CSCS Health & Welfare Questions
Welfare facilities, hygiene and occupational health.
These questions cover health & welfare for the CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test, the exam UK construction workers pass to get a CSCS card.
Health & Welfare: practice quiz
- 20 questions · 30 minutes · pass mark 90%
- Answers and explanations are shown at the end, with every question to review.
- A fresh 20 questions every time, drawn from all 116 in this topic's bank. Includes 2 select-two questions, as in the real test.
- About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
10 sample Health & Welfare questions and answers
These 10 come from the 116 questions the practice quiz above draws from, written out with the correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read them through when you want to revise rather than test yourself.
1. Under Schedule 2 to CDM 2015, where must sanitary conveniences on a construction site be provided?
Answer: At readily accessible places, in suitable and sufficient numbers
- A) At readily accessible places, in suitable and sufficient numbers (correct answer)
- B) Only inside the site office block, whatever the site layout is
- C) At the site entrance only, so that deliveries pass them on the way in
- D) Wherever the client decides once the project has been handed over
Why: Schedule 2 paragraph 1(1) sets two tests at once: the conveniences must be suitable and sufficient, and they must be at readily accessible places. A toilet that exists but sits at the far end of a long site fails the accessibility test, so counting units alone is not enough.
2. When must a drinking water supply on a construction site be marked with a conspicuous sign?
Answer: Where a sign is necessary for reasons of health or safety on that site
- A) Where a sign is necessary for reasons of health or safety on that site (correct answer)
- B) Only where the water is drawn from a source other than the public mains
- C) On construction projects as standard, from the very first day of work
- D) Only where water that is unfit to drink is also stored close to it
Why: Paragraph 3(2) requires conspicuous marking by an appropriate sign where that is necessary for reasons of health or safety. Non-potable water nearby is the classic example, but it is only an example. Making the duty absolute, or tying it to the source of the water, misreads the qualifier.
3. Which specific item does Schedule 2 name as a requirement in site rest rooms and rest areas?
Answer: A means of boiling water, so that hot drinks can be made during breaks
- A) A microwave oven able to reheat the meals that workers bring in from home
- B) A means of boiling water, so that hot drinks can be made during breaks (correct answer)
- C) A refrigerator for storing perishable food safely throughout the shift
- D) A drying cabinet for the wet coats and boots worn during outdoor work
Why: Paragraph 5(2)(d) requires the means for boiling water, listed separately from the meal arrangements in 5(2)(c). A microwave or fridge may help satisfy 5(2)(c), but only boiling water is named in its own right. Drying facilities belong to changing rooms under paragraph 4(3)(b).
4. What do the Workplace Regulations 1992 require of rest rooms in relation to tobacco smoke?
Answer: Suitable arrangements to protect non-smokers from discomfort from smoke
- A) That smoking is permitted anywhere in them, provided ashtrays are out
- B) That a separately ventilated smoking room is built next to the rest room
- C) That smokers must take their breaks at different times from the non-smokers
- D) Suitable arrangements to protect non-smokers from discomfort from smoke (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 25(3)(a) requires rest rooms and rest areas to include suitable arrangements to protect non-smokers from discomfort caused by tobacco smoke. It fixes the outcome, protection of non-smokers, rather than mandating a separate smoking room or a split break rota.
5. Drinking water on a site is supplied in bottles. What does HSE guidance say about it?
Answer: It must not go stale or become contaminated, and must be clearly identified
- A) Workers should bring their own, so the site does not have to provide any
- B) It must not go stale or become contaminated, and must be clearly identified (correct answer)
- C) Bottled water is never acceptable, so a mains supply must be fitted on day one
- D) It only needs to be provided when the air temperature is above 25 degrees
Why: HSE says drinking water should always be available, clearly identified and easy to get, using the mains where possible, and stored or bottled water must not become stale or contaminated.
6. Site toilets are getting heavy use. What does HSE CIS59 say about how often they should be cleaned?
Answer: It depends on use, and basic daily cleaning may not always be enough
- A) It depends on use, and basic daily cleaning may not always be enough (correct answer)
- B) Once a week is enough, whatever the number of people using them
- C) Cleaning can wait until the units are taken off site at the end
- D) Only after a worker has made a complaint to the site manager in writing
Why: CIS59 says toilets must be kept clean, the frequency of cleaning depends on usage, and basic daily cleaning may not always be sufficient.
7. How long are FAW and EFAW first-aid training certificates valid for?
Answer: Three years
- A) One year
- B) Five years
- C) Until retirement
- D) Three years (correct answer)
Why: L74 says all first-aid training certificates, whether FAW, EFAW or other appropriate training, are valid for three years, and employers need to arrange retraining before they expire.
