CPCS A62 Crane/Lifting Operations Supervisor

Correct: A Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) is the industry-standard approach for managing the risks associated with fatigue. It aligns with the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 by treating fatigue as a foreseeable hazard that requires a systematic management process. This includes assessing the risks of specific shift patterns, setting limits based on sleep science, and fostering a culture where workers feel safe to report fatigue, ensuring that the organization can respond to risks before incidents occur.

Incorrect: Mandating a universal eight-hour shift is an overly simplistic administrative control that may not account for the cumulative fatigue of consecutive shifts or the specific demands of high-risk tasks. Delegating fatigue management entirely to individuals is ineffective because fatigue significantly impairs a person’s ability to objectively judge their own level of impairment. Relying solely on reactive biometric monitoring is insufficient as it fails to address the organizational root causes of fatigue, such as poor roster design or inadequate rest facilities, and only identifies the hazard after it has already manifested.

Takeaway: Effective fatigue management requires a systemic, risk-based approach that combines organizational scheduling controls with a supportive, non-punitive reporting culture.

Correct: Maximizing off-site pre-assembly is the most effective control because it follows the principles of the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and CDM 2015 by eliminating or reducing the duration of work at height. By installing collective protection like edge guards and flooring at ground level, the risk of a fall is significantly reduced or removed for the erection phase, which is higher in the hierarchy of control than individual protection measures.

Incorrect: Mandating personal fall arrest systems is an individual protection measure and sits at the bottom of the hierarchy of control as it only mitigates the impact of a fall rather than preventing it. Permit-to-work systems and rescue training are administrative controls that do not physically prevent the hazard. While mobile elevating work platforms are a form of engineering control, they still involve working at height and are considered less effective than eliminating the need for such work through pre-assembly and collective protection.

Takeaway: The hierarchy of control prioritizes the elimination of work at height through design and pre-assembly over the use of personal protective equipment.

Correct: According to the Work at Height Regulations 2005, if work must be carried out on or near a fragile surface, the employer must ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that suitable platforms, coverings, or guardrails are provided to prevent falls. Warning notices must be fixed at the approach to any fragile surface. Collective safeguards (like covers or guardrails) are prioritized over individual safeguards (like harnesses) in the hierarchy of control, and the PQP must ensure these standards are met despite verbal claims of material strength.

Incorrect: Relying on personal fall protection equipment as a primary control is incorrect because the hierarchy of control requires collective measures to be prioritized over individual ones. Accepting verbal assurances regarding material strength without technical verification or physical safeguards is a failure of professional duty and does not meet regulatory requirements for fragile surfaces. Rescheduling for daylight hours is an administrative control that does not provide the necessary physical protection against the hazard of falling through a surface.

Takeaway: Collective fall protection and clear signage are mandatory requirements when working near fragile roof surfaces to comply with the hierarchy of risk control.

Correct: Under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) and specific health and safety guidance for concrete pumping, equipment stability is a critical safety factor. Ensuring that outriggers are fully deployed on spreader plates—specifically sized based on the ground’s bearing capacity—is the primary engineering control to prevent the pump from overturning during operation. This requires a site-specific assessment of the ground conditions to ensure the equipment can safely support the loads and pressures generated during the pour.

Incorrect: Implementing cooling periods for hydraulics is a maintenance and operational efficiency measure rather than a primary safety control against catastrophic overturning. Requiring an HGV Class 1 license is a regulatory requirement for road use but does not address the technical safety competencies required for operating the pumping mechanism or ensuring site stability. Verifying concrete slump and aggregate size is important for preventing blockages and ‘hose whip’ accidents, but it is not the primary control for preventing the overturning of the pump unit itself.

Takeaway: The primary safety control for preventing concrete pump overturning is the use of correctly sized spreader plates and outriggers based on a professional ground stability assessment as required by PUWER and CDM 2015 regulations.

Correct: Under PUWER and CDM 2015, the stability of work equipment is a primary safety concern. For concrete pumps, the most significant risk is overturning due to ground failure or proximity to voids or walls. Prioritizing ground bearing capacity, spreader plate specification, and safe stand-off distances addresses the root cause of potential catastrophic failure through engineering controls and site-specific risk assessment.

Incorrect: While operator certification and maintenance records are required under PUWER, they do not mitigate the site-specific risk of ground collapse or overturning. Pipeline safety features like chains and hopper volume are operational safety considerations but are secondary to the primary stability of the plant. Communication, lighting, and spill kits are administrative controls or environmental protections that do not prevent the structural failure of the pump setup.

Takeaway: Safe concrete pump operation relies primarily on ensuring the ground can support the equipment’s load through geotechnical assessment and proper weight distribution via spreader plates.

Correct: Under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, employers are legally required to assess all foreseeable risks to health and safety, which includes fatigue. Fatigue is a physiological state that reduces mental and physical performance, significantly increasing the likelihood of errors and accidents. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 further requires the provision of a safe system of work. Managing fatigue through structured shift patterns and mandatory rest is a fundamental part of a safe system, especially when near-misses have already identified a failure in current controls.

Incorrect: Providing enhanced welfare facilities or increasing the frequency of briefings are administrative measures that do not address the root cause of fatigue, which is the lack of sleep and recovery time. Relying on employee self-assessment is flawed because fatigue impairs the cognitive ability to judge one’s own level of impairment. Furthermore, an employer cannot transfer their statutory health and safety liabilities to employees through written waivers or self-certification; the primary duty of care remains with the employer to provide a safe environment and manageable workload.

Takeaway: Fatigue is a foreseeable workplace hazard that must be managed through formal risk assessment and adequate rest periods rather than relying on individual resilience or administrative site measures.

Correct: Wet concrete is highly alkaline, typically possessing a pH level between 12 and 13. Under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) Regulations, it is recognized that alkaline burns are particularly insidious because they do not cause immediate pain. This lack of an early warning signal means that workers or visitors may remain in contact with the substance for extended periods, allowing the chemical to penetrate deep into the skin and underlying tissues before the injury is discovered.

Incorrect: While the aggregate is abrasive, the primary risk of ‘cement burns’ is chemical alkalinity rather than mechanical injury or bacterial infection. Although the curing of concrete is an exothermic process that generates heat, the temperature in standard construction pours is generally not high enough to cause thermal burns; the damage is almost exclusively chemical. Crystalline silica is a significant respiratory hazard when inhaled as dry dust (silicosis), but it does not cause acute skin burns or sensitization through dermal absorption in its wet state.

Takeaway: Wet concrete causes painless but severe alkaline chemical burns, making the use of waterproof PPE and immediate decontamination essential even in the absence of immediate discomfort.

Correct: According to the Work at Height Regulations 2005 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Hierarchy of Control must be followed. This requires that work at height be avoided where possible (e.g., pre-assembly at ground level) and that collective protection measures (which protect everyone in the area, such as MEWPs or guardrails) take priority over personal protection measures (which only protect the individual, such as harnesses). Since pre-assembly and MEWPs are feasible, they must be prioritized over nets and harnesses.

Incorrect: Approving the assessment based on training and inspections is incorrect because it bypasses the legal requirement to prioritize prevention over mitigation. Adding secondary backup systems like twin-lanyards still relies on personal protection equipment (PPE) rather than moving up the hierarchy to collective prevention. Increasing the frequency of dynamic risk assessments is a useful monitoring tool but does not address the fundamental failure to apply the hierarchy of control during the initial planning and assessment phase.

Takeaway: The Hierarchy of Control legally mandates prioritizing the avoidance of work at height and the use of collective prevention measures over personal protection and mitigation.