NEBOSH IG1 Open Book Exam August 2020 Question & Answer
NEBOSH IG1 Open Book Exam August 2020 Questions Paper with Answer
NEBOSH IG1 Open Book Exam August 2020:- On 6th August 2020, NEBOSH conducted its first openbook examination for IGC-1, Students were having sufficient time to complete the answers within 24
hours scale where the questions were scenario based like paragraph type, only concept and
questions need to be understood to write a good answer.
Whereas books and internet help can be taken but need to mention the reference where the answer
is taken in the answer sheet. In this article, I will show you NEBOSH IG1 Open Book Exam August
2020 Questions Papers and Their Answer. After reading this full article you will read all the
Tasks asked in NEBOSH OBE Exam, So let's get started:-
Below you will find Scenario Questions with Answers of NEBOSH IG1 OBE August 2020, Read the
scenario carefully then go to the Question Tasks to see the written answer.
NEBOSH IG1 Open Book Exam August 2020
SCENARIO
You have recently moved to a new job. You are now responsible for health and safety at a large,
busy retail store that is located on the outskirts of a large town served by good roads. The store sells
do-it-yourself (DIY) and hardware goods, such as tools, equipment, and hazardous chemicals, to local
businesses and the general public. The organization that owns the store has 100 stores nationally
and 10 in your area.
The main part of the store is open to customers to view and buy goods. At the back of the store,
through an automatic-opening door, is a large warehouse, where stocks of goods are arranged on
racks of shelving. Only store workers are allowed in the warehouse. Warehouse workers use forklift
trucks (FLTs) to move goods from delivery trucks into the warehouse. When the store is closed to
customers the goods are moved into the main part of the store to restock shelves.
You report to the overall Store and Warehouse Manager. The warehouse workforce consists of:
- 20 workers (including 2 shift supervisors) split equally between two 12-hour shifts (08:00 – 20:00
and 20:00 – 08:00) on a rota basis of 4 days on, 4 days off.
Since you started your new job, you have seen a lot of examples of rule-breaking in the warehouse.
For example, you have seen goods stacked in aisles and blocking designated walkways. Workers
have to avoid many obstacles as they walk through the warehouse, causing them to step into vehicle
routes. Workers have told you that there are frequent near-misses between FLTs and workers, and
collisions with products causing damage and spillages. There are no written records of any of these.
There have been many injuries recorded over the years. Most recently, a repeat of a more serious
collision occurred involving a young FLT driver. The brakes were applied too late, as the driver was
distracted by their mobile phone, the FLT skidded on an oil spillage and knocked goods over onto a
passing worker.
On this occasion, the worker’s leg was broken, which required urgent hospital treatment. The
hospital is 5 miles (approximately 8km) away from the store. The worker is expected to be off work
for six weeks to recover from the injury. The injured worker is seeking legal advice to make a
compensation claim.
Worker absence and turnover are high in the warehouse. There are no health and safety worker
representatives. Warehouse workers have told you that they have complained to management
about working conditions many times. They rarely see management in the warehouse. You cannot
find any written records of complaints.
You have tried to convince the overall Store and Warehouse Manager that something needs to be
done to improve health and safety in the warehouse. You are told that there is no money for ‘that
kind of thing’, and even if it were available, it would cause too much disruption to the business.
As a result of the recent FLT collision, you were visited by a labor Inspector who has made a formal
order that requires workplace changes to improve the health and safety of the workers. The
Inspector thinks it is only a matter of time before workers are more seriously injured or even killed in
the warehouse. The Inspector also observed that the written risk assessments are too general and
do not reflect the actual risks in the warehouse. The Inspector wants to see a more effective health
and safety management system at their next visit.
You have discussed with the Inspector possible improvements to health and safety in the
warehouse. The proposed solution involves segregating FLTs and workers with barriers, pedestrian
walkways, designated crossing places, and separate entrances for workers and FLTs. In addition, you
tell the Inspector that you will review health and safety performance, internally and externally, to
make comparisons.
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Task 1:- What financial arguments could you use to justify your proposed recommendations to
segregate FLTs and the workers?
Answer- Proposed recommendations will give following financial benefitsImplementation will help the organization avoid various direct, indirect costs of which only some
may be insured while a major portion could be in-insured.
