Free ISPON HSE Level 2 Exam Flashcards

A hazard is the source with potential to cause harm - a live 415 V panel, an unguarded trench, a drum of solvent. Risk is how likely that harm is and how severe it would be. You eliminate or control a hazard; you rate and accept a risk.

Identify the hazards, Assess the risk, Control the risk, and Recover if control fails. The Recover stage is what separates HEMP from a plain risk assessment: it forces you to plan emergency response and mitigation for the case where your controls do not hold.

Likelihood (1-5) is plotted against severity (1-5). The band the cell falls into, not the arithmetic score, sets the action: red means stop and re-engineer, amber means extra controls plus management approval, green means manage by routine procedure. Two jobs can score 9 and need completely different responses.

As Low As Reasonably Practicable. You keep adding controls until the cost, time and effort of the next one is grossly disproportionate to the risk it removes. Above the intolerable line the work must not proceed whatever the cost of fixing it.

Elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, PPE. The first three change the workplace, so they keep protecting when someone forgets or rushes; the last two depend on correct human behaviour every single time.

The task is broken into its sequential steps; each step gets its own hazards, its own controls and a named person responsible. A document that lists site hazards without the step-by-step sequence and owners is a hazard list, not a JSA.

Inherent risk is the risk before controls. Residual risk is what remains once the chosen controls are in place and actually working. Sign-off is given against residual risk, which is why a control that exists only on paper makes the whole assessment false.

Bird's study found roughly 1 serious injury for every 10 minor injuries, 30 property-damage events and 600 near misses. The base of the triangle is free data: near misses expose the same system failure before anyone is hurt, so a falling near-miss count is usually a reporting problem, not a safety win.

Every defence layer has holes. Active failures are the front-line errors made seconds before the loss. Latent failures are the earlier management decisions - poor design, understaffing, weak procedures, deferred maintenance - that cut the holes months before. Blaming only the active failure leaves the holes open.

ISO 45001 replaced OHSAS 18001, whose certificates ceased to be valid after a migration deadline extended to 30 September 2021. It uses the Annex SL high-level structure and the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, and makes consultation and participation of workers a system requirement, not an optional extra.

Leading indicators measure prevention before loss - inspections closed out, permits audited, toolbox talks held, actions overdue. Lagging indicators count outcomes after loss - LTIFR, fatalities, spill volumes. A site judged only on lagging numbers quietly learns to under-report.

An inspection checks physical conditions at a point in time: guards, housekeeping, PPE, access. An audit tests whether the system works, by sampling records, interviewing people and comparing what is actually done against the written procedure and the standard.

The immediate cause is the unsafe act or condition at the moment of loss. The root cause is the management-system failure behind it - no training, no management of change, no maintenance regime. Actions closed out at the immediate cause guarantee a repeat event.

The Act (No. 2 of 2014) establishes the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria and its statutory register of safety professionals. ISPON states that holding yourself out as registered when you are not, or falsifying the register, is an offence carrying up to N100,000 or six months' imprisonment for an individual and not less than N500,000 for a corporate body.

Nigeria's principal workplace safety statute, enforced through the factory inspectorate of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. Its eleven Parts run from registration of factories through health, safety and welfare provisions to notification of accidents, offences and administration.

Any accident in a factory that causes loss of life, or that disables an employed person for more than three days from doing the work they were employed to do. The occupier must send written notice forthwith, in the prescribed form, to the inspector of the district; failing to report is an offence.

The employee, or the dependant where there is a death, must inform the employer within 14 days. The employer must report the injury to the NSITF Board and the nearest office of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health within 7 days, and must report a death immediately.

A minimum monthly contribution of 1.0 per cent of total monthly payroll into the Compensation Fund managed by the NSITF. The scheme pays scheduled compensation for work injury and occupational disease from that fund, so an injured worker does not have to prove employer negligence to be compensated.

A written authorisation that one specific job, in one specific place, within a stated time window, may proceed under stated controls. It is not a risk assessment and it cannot make an unsafe job safe. The job is not finished until the permit is handed back and formally closed.

The performing authority does the work, the issuing authority verifies conditions at the worksite and signs the permit, and the area or asset owner accepts the job into their operating area. Self-issue destroys the independent check that the whole system exists to provide.

Isolate, de-energise, dissipate stored energy, lock, tag, then attempt a start to prove zero energy. Each person exposed applies a personal lock to the hasp or group lockbox, so equipment cannot be re-energised until the last worker has removed their own lock.

Oxygen between 19.5 and 23.5 per cent, flammable gas below 10 per cent of the LEL, and every toxic gas below its exposure limit. Test in that order - oxygen first - because combustible and toxic sensors give unreliable readings in an oxygen-deficient atmosphere.

A closed valve can pass, be reopened by someone else, or fail. Positive isolation physically breaks the path: a spade or blind inserted, a spool piece removed, or double block and bleed with the bleed left open and monitored so any leak shows itself.

Combustibles removed or protected within the work radius, a gas test at zero per cent LEL before ignition and repeated after breaks, an extinguisher and a dedicated fire watch with no other duties, and that fire watch maintained for at least 60 minutes after work stops (NFPA 51B 2019 raised this from the old 30 minutes), with the area monitored afterwards, because slag can smoulder unseen.

Section 28(7): where a person works somewhere they are liable to fall more than two metres, fencing or other means must be provided so far as is reasonably practicable, unless the place gives secure foothold and handhold. Do not quote the American six-foot trigger on a Nigerian site.

Hoists and lifts, and all chains, ropes and lifting tackle in use, must be thoroughly examined at least once in every period of six months by a competent person under the Factories Act, with the outcome entered in the statutory register kept for that equipment.

