CSCS Site Transport & Traffic Management Questions
Mobile plant, vehicle movements and pedestrian routes.
These questions cover site transport & traffic management for the CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test, the exam UK construction workers pass to get a CSCS card.
Site Transport & Traffic Management: 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 and 3 picture 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 Site Transport & Traffic Management 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 CDM 2015, how must a construction site be organised so that people and vehicles can get about?
Answer: So that pedestrians and vehicles can move without risks to safety
- A) So that pedestrians and vehicles can move without risks to safety (correct answer)
- B) So that vehicles take priority over people on the routes across site
- C) So that walking on site is banned whenever plant is being used
- D) So that supervisors decide where workers on foot can walk
Why: Regulation 27(1) of CDM 2015 says the site must be organised so that, so far as is reasonably practicable, pedestrians and vehicles can move without risks to health or safety. Layout is the first control. Getting the routes right protects everybody, whereas signs and vests only help once someone is already in the danger area.
2. When does CDM 2015 allow somebody to ride on a construction vehicle?
Answer: Only in a safe place on the vehicle provided for that purpose
- A) Only where the trip across the site is under 100 metres in length
- B) Only when the driver agrees and stays in a very low gear
- C) Only when a supervisor has watched them climb aboard it
- D) Only in a safe place on the vehicle provided for that purpose (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 28(4) of CDM 2015 says a person must not ride on a construction vehicle other than in a safe place provided for that purpose. Riding on a dumper skip, a forklift tine or a trailer drawbar is banned however short the journey is.
3. What does HSE advise about the gateways used to get on and off a construction site?
Answer: Provide separate entry and exit gateways for people and vehicles
- A) Leave the vehicle gate open through the day to stop road queues
- B) Put the walking gate at the far end of the site from the road
- C) Provide separate entry and exit gateways for people and vehicles (correct answer)
- D) Use one wide gateway so the gateman can watch everyone arrive
Why: HSE guidance on construction traffic management says to provide separate entry and exit gateways for pedestrians and vehicles. The entrance is where site traffic and people on foot are most concentrated, so it is the first place to design the conflict out.
4. Setting a site speed limit is not enough on its own. What else does HSE guidance expect?
Answer: Telling all drivers about it, signposting it, and enforcing it
- A) Agreeing it with the local highways authority twice a year
- B) Telling all drivers about it, signposting it, and enforcing it (correct answer)
- C) Recording it in the health and safety file held by the client
- D) Fitting a speed limiter to the vehicles that enter the site
Why: HSE guidance says the limit should be communicated to drivers of all vehicles needing access, signposted at appropriate intervals, and enforced, with speed limits written into the site rules and disciplinary action taken as necessary. A limit nobody polices is ignored.
5. What does HSE guidance say must be done to a vehicle before loading or unloading starts?
Answer: The brakes are applied and any stabilisers are put to use
- A) The brakes are applied and any stabilisers are put to use (correct answer)
- B) The engine is left running so the hydraulics stay warm
- C) The driver climbs onto the load bed to watch the work
- D) The sheets and the straps are all removed from the vehicle bed
Why: HSE guidance says to ensure the vehicle or trailer has its brakes applied and all stabilisers are used, so that it is as stable as possible. Loading shifts weight around and a vehicle that can roll or rock while it is being loaded is a crushing hazard.
6. During a short, low-risk unloading job it is not reasonably practicable to physically separate people and vehicles. What should the system of work ensure?
Answer: Drivers and signallers stay in contact with each other at all times
- A) People on foot keep walking but watch out for the vehicle themselves
- B) The driver sounds the horn once before moving and then carries on
- C) Unloading is done at night, when fewer people are likely to be about
- D) Drivers and signallers stay in contact with each other at all times (correct answer)
Why: HSE HSG144 paragraph 14 says that where physical segregation is not reasonably practicable, signallers and safe systems of work are used, with drivers and signallers in contact at all times.
7. What braking does HSE guidance say a trailer with a maximum gross weight between 0.75 t and 3.5 t should have as a minimum?
Answer: At least an overrun brake, also known as an inertia brake
- A) A brake worked by a person walking alongside the trailer
- B) Wheel chocks carried on board instead of a fitted brake
- C) At least an overrun brake, also known as an inertia brake (correct answer)
- D) No brake is needed, as long as the towing vehicle has brakes
Why: HSE HSG144 paragraph 31 says trailers between 0.75 t and 3.5 t should have at least an overrun (inertia) brake, and heavier trailers brakes linked to the towing unit.
