🦺 Unit 12 — Paper 2

Unit 12 — Health and Safety Principles and Coverage

Unit 12 covers the legal and practical framework for keeping people safe in engineering and manufacturing environments. Health and safety isn't just paperwork — it's a fundamental responsibility that every engineer shares. You'll study the key legislation that governs workplaces, how risks are identified and managed, and what organisations must do to protect their workers, visitors and the public.

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Some topics covered in this unit

Health and safety legislation — the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, RIDDOR, COSHH and PUWER regulations

Risk assessment — identifying hazards, evaluating risk levels and implementing appropriate control measures

The hierarchy of control — elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and PPE

Safe systems of work — permit to work systems, lockout/tagout procedures and method statements

Common workplace hazards — mechanical, electrical, chemical, ergonomic and environmental hazards in engineering

Accident reporting and investigation — how incidents are reported, investigated and used to prevent recurrence

Sample question

Risk Assessment

According to the hierarchy of controls, which method of controlling a hazard should be considered first?

Providing PPE

Using administrative controls

Eliminating the hazard entirely

Installing engineering controls

✓ Correct answer: C — Eliminating the hazard entirely. The hierarchy of controls ranks risk reduction methods from most to least effective. Elimination — removing the hazard completely — is always the most effective option and should be considered first. PPE is at the bottom of the hierarchy because it only protects the individual rather than removing the risk at source.