Free PTS Exam Flashcards

1,435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches), measured between the inner running faces of the two rails. Track terms such as four-foot and six-foot are names, not exact clearance measurements.

Four-foot: between the rails of one line. Six-foot: between normally spaced adjacent lines. Ten-foot: a wider space between lines on a multi-track route; it need not measure ten feet. Cess: beside the outer running rail. None is automatically a safe walking route.

No. Use the designated position of safety and the clearance required from every line on which a train can approach. The normal six-foot is too narrow to provide the required clearance from trains on both adjacent lines.

There are no positions of safety or refuges on that side of the railway; they are on the other side. Follow the briefed access and safe-system arrangements rather than assuming you can shelter beside the structure.

There is no position of safety on that side for the length of the structure. Do not enter or stand there while trains are running; follow the applicable controlled access arrangements. Do not confuse this with a No Refuges sign.

Network Rail enforces a zero-tolerance policy with strict screening limits: 13 micrograms of alcohol per 100 ml of breath, 29 milligrams per 100 ml of blood, and 39 milligrams per 100 ml of urine. These limits are significantly stricter than UK road driving limits because impaired reaction times or judgment in the track environment are lethal.

Do not undertake or report for duty after working within the preceding 12 hours unless the Primary Sponsor has approved a risk assessment and suitable controls. Report all work and travel-related fatigue; obey the shortest applicable legal, infrastructure-manager or sponsor working-hour limit. Twelve hours is not a universal door-to-door shift allowance.

Tell your Primary Sponsor and follow the medication-declaration process. Under NR/L2/OHS/00120 Issue 8, workers and contractors taking medicines with known side effects that may affect safe work must seek Chemist on Call guidance. Include relevant prescribed and over-the-counter medicines, follow restrictions and do not work while impaired.

A valid medical record must meet NR/L2/OHS/00124 for the duties undertaken. Health, vision and hearing are assessed and restrictions may apply. Wear required corrective lenses and follow recorded accompaniment or other restrictions; a colour-vision defect is not automatically a ban on all PTS work.

Carry your valid physical or virtual Sentinel card and present it for swipe-in. Check active sponsorship, required competence and fitness records. Swipe-in is an access check; it does not by itself prove that a particular competence was practised for recertification.

Green square: newly qualified PTS holder receiving learning support. Red triangle: must be accompanied on the infrastructure. Newly qualified staff wear a blue helmet until their sponsor confirms the required experience and competence; elapsed time alone does not remove a restriction.

You have one Primary Sponsor, which manages your sponsorship and competence arrangements and pays for training of competences it uses. Up to two Sub-Sponsors may use you with the Primary Sponsor’s approval and must share relevant working-hour and safety information.

PTS normally lasts two years. Record genuine competence use with the required endorsement, date, location and protection; a swipe-in alone is insufficient. NSAR Briefing 26 requires suitable endorsed experience for recertification. Provider summaries have transition dates, so confirm the course-date evidence requirement with your sponsor and provider rather than assuming one universal 8-in-24/4-in-12 count. A provider’s eight-week post-expiry admission window never authorises work with expired PTS.

On the line itself, or within 3 metres of a line without a permanent fence or structure separating you from it. On a station platform, the definition applies to engineering or technical work within 1.25 metres of the edge. These boundaries do not themselves authorise access.

Under Rule Book Handbook 1: on lines where the maximum permissible train speed is 100 mph or less, a position of safety is at least 1.25 metres (4 feet) from the nearest running rail. On lines where train speeds exceed 100 mph, the minimum distance increases to at least 2.0 metres (6 feet 6 inches) to protect against severe train aerodynamic slipstream turbulence.

Be there at least ten seconds before the approaching train reaches you. Move immediately when warned; keep watching the train and remain safe from trains on every relevant line. Rejoin work only under the COSS’s instructions.

