CSCS PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) Questions
Hard hats, hi-vis, eye and hand protection: when and how PPE must be used.
These questions cover ppe (personal protective equipment) for the CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test, the exam UK construction workers pass to get a CSCS card.
PPE (Personal Protective Equipment): 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 115 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 PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) questions and answers
These 10 come from the 115 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. When must an employer provide PPE under regulation 4(1)?
Answer: Where a worker is exposed to risk not adequately controlled by other means
- A) Whenever a worker asks for it, regardless of the risk they are exposed to
- B) Only where the principal contractor has written it into the site rules
- C) Only where the risk assessment shows a risk of a fatal injury occurring
- D) Where a worker is exposed to risk not adequately controlled by other means (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 4(1) requires suitable PPE except where and to the extent the risk has been adequately controlled by other means which are equally or more effective. PPE fills the gap other controls leave.
2. Does maintenance of PPE include cleaning and replacement?
Answer: Yes. Regulation 7 expressly covers replacing or cleaning as appropriate
- A) No, cleaning is always the personal responsibility of the individual wearer
- B) No, replacement only applies where the equipment has actually failed a test
- C) Yes. Regulation 7 expressly covers replacing or cleaning as appropriate (correct answer)
- D) Yes, but only for reusable items and never for disposable equipment
Why: The words including replaced or cleaned as appropriate sit inside the maintenance duty in regulation 7, so a dirty respirator or a worn harness is a maintenance failure.
3. Eye protection mists up constantly, so the wearer keeps lifting it. What has gone wrong?
Answer: The PPE is not suitable, because it is not effective in those conditions
- A) Nothing, provided that the wearer replaces it whenever they are cutting
- B) The wearer is at fault for not following the instructions given to them
- C) The PPE is not suitable, because it is not effective in those conditions (correct answer)
- D) The employer should issue a second pair so one can be cleaned in turn
Why: Regulation 4(3)(a) requires PPE appropriate for the conditions where exposure occurs, and regulation 6(2)(b) requires the risks the equipment itself creates to be considered. Unusable PPE is not suitable PPE.
4. Head protection on construction sites is governed by which regulations now?
Answer: The PPE at Work Regulations, which absorbed head protection in 2013
- A) The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations, still in force today
- B) The PPE at Work Regulations, which absorbed head protection in 2013 (correct answer)
- C) The Work at Height Regulations, because most head injuries are falls
- D) The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations exclusively
Why: The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 were revoked in 2013 and head protection now sits within the general PPE at Work Regulations regime.
5. Your risk assessment says PPE is needed for a task, but the job will only take a few minutes. Should you wear it?
Answer: Yes. It should always be used, even for jobs that only take a few minutes
- A) Only if a safety sign at the work area says the PPE is required there
- B) Yes. It should always be used, even for jobs that only take a few minutes (correct answer)
- C) No. Jobs that short fall below the point at which PPE becomes necessary to use
- D) Only if a supervisor is there to check that it is being worn properly
Why: HSE says that if the risk assessment shows PPE is needed for a task, it should always be used, including on jobs that only take a few minutes.
6. What does L25 say about the level of protection PPE gives in real use?
Answer: Maximum levels are seldom achieved and are hard to assess
- A) Maximum levels are seldom achieved and are hard to assess (correct answer)
- B) It matches the figure printed on the item's label
- C) It improves the longer the item has been worn on site
- D) It is fixed by law at the level shown in the assessment
Why: L25 gives this as a reason for PPE being the last resort: maximum protection is seldom achieved in practice and the actual level is difficult to assess.
7. When must a PPE assessment be reviewed under regulation 6(3)?
Answer: If there is reason to doubt it is still valid, or a significant change
- A) Only when the PPE it covers reaches the very end of its usable shelf life
- B) At fixed five-yearly intervals set out in the regulations
- C) Only after an accident involving that PPE has been reported
- D) If there is reason to doubt it is still valid, or a significant change (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 6(3) requires a review if there is reason to suspect the assessment is no longer valid or there has been a significant change in the matters it relates to.
8. Which of these is a reason L25 gives for providing storage for PPE?
Answer: To prevent damage from chemicals, sunlight, heat and knocks
- A) To stop workers taking it with them to other firms' sites
- B) To keep it out of sight of visitors coming onto the site
- C) To prevent damage from chemicals, sunlight, heat and knocks (correct answer)
- D) To let the employer log who has worn the items and when
Why: L25 says storage is needed to prevent damage from chemicals, sunlight, humidity, heat and knocks, to prevent contamination, to reduce loss and to allow drying.
