NEBOSH

MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY

UNIT NG1:
For: NEBOSH National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety

Open Book Examination

ANSWER TEMPLATE

Available for 24 hours

Learner name James Sutherland

NEBOSH learner 00743257
number
Learning Partner name Middlesbrough College

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Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

Task 1: Understanding moral management of health and safety in the
workplace

Question 1
A company should morally create a positive health and safety (H&S) work culture, the
workshop manager (WM) in the scenario does not seem interested in following safe
working practices and is also time obsessed in relation to productivity, creating a poor
work environment for employees.

There is a moral disregard from the WM by not ensuring that the PPE provided is the
right fit for the individual, suitable or fit for purpose.

Society and employees expect an employer to provide safe working conditions, morally
the management are failing to do so by not having an appointed H&S officer for several
years.

An employer should supply employees with up-to-date training which they have failed to
do as the induction videos are on VHS video cassettes suggesting that they are out of
date and also long winded as took four hours to watch them all.

Morally, an employer must provide adequate machine training prior to use. However, in
the scenario the forklift driver has not been provided time off to complete their training to
operate than machine safely.

Suffering, injury and ill health is morally unacceptable, yet even after the incident the WM
is more bothered in assigning blame, resuming work and hindering worker demanded
meetings rather than stopping a recurrence of the incident.

Morally speaking, employees should be made aware of emergency procedures as it is

the right thing to do, whereas in the scenario, the induction training mentions that the
first-aid box can be found in a non-existent area.

WM is uninterested in improving H&S practices or developing employees as stated in the

scenario by denying study time for a NEBOSH qualification to supervisor with intention to
improve H&S conditions.

Morally, the employer must provide a safe working environment, this is neglected due to
non-painting of walkways due to delay issues which as a result, creates an unsafe
working area.

The WM publicly warns an employee for taking too long which could create undue
pressure on that employee, thus affecting that individuals physical and mental health
which goes against any reasonable moral standard.

Employers have a moral responsibility to investigate incidents and near misses to

improve H&S conditions. In the scenario, a worker states that this accident “cannot be
ignored this time” showing incidents are reoccurring with no follow-up.

There is a complete moral disregard from the WM by not knowing the extent of the
injuries suffered by the FLT driver and likewise making comments as to why they have
not attended the meeting.

Employers must take steps to create positive working environment, however the WM is
publicly blaming the forklift driver without a thorough investigation, creating a poor morale
among workers.

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 It is a moral standard for an employer to listen to their employees. However, the scenario
outlines that workers feel management do not take their concerns seriously, making
comments such as “management might finally listen”.

Management is morally obligated to prevent harm to employees and do what is right,

however the lack of supervision in the workshop indicates they are unaware that the
racking may be getting overloaded due to poor working practice and time pressures.

Task 2: Determining what is effective about induction training

Question 2
The induction training is effective at creating a physical barrier by the use of an ID card.

Having visitors escorted to the warehouse as they unfamiliar with the surroundings to
ensure safe working practice is followed and safety of visitors is maintained.

Unexpected visitors are denied access as they could pose a potential risk to the business
and are also unfamiliar with surroundings.

The method of reporting of all accidents and incidents is covered in the induction training
which demonstrates good procedure. Although, these require reviewing in practice to
ensure methods fits reality.

Induction videos cover key elements and areas of the warehouse i.e., general induction,
fire safety, manual handling and emergency procedures.

As stated in the scenario, the induction training is effective at establishing clear rules and
procedures e.g., informing people to turn of mobile phones.

The induction effectively highlights the fire exits as part of the training to ensure fire exit
procedures are followed in the event of a fire and that fire regulations must be adhered
to.

The induction training is effective in familiarising people with the area by commencing the
training with an initial tour of the building.

The induction training highlights where the first aid box is and what to do in an
emergency – which is good. However, this does need reviewing in practice to ensure
what is stated in the induction is in fact the case in reality.

Task 3: Demonstrating management commitment

Question 3
H&S culture is lead from the top filtering down into all aspect of a business. The WM
demonstrates poor commitment to this in several aspects.

