Free BOSH SO2 Exam Flashcards

The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Law, enacted August 2018. It mandates strict compliance with OSH standards across all workplaces and authorizes DOLE to fine violating employers up to ₱100,000 per day until the violation is corrected.

DO 198-18 was the ORIGINAL 2018 Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR). DO 252-25 is the REVISED IRR, effective May 16, 2025, and is the current governing rule — DO 198-18 has been superseded.

The Fire Code of the Philippines, which sets fire prevention and suppression standards for buildings and establishments. It is distinct from RA 11058, which covers general occupational safety and health compliance.

OSHC (Occupational Safety and Health Center) is DOLE's training and research arm that accredits Safety Training Organizations and develops OSH programs. BWC (Bureau of Working Conditions) is DOLE's labor standards bureau that monitors and enforces OSH compliance.

A DOLE-Accredited (Safety) Training Organization. ATOs/STOs deliver the mandatory BOSH and COSH courses and administer and grade their own post-training assessments — there is no centralized national testing body.

An 8-hour OSH orientation course plus a 2-hour Training of Trainers (ToT). SO1 is the entry-level designation, limited to conducting basic safety briefings and orientation.

A 40-hour BOSH course (general industry) or COSH course (construction). No prior OSH experience is required — SO2 is the entry point for a full safety officer role.

SO3 requires the SO2 base (40-hour BOSH/COSH) PLUS 48 hours of advanced training and at least 2 years of active OSH experience — qualifying the holder for higher-risk establishments.

SO4 requires the SO3 base PLUS 80 hours of advanced training and at least 4 years of active OSH experience — the highest safety officer tier, typically leading OSH programs at large or high-risk firms.

BOSH (Basic Occupational Safety and Health) covers general industries — manufacturing, offices, services. COSH (Construction Occupational Safety and Health) is a separate track specifically for the construction sector. Both are 40-hour courses but cover different hazard sets.

Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment, and Control — the core 3-step process safety officers use to systematically manage workplace hazards before they cause harm.

An unsafe act is risky worker BEHAVIOR (e.g., bypassing a machine guard). An unsafe condition is a physical HAZARD in the environment (e.g., damaged equipment, a missing guard). The distinction determines whether the fix targets behavior or the workplace itself.

Risk rating = Likelihood × Severity, usually scored on a risk matrix. This semi-quantitative score is used to prioritize which hazards need controls applied first.

Whenever there is a change in process, equipment, or materials, or after an incident occurs. HIRAC is a living document that must be reassessed, not a one-time exercise.

Elimination → Substitution → Engineering → Administrative → PPE, from most to least effective. Controls must always be considered top-down; PPE is the last line of defense, never the first choice.

Elimination physically removes the hazard entirely (e.g., discontinuing use of a hazardous chemical). Substitution replaces it with a safer alternative (e.g., switching to a less toxic solvent) — the hazard still exists in a reduced form.

Engineering controls physically isolate or modify the hazard (machine guards, local exhaust ventilation). Administrative controls change how people work (job rotation, signage, training) without altering the hazard itself.

Lockout/Tagout — isolating and de-energizing equipment before maintenance or repair to prevent accidental start-up. It is applied specifically whenever machinery is being serviced.

Ordinary combustibles — wood, paper, textiles, and similar materials. Class A fires are extinguished with water or foam-based agents.

Class C involves energized electrical equipment. Water must never be used (it conducts electricity) — CO2 or dry chemical extinguishers are required instead.

Class D involves combustible metals (e.g., magnesium, titanium) and requires specialized dry powder agents. Class K involves cooking oils and fats and requires wet chemical extinguishers designed for kitchen fires.

Pull the pin, Aim at the base of the fire, Squeeze the handle, Sweep side to side — the standard technique for operating a portable fire extinguisher.

The employer, at no cost to the worker whatsoever. Charging employees for PPE through payroll deductions or any other means violates the OSH Law.