Cranes and other lifting machines - once every fourteen months and after any substantial alteration or repair. Steam boilers and all their fittings - by an authorised boiler inspector at least once every fourteen months and after extensive repairs. Both intervals come from the Factories Act.

A fixed guard has no moving parts and needs a tool to remove. An interlocked guard cuts power or brakes the motion when opened and stays locked until dangerous motion has stopped. The Factories Act separately requires every prime mover and dangerous part of machinery to be securely fenced.

Before first use, after assembly or alteration, after any event that could affect stability such as impact or high wind, and at intervals not exceeding seven days while in use - by a competent person, and recorded. The seven-day rule comes from the UK Work at Height Regulations 2005 and is the interval most Nigerian sites adopt; the Factories Act sets no scaffold interval.

PPE leaves the hazard in place and only works if it is the right type, correctly fitted, actually worn and maintained - and it fails silently. Section 47 of the Factories Act requires the employer to provide and maintain suitable protective clothing and appliances where a process involves excessive wet or injurious or offensive substances.

The National Environmental (Noise Standards and Control) Regulations 2009 set 85 dB(A) Leq for 8 hours daily (40 hours weekly) in a factory or workshop, then halve the permitted time for every 3 dB rise: 88 dB(A) for 4 hours, 91 for 2 hours, 94 for 1 hour, 97 for 30 minutes and 100 for 15 minutes.

23 kg (51 lb) is the most that should be lifted under ideal conditions - load at knuckle height, held close to the body, no twisting, good grip, infrequent lifting. The recommended weight limit falls steeply as horizontal distance, twist, frequency or grip quality get worse.

The triangle is fuel, oxygen and heat - remove any one and the fire dies. The tetrahedron adds the uninhibited chemical chain reaction, the fourth side that dry powder and clean agents attack chemically, which is why they knock flame down without mainly cooling or smothering.

A solids such as wood, paper and textiles; B flammable liquids; C flammable gases; D metals; F cooking oils and fats. Electrical is not a class - it is a live ignition source, so you choose an agent that is safe on live equipment, such as CO2.

The body is red and a colour band names the agent: water red, foam cream, dry powder blue, CO2 black, wet chemical yellow. Wet chemical is the Class F agent for cooking oils; CO2 leaves no residue but can asphyxiate in an enclosed space and its horn causes cold burns.

Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the flames, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side. Only fight a fire if the alarm has been raised, the fire is small and not spreading, you have the correct extinguisher and training, and your escape route is clear behind you.

A roll call names who is unaccounted for, which is the only information that can justify sending rescuers back inside; a bare head count cannot. Visitors and contractors must be on the list, and lifts are never used in evacuation because power loss traps occupants and the shaft carries smoke.

Section 43 of the Factories Act requires a readily accessible first-aid box of the prescribed standard, with one additional box for every further 150 persons employed, nothing but first-aid items kept inside, and a named responsible person available in working hours whose name is posted in the workroom.

A GHS-aligned SDS always has sixteen sections in a fixed order. In an incident go straight to Section 4 first aid, Section 5 fire-fighting and Section 6 accidental release; for day-to-day control use Section 7 handling and storage and Section 8 exposure limits and PPE.

A flame over a circle means oxidiser, not flammable. An oxidiser supplies its own oxygen, so it will drive a fire even where air is excluded and must be segregated from fuels, solvents and organic material in storage.

H2S smells of rotten eggs at trace levels, but around 100 ppm it paralyses the sense of smell within minutes, so the warning vanishes exactly as the danger peaks. 100 ppm is also the NIOSH IDLH; ACGIH sets 1 ppm as the 8-hour limit and 5 ppm short-term. Trust a calibrated detector, never your nose.

A TWA is averaged across an 8-hour shift, so short peaks can hide inside a compliant average. A STEL is a 15-minute average that must not be exceeded. A ceiling must not be exceeded at any instant. Meeting the TWA is no evidence that the STEL was met.

Prevent, reduce, reuse, recycle, recover energy, and dispose only as the last resort. Segregation at source is what keeps the upper options available: once hazardous waste is mixed into a general stream, the entire stream must be handled and paid for as hazardous.

NESREA enforces environmental standards and regulations in every sector other than oil and gas. An oil spill goes to NOSDRA, which must be notified in writing within 24 hours; failing to report attracts N500,000 for each day of default, and failing to clean up the impacted site attracts a further N1,000,000.

A survey is the baseline assessment of a site's assets, threats and vulnerabilities that recommends what protection is needed. An audit tests compliance with the security plan and standards already in force. You survey first, then audit what was actually implemented.

Threat is an adversary's capability and intent, which you cannot change. Vulnerability is the weakness that lets the threat succeed, which you can. Consequence is what is lost if it does. Because security risk combines all three, controls are aimed at vulnerability and consequence.

Deter, detect, delay, respond. Each layer buys time, and the design rule is that total delay must exceed the response time of the guard force. If it does not, the layers merely record the loss on CCTV instead of preventing it.

An assessed and approved route, an authorised driver and a checked vehicle, departure and arrival call-in times with an overdue trigger, rest breaks and maximum driving hours, and a no-night-driving rule in high-risk areas. The overdue trigger is the element that actually raises the alarm when something goes wrong.

The CLO is the formal two-way channel between the operation and the host community: logging grievances, communicating planned work such as flaring or heavy haulage, and managing local content expectations. A documented grievance mechanism with response deadlines is what stops disputes escalating into site shutdowns.

Activate the crisis management team and route everything through one trained spokesperson, notify the security agencies, and follow the plan - never ad-hoc negotiation or payment arranged by colleagues. Establish proof of life, and preserve every call log, message and note as evidence.