Nebosh model question 1 and 2 

Task 1: Justifying health and safety improvements

 

What financial arguments could you use to justify your proposed recommendations to segregate FLTs and the workers? (10)

 

Note: You should support your answer, where applicable, using relevant information from the scenario.

 

This question assessed learners’ knowledge and understanding of assessment criteria 1.1: Discuss the moral, financial, and legal reasons for managing health and safety in the workplace; and 1.2: Explain how the law works and the consequences of non-compliance.

 

For this question, answers must reflect sound financial arguments to justify proposed recommendations. Good responses would include:

 

‘There could be an impact on the reputation of the organization, leading to breakdowns in business relationships. As a result, the DIY store may have to tender for new business, which costs money and time.’

 

This answer states the negative financial argument for not acting.

A positive argument would be:

 

‘A safer workplace is good for the worker retention.’

 

Information to help learners formulate appropriate responses to this question can be found in the scenario, as signposted in the instruction (Note).

 

Limited responses would be general, vague answers regarding costs to the organization, rather than specific costs, or not giving all three types of arguments, ie moral, legal, and financial.

 

Ten marks were available for this question and fewer answers given would automatically mean less marks could be awarded.

A positive argument would be:

 

‘A safer workplace is good for the worker retention.’

 

Information to help learners formulate appropriate responses to this question can be found in the scenario, as signposted in the instruction (Note).

 

Limited responses would be general, vague answers regarding costs to the organization, rather than specific costs, or not giving all three types of arguments, ie moral, legal, and financial.

 

Ten marks were available for this question and fewer answers given would automatically mean less marks could be awarded.

 

Task 2: Checking management system effectiveness

 

You email a report to the overall Store and Warehouse Manager, in a further attempt to convince them that safety needs improving. The report contains unsafe behavior that you have observed, unsafe behavior associated with historic incidents, and unsafe behavior relayed to you from other workers. Also, the report contains voluntary feedback on safety given to you by workers and managers.

 

Based on the scenario only:

 

(a)      what unsafe behavior would be included in the report? (6)

 

 

This question assessed learners’ knowledge and understanding of assessment criterion 4.1: Discuss common methods and indicators used to monitor the effectiveness of management systems.

 

This question has been divided into two separate parts, (a) and (b), to help the learner to approach the task in smaller sections rather than one large one.

 

The stem of the task gives the learner an idea of the structure the answer(s) can take (i.e. the learner is emailing a report).

 

The instruction given after the stem states the answers should be based on the scenario only, so information within the scenario should trigger the answers required.

 

The two parts of the question signpost what the learner is looking for in the scenario.

A good response for part (a) would be:

 

‘Unsafe behavior observed:

-       stacking goods in aisles, thereby blocking designated walkways;

-       workers stepping into vehicle routes.’

 

Although bullet points are given, the answers are clear, concise and to the point, and within the context of the scenario.

 

Inadequate responses would be to state that there were ‘high risks in the factory’ and ‘lack of documentation in respect of accident reports’ as these are not behaviors.

 

There are six marks available for this part and therefore it is expected that a minimum of six answers should be given.

 

(b)      what voluntary feedback would be included in the report? (4)

 

For part (b), ‘voluntary feedback’ could be extra information that is not immediately obvious, ie more cultural or managerial issues such as:

-       ‘The warehouse workers rarely see management in the warehouse;

-       the Store and Warehouse Manager does not offer support to prioritize health and safety. They are concerned that implementing measures would cause too much disruption to the business and there is no allocated budget;

-       risk assessments are too general and do not reflect the actual risks in the warehouse.’

 

Again, the number of marks available equates to the number of answers expected as a minimum.