is properly explained – explain the consequence usually in terms of an injury or ill health. | 2) For the consequence don’t just say fire risk or electrical risk. Explain the consequence – usually this refers to injuries or ill-health. |
| 3) Every hazard must have an immediate action and a longer term action. | 3) Don’t just give one action – this will decimate the mark awarded. |
| 4) Give suitable timescales for the actions – an immediate action should have a timescale of 2 days or less. Longer term actions could be a number of months. | 4) Don’t make the immediate timescale greater than 2 days (or this isn’t immediate). |
Introduction:
This should be an easy 5 marks but some students squander the marks by not writing enough.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| 1) State where and when the inspection took place. | 1) Don’t give a date that is outside the dates supplied to you by RRC. |
| 2) Explain the main function of the company, number of workers – those involved in the areas you are inspecting. | 2) Don’t just give the name of the company, it is its function that is important. |
| 3) Describe the area and the main activities being undertaken and the equipment being used at the time of the inspection. | 3) Don’t be too brief – give a clear description of the chosen area and the activities actually occurring. Describe the equipment used. |
Executive summary:
Write this at the end but include here. Worth 5 marks.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| 1) Write a concise view of the most important points of your conclusion. | 1) Don’t miss out important findings. |
| 2) Include a summary of the recommendations. | 2) Don’t forget to include the recommendations or marks are lost. |
| 3) Briefly persuade managers to take action eg mention the costs of accidents etc. | 3) Don’t write too much, this section is worth 5 marks and is a summary. |
Main findings:
Worth 30 marks, spread over 3 sections (3.1, 3.2, 3.2) so spend time on this.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| 1) 3.1 – Write about the main hazards on your Observation sheets and show discussion of these. (15 marks) | 1) Don’t duplicate the Observation sheets – ‘discuss’ the hazards. Don’t include anything new ie is not mentioned in your Observation Sheets. |
| 2) Try to write about at least 5 main hazard groups eg Fire, electricity etc. | 2) Don’t write about every hazard that is on your Observation Sheets, but don’t skimp on this – give good descriptions of the hazards you have chosen to write about. |
| 3) 3.2 – For each hazard (or group of hazards) explain the legal breaches stating the legislation and how the legislation has been breached. (5 marks) | 3) Don’t just give a list of the legislation eg breach of CDM regulations etc, but, say how the law has been breached. |
| 4) 3.3 – Give clear legal, moral and financial reasons stating why management should take action. (10 marks) | 4) Don’t forget to mention something relating to legal, moral and financial reasons such as staff could be injured, loss of business, fines etc. |
| 5) Make sure, in your main findings, that you convince management to take action. | 5) Don’t forget to try to persuade management to take action eg possible financial benefits, fines, loss of business etc. |
Conclusion:
Worth 15 marks – so spend time on this:
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| 1) Summarise the main points you have written about in the main findings. | 1) Don’t use the same words as you used in the main findings. |
| 2) Try to persuade management to take action eg explain the consequences of not taking action. | 2) Don’t include anything that is not in the main findings. |
Recommendations:
Worth 15 marks – so spend time on this:
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| 1) The recommendations MUST come from the conclusion. (Column 1) | 1) Don’t include points you haven’t mentioned in your conclusion or you may only be awarded 5 marks or less. |
| 2) The Resource implications MUST be given in terms of cost and/or time. (Column 2) | 2) Don’t write ‘No cost as this is done internally’ – there is ALWAYS a cost, in this case give the time taken to complete the work. |
| 3) Prioritise the recommendations in terms of High, Medium or Low. (Column 3) | 3) Don’t try to prioritise these as 1, 2, 3 etc. |
| 4) Give a realistic timescale. (Column 4) | 4) You don’t need to be too specific here. |
Spend time to make sure you have included all the Do’s and have avoided the Don’ts.
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Eva Ainscough Env(NEBOSH) Dip, GradIOSH, CBIFM, M.Phil, M.Ed, BA, RSA(Dip)
RRC Tutor & NEBOSH Practical Assessment Marker