Follow the all-orange requirement for upper- and lower-body high-visibility clothing, approved safety footwear, the prescribed blue or white helmet, safety glasses and required gloves. The task or site may require further protection. PPE does not replace the safe system of work.

Only within HB1’s permitted arrangements: for example, the COSS agrees and briefs the route to or from a group, or an applicable company instruction authorises the method. Follow the instructions and local-knowledge requirements. Working alone requires COSS or IWA competence; PTS alone does not authorise it.

The Controller of Site Safety establishes and maintains the group’s safe system and briefing, covering access, work and departure. A blue armlet or badge carries COSS in white lettering. The COSS stays with the group on or near the line, subject to the specific arrangements for individuals joining or leaving.

The authorised plan prioritises protection from trains: safeguarded, fenced or properly separated arrangements before permitted warning systems. A PTS holder follows the briefed method. Do not improvise a lookout or downgrade protection when the plan cannot be implemented; stop, move to safety and obtain an authorised revised plan.

Immediately stop work, move back inside the marked safe working area, and acknowledge the warden's instruction. The site warden gives this warning when a worker strays toward or breaches the safe boundary separating the worksite from an open running line.

Stay with the COSS and follow the agreed route and protection. Do not cross or stray onto an open line to bypass an obstruction. Stop and inform the COSS if the route cannot be followed; a site warden does not provide protection for a group walking to work.

The access route, work limits, open and blocked lines, speeds and directions, protection method, position of safety, warnings, local hazards and emergency arrangements. Ask for clarification before starting if anything is unclear. A signature confirms understanding; it does not create protection.

Switch blades and moveable point mechanisms can operate remotely and automatically without warning at any moment. Stepping between or onto the switch blades can result in severe foot entrapment, crushing, or traumatic amputation when the points motor moves the rail against the stock rail.

A metal connection can interfere with track circuits, signalling and level-crossing equipment; on electrified lines it can also expose you to electric shock. Do not assume that an accidental short circuit always produces a particular signal aspect or protects you from trains.

Stop work, reach the designated position of safety and tell the COSS. Do not continue under warning arrangements that no longer give the necessary warning time. Restart only after a safe, authorised arrangement is briefed.

Prevent obstruction, contact with trains and movement in their slipstream. HB1 normally requires at least 2 metres from a line on which a train could pass, unless you are certain the items cannot be struck or moved by the slipstream. Follow the COSS’s storage limits and electrical precautions.

The role hierarchy governs: ECO over anyone; signaller over anyone except ECO; PICOP over anyone except ECO or signaller; COSS over the work group and lookouts/site wardens. Other specified role relationships also apply. If unclear, or both perform the same task, the person starting the conversation leads.

Normally say numbers digit by digit, using zero rather than the letter O; use the phonetic alphabet for letters, signal identities and names liable to be misunderstood. HB1 expressly allows exceptions for times and Rule Book module or handbook references. Ensure the recipient repeats and understands the message.

The recipient repeats the message so the sender can check understanding. Correct any mistake explicitly and confirm the correction. If a message was not heard or understood, ask for it again rather than acting on a guess.

No. Never assume the train’s line or direction, particularly near points. Reach the designated position of safety, acknowledge the warning by raising one arm, and keep watching until the train is clear or no longer threatens you. Check for other trains before moving.

In daylight, show a red flag; without one, raise both arms above your head. In darkness or poor visibility, show a red light or wave any light violently. Give the signal clearly where the driver can see it, while protecting your own safety.

When correctly applied to the running rails, it operates a track circuit as emergency protection. It does not make trains stop instantly and is not a substitute for contacting the signaller or displaying a hand danger signal. Use it only within your training and the applicable HB2 instructions.

Do not use them on fourth-rail lines or attach them to a conductor rail. They cannot operate an axle counter, and poor rail contact can make them ineffective. On third-rail lines attach to the furthest running rail first; obtain signaller permission before removal. Do not rely on a clip alone.