The scenario states that the WM has failed to appoint a H&S officer for several years,
which demonstrates an extremely poor commitment to ensuring safety within the
workplace.

Promoting development and change is a commitment of management. However, the WM

demonstrates this poorly as he won’t release a worker to carry out their NEBOSH, a
qualification to assist in improving H&S.

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 Poor commitment is seen by the WM given that there are no safety audits / inspections,
which would illustrate effective frontline leadership and by not doing so, creates a poor
work culture.

As the scenario states the WM is rarely present which illustrates a clear lack of visible
leadership and warrant employees to believe management don’t take an interest in H&S.

The WM is creating a poor work culture by only being committed to productivity targets
and reputation rather than H&S as illustrated in the scenario, permitting for employees to
cut safety corners to meet expectations.

The WM is not committed to managing in a safe manner or maintain safety standards as

in the scenario he is ignoring safety issues such as the yearly repainted segregation
between walkways due to risk of downtime.

The scenario shows no meeting having taken place to discuss H&S matter to the workers
by the WM, illustrating a poor commitment to ensuring safe working procedures are
followed.

WM is only seen when angry caused by delays rather than H&S issues, his priority
revolves solely to productivity, while there is no mention of feedback or corrective actions
by the WM on any H&S matter.

A blame culture is indicated by the WM when assigning blame on the FLT driver for the
incident before investigating, which generates a poor H&S culture.

Having old video VHS cassettes as the first insight for a new worker or visitor into your
business suggests an extremely poor commitment to H&S and generates a culture than
does not value H&S as a priority.

The WM demonstrated a poor commitment to ensuring safety from the top down, as
there is no mention of any H&S objectives or targets being cascaded down to employees.

The forklift driver was not granted time off by the WM showing a poor commitment to
H&S and the importance of training and being legally compliant, showing that productivity
will always trump H&S in their mind.

The WM claiming that there will never be another worker-demanded meeting again
clearly demonstrates a complete lack of respect and commitment as a manager and
assists in creating that toxic work safety culture.

In the scenario the two supervisors’ comment that “management might finally listen” to
the HSC, showing that concerns and issues have been festering and ignored by the WM
for a long time, creating a negative culture i.e., not painting the walkways.

The WM demonstrates poor commitment to their employees when sacrificing safety and
professionalism for speed and reputation when disciplining a person for delaying a
delivery vehicle.

A blatant lack of communication and commitment to H&S shown in the scenario by the
WM has led employees to not report concerns, seen in the possible risk of overloading
the racking.

There is no commitment from the WM in incorporating worker involvement when

producing H&S documentation such as RA or SSOW. This suggests a lack of

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 management commitment from the WM and by not allowing for employees to be actively
involved in improving the safe working practices, damages the safety culture.

Task 4: Actions to fulfil health and safety management roles and

responsibilities

Question 4
The WM could regularly discuss H&S with their teams, highlighting the importance of it
rather than being solely communicating the importance of speed and productivity.

Unlike the FLT worker in the scenario, the WM should ensure employees are given a
suitable amount of time off to carry out training.

Symbolic actions could be taken by the WM e.g., ensuring H&S is the first point of the
agenda at any meetings had.

Ensure visible safety tours are carried out, whereby the WM is speaking with frontline
workers and discussing H&S with them, listening to concerns and personally taking
responsibility for fixing the issues, rather than having a blame culture as shown in the
scenario.

Actively getting involved in H&S initiatives e.g., taking part in delivering H&S training,
briefings and sending memos relating to H&S on a regular basis.

Appointing a H&S officer to fill the void outlined in the scenario and personally carrying
out occasional monitoring activities and inspections with their assistance.

Setting workers H&S related KPI’s rather than only productivity-based targets and holding
them accountable for hitting their targets in the interest of safety over productivity.

Encouraging employees at all levels to be actively involved in the formation of RA’s to

effectively assess the risks to employees and others.

Ensure involvement is had by workers in creation of SSOW and monitoring that these are
adhered to i.e., racking isn’t overloaded.

Lead by example by following H&S rules and procedures themselves and wearing all
necessary PPE.