8. When does HSE guidance say a first-aid room will usually be necessary?
Answer: Where hazards are higher, such as on large construction sites
- A) On sites of any kind, whatever their size or the work done there
- B) Only where more than 500 people work on the one site at once
- C) Only where an ambulance cannot reach the site by road at all
- D) Where hazards are higher, such as on large construction sites (correct answer)
Why: L74 says a first-aid room will usually be necessary where there are higher hazards, such as chemical industries or large construction sites, and in larger premises far from medical services.
9. An outdoor worker notices a mole that is changing in shape, size or colour. What does HSE advise?
Answer: See a doctor promptly
- A) Recheck it in a year
- B) Put sunscreen on it
- C) See a doctor promptly (correct answer)
- D) Cover it with a plaster
Why: HSE advises checking your skin regularly and seeing a doctor promptly about anything that is changing in shape, size or colour, itching or bleeding.
10. Working in which situation does HSE link to a risk of hepatitis A for construction workers?
Answer: Areas contaminated with raw, untreated sewage
- A) Using solvent-based paints in a small room
- B) Areas contaminated with raw, untreated sewage (correct answer)
- C) Work at height on scaffolds in hot weather
- D) Cutting kerbs and paving with a disc cutter
Why: HSE says construction workers may be exposed to hepatitis A when working on sites contaminated with raw or untreated sewage, for example in or near sewers or in flood-damaged property.
What this topic covers in the CSCS test
Welfare on site is a legal minimum, not a perk. Schedule 2 of CDM 2015 lists the facilities every construction site must have, and they must be there from the first day of the job to the last. The test covers those facilities alongside the everyday health risks of site work: dehydration, poor lighting, contaminated ground and the harmful micro-organisms that groundwork, demolition and refurbishment can disturb.
- The five Schedule 2 headings: toilets, washing, drinking water, changing rooms and lockers, rest facilities
- Who provides welfare and who has to check that it happens
- What washing facilities must include, and why washing is a health control
- Drinking water, rest areas and the means of boiling water
- First-aid provision: needs assessment, first-aiders, appointed persons, restocking the kit
- Harmful micro-organisms disturbed by groundwork, demolition and refurbishment
Key facts worth memorising
- The five Schedule 2 headings
- Sanitary conveniences, washing facilities, drinking water, changing rooms and lockers, and facilities for rest, with rest areas having tables, seating with backs, somewhere meals can be prepared and eaten, and the means of boiling water.
- What washing facilities must include
- Clean hot and cold, or warm, water (running so far as reasonably practicable), soap or another means of cleaning, and towels or another means of drying, sited next to every toilet and near any changing rooms.
- Drinking water
- An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water at readily accessible places, signed where needed for health or safety, with cups unless it is a jet people can drink from directly.
- Storing and drying clothing
- Changing rooms need seating and, where necessary, facilities to dry special and personal clothing, plus lockable storage for clothing and personal effects.
- Who provides it
- Contractors provide welfare for workers under their control, the principal contractor must ensure it is there from the start of the project to the finish, and commercial clients must make sure those arrangements exist.
- First-aid minimum
- A suitably stocked first-aid kit, an appointed person to take charge of arrangements and call the emergency services, and information for employees, with kits checked frequently and restocked soon after any use.
What people get wrong
Small or short jobs do not need welfare facilities.
Everyone working on a construction site must have access to toilets and facilities for washing, changing, eating and rest. Mobile units, a central compound or an agreed arrangement to use nearby facilities are all acceptable, but none removes the requirement.
A canteen serving hot food is a required welfare facility.
It is not on the Schedule 2 list. What is required is a rest area where meals can be prepared and eaten, with tables, seating and the means of boiling water.
Hand sanitiser and a small sink in a portable toilet will do.
HSE says that is inadequate unless other suitable washing facilities are nearby. You must be able to wash hands, face and forearms properly.
The first-aid kit gets checked monthly, so it will be fine.
Restock it soon after any use rather than waiting for the next scheduled check.
Answering these questions in the test
Most welfare questions test whether you can separate 'must be provided' from 'would be nice'. Toilets, washing, drinking water, somewhere to change and store or dry clothing, and somewhere to sit and eat are all required; hot meals and a staffed canteen are not. Where a facility is dirty, broken, out of supplies or too far away, the answer is to report it. On health risks the pattern holds: if you disturb ground, drainage or an old building and are not sure what you have found, ask before you carry on.
Background reading
Drilling the questions tells you what you are getting wrong. It does not always tell you why. For this topic that is covered in Heat, Cold and Weather Risks on Site. What the law does and does not require when it is too hot, too cold or too windy to work safely.
Sources
Written from the following. Where a figure could not be verified against one of these, it has been left out rather than approximated. Our sources and methodology explains how we date and re-check them. Spotted something wrong? Report an error and we will fix it.
- legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/51/schedule/2/made
- hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/welfare/index.htm
- hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/welfare/toilets-and-washing.htm
- hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/hazardous-substances/harmful-micro-organisms.htm
- hse.gov.uk/firstaid/what-employers-need-to-do.htm
Topics that come up alongside health & welfare
Ready for the real thing?
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