9. Your hard hat takes a heavy blow from a falling object but looks undamaged. What should you do?
Answer: Throw it away and get it replaced
- A) Keep it for light work from now on
- B) Throw it away and get it replaced (correct answer)
- C) Keep wearing it as the shell is intact
- D) Turn it so the impact point is at the back
Why: L25 says head protection should be thrown away after a significant impact by a fixed or falling object, even if no damage is visible.
10. If gloves are worn near moving machinery, what kind of glove material does HSE recommend?
Answer: Material that tears easily, so a caught glove rips away
- A) Material that tears easily, so a caught glove rips away (correct answer)
- B) Heavy leather too strong to be torn by moving parts
- C) Loose-fitting gloves that are easy to pull off quickly
- D) Gloves with long cuffs tucked well inside the sleeves
Why: HSE says choose snug gloves in a material that will tear easily, so a glove that gets caught rips rather than dragging the hand into the machinery. Hands should never go near unguarded moving parts.
What this topic covers in the CSCS test
PPE is the last line of defence, not the first. It protects only the person wearing it, and only if it fits, is in good condition and is actually worn. The test checks that you know what your employer owes you, what you owe in return, and which type of protection matches which job.
- Where PPE sits in the hierarchy of control, and why it comes last
- Head protection on site, correct fit, and the turban-wearing Sikh exemption
- Eye and face protection for grinders, cut-off saws, cartridge tools and nail guns
- Safety footwear: steel toecaps against dropped objects, mid-sole plates against nails
- Hearing protection, high-visibility clothing and gloves, and why comfort and fit decide whether they work
- Who pays for PPE, and what to do when it is lost, damaged or does not fit
- Barrier cream and skin protection, and what PPE cannot do
Key facts worth memorising
- PPE is always free
- Section 9 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 bars an employer from charging an employee for anything provided to meet a legal requirement, and HSE confirms that includes PPE.
- The hierarchy of control
- HSE ranks controls as elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE, so PPE is the least effective option and the last one to reach for.
- Limb (b) workers since 6 April 2022
- The Personal Protective Equipment at Work (Amendment) Regulations 2022 extended PPE duties to casual and contract-for-service workers, though the change does not cover the genuinely self-employed.
- Toecap and mid-sole do different jobs
- The steel toecap protects against something dropped on the foot; the mid-sole plate stops a nail penetrating up through the sole.
- Head protection law changed in 2013
- The Construction (Head Protection) Regulations 1989 were revoked on 6 April 2013, and head protection on construction sites now falls under the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations 1992.
- The turban exemption
- Section 11 of the Employment Act 1989, as amended by the Deregulation Act 2015, exempts turban-wearing Sikhs from any legal requirement to wear a safety helmet in any workplace. It covers head protection only, and all other PPE still applies.
What people get wrong
If I lose or damage my PPE I pay for the replacement.
You do not. The employer provides, maintains and replaces PPE free of charge. Your duties are to use it as instructed, store it properly and report loss or damage straight away.
Wearing PPE makes a dangerous job safe.
PPE only reduces the harm if everything else fails. It does nothing to the hazard itself, which is why HSE puts it below elimination, substitution and engineering controls.
Safety glasses are enough for a grinder or cut-off saw.
High-energy tools throw fragments at speed. Those tasks need impact-rated goggles or a full face shield.
A first-aid kit is a type of PPE.
PPE is equipment worn or held by a person at work that protects that person against a risk. A first-aid kit treats an injury after it has happened and protects nobody, so it is not PPE.
Answering these questions in the test
PPE questions usually offer one answer that puts a cost or a judgement call on the worker and three that describe genuine duties. The cost answer is the wrong one, because the employer pays. Where a question names a specific tool, match the protection to the energy involved rather than to what people usually wear. If a briefing told you to wear something and there is no sign when you arrive, the right answer is to wear it as briefed and report the missing sign, because the risk assessment sets the requirement and the sign only advertises it. Answers that let you judge whether the hazard feels bad enough today are always wrong.
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 Types of PPE. What each type protects against, and why PPE sits at the bottom of the hierarchy of controls rather than the top.
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.
Topics that come up alongside ppe (personal protective equipment)
Ready for the real thing?
When you are scoring 90% or better here, take a CSCS mock test for Operatives under exam conditions, then how to book the CSCS test. Still under 90%? Keep your CSCS exam prep going with another topic.