Become a visible leader within the workplace and never walk past a H&S problem i.e.,
non-painted segregation of walkways and FLT routes, without stopping and taking
corrective action to encourage workers to do the same.

Prioritise H&S over production and never sacrifice H&S standard in favour or pursuit of a
short-term urgency/goal.

Given the lack of safety awareness shown by the WM in the scenario, they could look to
improve their own safety knowledge and experience to better assist in leading by
example.

Communicating with staff more effectively and rationally rather than only communicating
when “angry” to ensure a higher staff morale and positive safety culture.

Taking an interest in the findings of any inspection and audits carried out to ensure a high
standard of H&S is adhered to at all times.

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 Updating the induction training with more up to date and relevant information so that the
first impressions to a new worker or visitor into your business is that they are an
organisation that take H&S seriously.

Task 5: Determining the contribution of organisational and individual human

factors

Question 5 (a)
As outlined in the scenario, the H&S culture is to teach new employees methods to save
time at the potential expense of safety. Likewise, the WM will verbally abuse staff who
cause delays, thus creating an overall negative H&S culture which could have easily led
to the incident occurring by undervaluing safety.

The commitment and leadership from management is extremely poor. The WM

demonstrates a lack of commitment to ensure safety measures are in place i.e..,
unpainted lines between pedestrian walkways and FLT routes due to downtime concerns.

Resources could have also played a significant role in the incident due to provision of
adequate personnel. As stated in the scenario, the WM does not appoint a H&S officer
for several years who could have put control measures in place that would have
prevented the incident.

The work environment could have had a significant impact, i.e., the general
housekeeping and design/layout of the workshop could have been a reason as to why
the FLT driver had to take the corner so tightly contributing to the incident occuring.

Communication could have played a vital role in the incident occurring. The WM in the
scenario is shown to be blunt and irritated with workers and there is also no mention any
form of H&S communication being conveyed between management and workers at any
time.

Levels of supervision in the scenario are equally poor. There is no visible supervision
within the workshop and poor H&S practices are allowed to continue with no intervention
from management. As a result, increasing the risk and likelihood of incidents occurring.

The lack of consultation could be a contributing factor to the incident occurring. No

worker involvement in drafting of Safe Systems of Work (SSOW) when they are primarily
doing the job, creates a gap in that specific task, causing issues such as overloading
racking to improve speed requirements.

The organisation is poor at identifying H&S training requirements which could contribute
to the incident i.e., disregarding the supervisor who required time to carry out a NEBOSH
which would have helped create well-informed and competent staff.

Dysfunctional work pattern could also have been a contributing factor to the incident. For
example, working at night or for extended hours can lead to fatigue and poor
performance, resulting in the FLT speeding around the corner.

Question 5 (b)
Stress could have been a contributing as the FLT was given a verbal and public warning
earlier in the day which could have negatively impacted concentration and performance.

Poor perception since the FLT driver has not been given enough time off for training.
They may not have realised how fast they were going around the corner leading to the
incident.

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 The same routine and repetitive task of driving FLT could have reduced their attention
levels and led to failure of identifying the risk of speeding.

Fatigue due to long working hours especially as the incident occurred later in the day
could have deprived the FLT driver’s perception towards identifying the risk.

A poor attitude could have been influenced by the ever-present negative safety
culture which is evident from poor visible leadership and lack of worker participation.

The presence of peer group pressure could have influenced the FLT driver to complete
their task within specific timeframe due to other experienced workers having taken much
less time to complete task, resulting in them speeding.

Due to the inadequate levels of worker consultation, participation, incentive schemes or

suitable supervision levels, there could have been a lack of motivation from the FLT
driver to perform task safely.

The FLT driver carrying out methods of saving time, speeding and possible overloading
of racking suggests a possible lack of adequate competence which could have
contributed to the FLT driving unsafely.

Possible influence of prescribed or non-prescribed drugs and alcohol which if consumed

can cause over confidence and poor risk perception, potentially causing the FLT driver to
speed.

The lack of supervision could have led to increase levels of mobile phone use among
workers. Mobile phone use while operating a FLT could have caused the lack of
concentration leading up to the incident.