Seiri (Sort — discard unneeded items), Seiton (Set in order), Seiso (Shine/clean), Seiketsu (Standardize procedures), Shitsuke (Sustain discipline).

A Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter trips the circuit when it detects a ground fault (current leakage), protecting workers from electric shock — especially important in wet or outdoor work areas.

Physical (noise, heat, vibration), Chemical (dusts, vapors, gases), Biological (viruses, bacteria, molds), Ergonomic (posture, repetition, force), and Psychosocial (stress, bullying, harassment).

Excessive noise, extreme heat or cold, vibration, or radiation — hazards that arise from energy sources rather than substances or behaviors.

A hazard from poor posture, repetitive motion, or excessive force. It causes musculoskeletal disorders that develop over time rather than causing acute, immediate injury.

A hazard from workplace stress, bullying, or harassment that affects mental health and wellbeing — increasingly recognized as a formal hazard category alongside physical, chemical, biological, and ergonomic hazards.

Biological hazards are living organisms (viruses, bacteria, molds). Chemical hazards are non-living substances (dusts, vapors, gases, solvents) that cause harm through exposure or reaction.

Anticipate, Recognize, Evaluate, Control — the systematic 4-step approach industrial hygienists use to manage health hazards before and after they appear.

Threshold Limit Value – Time-Weighted Average: the maximum average airborne concentration of a substance a worker can be exposed to over an 8-hour workday without adverse health effects.

90 dBA — the standard permissible exposure limit for continuous noise across a full 8-hour workday.

For every 5-dB increase in noise level, the permissible exposure time is cut in half — for example, 95 dBA is only considered safe for 4 hours instead of 8.

A Safety Data Sheet — a standardized 16-section document detailing a chemical's hazards, safe handling, storage, and emergency response information.

An incident where no injury occurred, but the circumstances had the potential to cause harm. A near miss must still be logged and investigated — it is a warning sign, not something to ignore just because no one was hurt.

The immediate cause is the direct trigger of an accident (e.g., a slippery floor). The root cause is the underlying systemic failure that allowed the hazard to exist in the first place (e.g., no housekeeping schedule).

Repeatedly asking "why" (typically five times) after an incident to drill down from the immediate cause to the true root cause, rather than stopping at the first surface-level explanation.

Categorizing potential causes of an incident into groups (commonly the 6 Ms: Man, Machine, Method, Material, Milieu/Environment, Management) to visualize and analyze all contributing factors.

Preserve it intact. Nothing should be moved or altered except what is necessary to rescue or treat injured persons, protecting the integrity of the later investigation.

Periodic inspections are scheduled at regular intervals (e.g., monthly). Intermittent inspections are unannounced spot checks, catching unsafe conditions that a scheduled inspection might miss.

Because hazards differ by work area — a generic checklist may miss department-specific risks, such as chemical hazards in a lab versus fall hazards on a rooftop.

To prevent future incidents by proactively identifying hazards and ranking them by risk — not to assign blame for past incidents.

The employer or the top company official. The OSH Committee is chaired at the highest organizational level to ensure management authority stands behind safety decisions.

At least once a month, as governed by Rule 1040 of the Occupational Safety and Health Standards. Regular meetings review incidents, inspection findings, and program updates.

The Work Accident/Illness Report — filed monthly, by the 30th of each month, documenting workplace injuries and illnesses to DOLE.

The AEDR (Annual Exposure Data Report) covers exposure data such as man-hours and injuries, due January 30. The AMR (Annual Medical Report) covers medical services, illnesses, and treatments, due March 31.

Within 24 hours of occurrence. Fatal or disabling injuries require immediate notification, unlike the routine monthly WAIR filing.

(Number of disabling injuries × 1,000,000) ÷ total man-hours worked. This standardized formula lets companies of different sizes compare injury rates on the same scale.

Shelter-in-place means staying inside and sealing the room, used when the danger is OUTSIDE (e.g., a toxic release nearby). Evacuation means leaving the building via exit routes, used when the danger is INSIDE (e.g., a fire).