If the signaller cannot be reached, HB2 normally requires three detonators, 20 metres apart, 2 kilometres towards approaching trains on each affected line, with hand danger signals. Earlier trains, signals, tunnels and junctions have specific instructions. Act only within your training and protect your own safety; never delay the emergency call.

Start with “This is an emergency call”. Give your identity and employer, exact location and affected line, the danger and action needed, and a contact number. For electrical danger request emergency switch-off and give all information the ECO needs. Repeat back and confirm instructions.

As a last resort, RT3170 says to lie down outside the four-foot and gather loose clothing underneath you. Never choose the space between the running rails as shelter. Normal protection is reaching the designated position of safety in good time.

Stop, move to a position of safety and raise the concern through the Worksafe procedure with the person in charge or supervisor. The safety concern must be addressed before restarting. Network Rail supports genuine safety concerns; this is not blanket immunity for unrelated misconduct.

A Close Call is any condition, situation, or behavior that had the potential to cause harm, injury, or operational damage, but did not result in an accident on this occasion. Reporting Close Calls allows safety teams to identify precursors, investigate root causes, and eliminate hazards before someone is injured.

CIRAS provides independent confidential reporting of health, safety and wellbeing concerns. You can use it where confidentiality matters or ordinary reporting has not resolved a concern. It is not an emergency response service: immediate danger needs the site’s emergency and operational reporting channels first.

Warn them and stop the unsafe activity if you can do so without putting yourself in danger. Inform the COSS or person in charge and use emergency reporting where needed. A shout or intervention does not replace protection from trains or electrical equipment.

25 kV alternating current, normally at 50 Hz. Treat OLE, pantographs and associated roof equipment as live unless the prescribed isolation and assurance arrangements apply. Direct contact is not necessary for a dangerous electrical discharge.

Keep yourself and everything you hold at least 2.75 metres away in every direction. Closer work requires the prescribed method statement or company instruction and all its precautions, or the appropriate isolation arrangements. Basic PTS does not authorise you to create that exception.

Treat damaged railway OLE and objects touching it as live; keep clear, warn others and contact the ECO, with the signaller first if train safety is affected. HB1’s specific 5-metre exclusion concerns fallen electricity-company power lines and anything touching them, until the electricity company confirms safety.

Never interfere with bonds. Broken or disconnected bonds and parted rails may carry dangerous voltage; red-marked defective bonds and connected equipment must not be touched. Report the defect, location and bond colour to the ECO, and to the signaller first if trains are endangered. Structure bonds are not all red.

Form C is issued by the Nominated Person to the COSS or designated person and defines the equipment isolated and earthed and the work limits. The COSS understands the conditions, observes the required test-before-touch process, signs and briefs the group before work. It does not stop trains. On COSS relief, both sign; the replacement understands the conditions and tells the NP, directly or through the ECO.

750 V direct current through conductor rail and train shoe gear. Treat conductor rail, shoe gear and exposed connected equipment as live under HB17; shoes may remain dangerous even when not touching the conductor rail. Do not generalise this voltage to every UK metro or light-rail system.

Keep yourself and anything you hold at least 1.5 metres from live conductor-rail equipment, shoe gear and associated live train equipment. Closer work requires an authorised method statement and electrical risk assessment, with every specified precaution implemented and followed. The 300 mm rule is a separate condition for certain authorised activities, not a general safe distance.

Use the authorised crossing arrangement. Where crossing the rails is necessary and safe, step over the conductor rail and its adjacent running rail together; never place a foot between them or stand on guard boards. Avoid carrying equipment across live conductor rail and do not attempt a crossing you cannot make safely.

Bridging the live supply and traction-return circuit can cause severe arcing, burns and electric shock. Running rails must not be treated as universally safe earth points. Short-circuiting bars are specialist emergency equipment governed by HB17’s competence, danger and installation conditions; an ordinary tool is not a substitute.