8. What does HSE's dumper checklist say about driving with the skip raised?
Answer: Do not drive around with the skip in the vertical discharge position
- A) Keep the skip raised when empty to stop rainwater collecting
- B) Do not drive around with the skip in the vertical discharge position (correct answer)
- C) Drive with the skip raised so the driver can see over the load
- D) Raising the skip is fine on site roads but not on public roads
Why: HSE HSG144 Table 6 says do not drive around with the skip in the vertical discharge position.
9. When does HSE guidance say banksmen (signallers) should be used to control reversing?
Answer: Only when there is no other way to control the reversing risks
- A) Only when there is no other way to control the reversing risks (correct answer)
- B) For routine vehicle movements on site, including driving forwards
- C) Only for cars, as larger vehicles have reversing cameras fitted
- D) Whenever the driver would rather not use the vehicle's mirrors
Why: HSE HSG136 paragraph 94 says banksmen should only be used when there is no other way to control reversing risks, because they have to stand close to the vehicle.
10. Roughly what share of workplace transport injuries does HSE say are caused by falls from vehicles?
Answer: Around a third of them
- A) Around a tenth of them
- B) Around a half of them
- C) Around four in five
- D) Around a third of them (correct answer)
Why: HSE HSG136 paragraph 172 says falls from vehicles account for around a third of all workplace transport injuries, many during loading and unloading.
What this topic covers in the CSCS test
People are killed by vehicles and mobile plant on construction sites every year, and HSE is clear about the cause: the majority of construction transport accidents result from inadequate separation of pedestrians and vehicles. Nearly every question here is asking the same thing in a different way, which is how you keep people and machines apart. The law behind it is regulation 27 of CDM 2015.
- Separating people from vehicles with separate gates, walkways, crossing points and barriers
- Why reversing is avoided, and how one-way systems and turning circles reduce it
- The banksman or signaller, and the need to be trained and authorised
- Reversing aids: mirrors, CCTV, alarms, lighting and high-visibility clothing
- Driver competence, site induction and instructions for visiting drivers
- Plant stability, roll-over protection, seat belts and uneven ground
- Reporting poor lighting, blocked walkways and broken road surfaces
Key facts worth memorising
- Separation is the main control
- HSE says most construction transport accidents come from inadequate separation of pedestrians and vehicles, which is why marked walkways and signed, lit crossings matter more than any single warning device.
- Reversing is a major cause of fatal accidents
- HSE says the need to reverse should be avoided where possible, and suggests one-way systems and turning circles so vehicles can turn without reversing.
- Signallers must be trained and authorised
- People who direct vehicle movements must be trained and authorised to do it, and marshallers appointed to control manoeuvres must be trained in that task.
- Over 60% of dumper deaths are overturns
- HSE reports that over 60% of dumper deaths involve the driver being crushed when the machine overturns, and most of the rest happen when a pedestrian is struck by a moving dumper.
- Seat belts keep you inside the roll-over protection
- Dumpers should have roll-over protection and drivers should wear the belt, because the belt is what holds the operator inside the zone that structure protects.
- Wheel stops at excavation edges
- HSE says to fit wheel stops a safe distance from the edges of excavations and pits, and not to park plant close to an excavation side because the extra loading can bring it down.
What people get wrong
A reversing alarm means it is safe to be behind the vehicle.
The alarm is a warning, not a control. It sits alongside mirrors and CCTV as a visibility aid, and reversing is still a major cause of fatal accidents. Get out of the vehicle route rather than relying on the driver.
Anyone can wave a lorry back if the driver cannot see.
Only trained and authorised people may direct vehicle movements. Stepping in to signal a reversing vehicle without that training puts you in the most dangerous place on site.
A small dumper does not need a seat belt.
Overturning is the biggest killer in dumper incidents, and the belt is the only thing keeping the driver inside the roll-over protection. Fastening it behind you and sitting on it defeats the point.
High-visibility clothing keeps you safe on a vehicle route.
High-vis helps a driver see you, and pedestrians on site should wear it, but it is the last layer. What works is never being in the same place as the vehicle: separate routes, barriers and proper crossings.
Answering these questions in the test
Ask which option puts distance between a person and a moving machine. That option is nearly always the answer. Be suspicious of anything that depends on a driver noticing you, on eye contact, or on a warning device doing its job, because those are what fail in real incidents. Poor conditions have a standard answer too: if a route is badly lit, blocked or breaking up, you report it so it gets fixed or lit, you do not work around it.
Check which card scheme covers your trade
Plant operators are carded by CPCS or NPORS rather than CSCS, and both accept the CITB test, so this bank is the right practice for either. Grades, categories and fees are on CPCS card.
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 site transport & traffic management
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