Task 6: Understanding how previous accident investigation prevents future

accidents

Question 6
An investigation of the previous accidents could have helped prevent this accident in
several ways as illustrated below:

Determine why drivers are speeding which could be due to being under pressure after
being publicly shouted at by WM. As a result, managerial styles and priorities could be
reassessed.

Management issues would have been highlighted such as WM not being committed to
H&S and ignoring any non-productivity-based concern as outlined in the scenario.

A clear requirement for an official HSE position could have been determined and
appointed. For instance, supervisor interested in Nebosh qualification could be a positive
step forward to bring in the necessary knowledge and experience.

The method of overloading the racking could have been discovered through investigation
and the reasons why i.e., time pressure. This could have then been rectified, preventing
collapse of racking in this incident.

A lack of training – the investigation could have determined whether the people involved
were competent and suitable and to what standard. A competency-based assessment
could have been carried out to determine appropriate levels, ensuing FLT driver were to

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 a good standard with up-to-date training.

The direct and clear lack of supervision within the workplace could have been detected
and thus poor safety-related behaviour could have been better managed and dealt with.

The visibility of clear poor staff morale may have been identified in the investigation and
measures could have been carried out to improve this, ensuring employee motivation
and engagement is at a suitable level.

A review on workplace layout could have been investigated to determine whether the
workplace layout influenced the adverse event and how this could be changed to prevent
reoccurrence.

The fact there was no segregation between pedestrian and FLT routes would have been
flagged up and rectified prior to this incident occurring.

Could have highlighted areas of legal non-compliance, thus forcing WM to take action
rather than ignore critical H&S issues i.e., up to date training.

A review of the current RA’s and SSOW would have been triggered. This could have
identified whether adequate controls were in place such as appropriate signage to
minimise speeding.

An assessment on machines used could have been carried out to determine whether the
correct FLT that was being used was the most efficient to carry out the job safely, or
whether more suitable alternatives exist.

Would have identified whether maintenance and cleaning regimes were sufficient. The
lack of maintenance and poor housekeeping could have contributed to the FLT taking the
corner sharply, thus obstructing view and leading to the incident.

Rather than workers being ignored, root causes of previous incidents could have been
identified and rectified prior to recommencement of work to avoid reoccurrence.

The negative safety culture ever-present within the business would have been detected
i.e., the need to cut corners and safety disregarded over productivity. This would have
identified a need to reassess the company values.

Task 7: Reporting the accident

Question 7 (a)
This incident must be reported to the enforcing authorities as a legal requirement under
the ‘Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 1995’
(RIDDOR) due to the following conditions.

Injury being declared a ‘specified injury’ due to the loss of consciousness caused by a
head injury.

The employee was away from work for more than seven consecutive days as the result
of their injury.

The incident is deemed as being a dangerous occurrence due to the collapse of the
racking. Furthermore, under ‘Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences
Regulations 2013’ it states that an incident must be reported if there was the
unintentional collapse of a structure which likely involved a fall of more than 5 tonne of

Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023

 material. This seems likely due to it being an avalanche of metal and pallets.

Additionally, reporting the incident provides data for the authorities to generate accident
figures.

Also, reporting the incident ensures that the injured person gets correct medical
treatment.

Likewise, reporting the incident allows for the facts of the incident to be established and
protects the employer by being open and honest in the event of a claim by the injured
party.

Question 7 (b)
The employer should report this injury by quickest possible means and without delay by
use of the online notification report form.

Due to the injury being deemed a specified injury, the employer can also report this injury
by telephone to the HSE Incident Contact Centre.

Due to the incident being deemed as a dangerous occurrence, it can be reported using
the online notification report form on the HSE website.

Furthermore, as the accident led to the employee being away from work for more than 7
consecutive days, it can also be reported using the online notification report form on the
HSE website.

In addition, all reportable events are to be reported online, using the appropriate F2508
form.

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Documents and Course Notes

sources of information HSG245 (Investigating Accidents & Incidents)
you used in your INDG453 (RIDDOR)
examination

End of examination

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Answer sheet NG1-0029-ENG-OBE-V1 Sept23 © NEBOSH 2023