Avoid first aid and medical costs arising from similar accidents involving a collision between FLT and
workers.
Avoid sick pay costs in the future. 6 weeks sick pay had to be given due to the incident.
Lesser accidents mean avoidance of a sick pay scenario.
Avoid costs arising from repairs and maintenance to damaged property such as those arising from
damaged hardware goods, tools, and even hazardous chemicals.
Avoid costs arising from loss of products and production time due to re-ordering or manufacturing
to compensate for the damaged hardware products or for other remedial action.
Avoid costs due to staff turnover and high attrition rates arising from re-hiring, training new
employees.
Avoid costs arising from legal claims by affected employees similar to that was initiated by the
seriously injured worker.
Avoid costs arising from damage to reputation and brand image. Retail store brand image will lower
and will affect sales and marketing causing losses.
Avoid costs arising from the investigation, fees for investigators, and interruption to operations
during the investigation.
Avoid fines that may be initiated by the labor inspector. Heavy fines could be levied on employers
due to a breach of legal safety requirements.
Avoid costs arising from transportation of injured workers to the hospital which is 8km far away.
Avoid costs arising from compensation to victims, rehabilitation of the injured worker, and their
phased return to work. The above all obligations of the employer and will incur costs through the
work of the Occupation health department.
Avoid costs arising from loss of morale and reduced productivity. Workers will feel demotivated
when frequent accidents occur and it may also trigger unrest in the form of worker strike or protest
which is further loss due to shut down of operations.
Task 2:- You email a report to the overall Store and Warehouse Manager, in a further attempt to
convince them that safety needs improving. The report contains unsafe behavior that you have
observed, unsafe behavior associated with historic incidents, and unsafe behavior relayed to you
from other workers. Also, the report contains voluntary feedback on safety given to you by
workers and managers. (a) what unsafe behavior would be included in the report? (b) what
voluntary feedback would be included in the report?
Answer- 2 (a) Report on unsafe behavior would include
Various rule-breaking saw in the warehouse including goods being stacked in walking aisles
and blocking of designated walkways.
Workers stepping into vehicle routes which may lead to a collision
FLT colliding with products and causing spillages due to unsafe driving techniques possibly due to
poor safety culture or lack of trained FLT drivers
Usage of mobile phone while driving FLT which causes distraction and increase reaction time
possibly due to a lack of rules on phone usage.
Driving of FLT over oil spillages that may have arisen out of poorly maintained FLT
Absence of management visit to warehouse and addressing the concerns of complaints made by
workers
Answer- 2 (b) Voluntary feedback was given by workers and managers could include
Frequent near misses between FLT and workers and collisions with products causing damages.
High worker absence rates and high turnover rates
Absence of health and safety worker representative
Complaints raised by workers to management about working conditions and the inaction toward
the complaints.
Absence of management visit in the warehouse.
Manager’s input on having no money for improving safety and that it would cause too much
disruption to the business.
Task 3:- When selecting the external contractors, what would you consider when assessing their
competence?
Answer- External contractor’s competence can be assessed based on
Contractor Health and safety policy whether they have covered any accident prevention in their
policy or not.
Quality of risk assessment and whether it is sufficient and suitable, method statement and safe
system of work so that an accident can be averted after appointing the contractor arising from the
contract workers and their work.
Contractors staff qualification and training records whether contractor staff is competent to do his
job safely and aware of how to prevent accidents at workplace and specific skill sets that may be
required such as welding or scaffold erection.
Whether contractor is a member of any professional body like HSE or whether he is authorized or
having a license to do this type of work since the membership bodies give their membership only
after careful evaluation of the contractor competency.
Maintenance records of the contractor equipment, plants, machinery whether the contract is
maintaining his equipment in safe condition and safe to use at the warehouse so there will not be
any accident due to faulty equipment.
Past experience in work closely related to the planned work of segregating pathways.
Details of previous and current clients of the contractor to see the performance of the contractor in
respect to Health and Safety
Accident history records of the contractor, record of any enforcement action was taken by legal
authorities against him, if there would be any case and he gets heavy penalty and imprisonment, my
warehouse business activity will be at a halt.
Proof of adequate resources like safety equipment, sufficient number of workers, enough PPEs for
all his workers, and whether the Contractor is having the accessibility of any specialist safety
advice during his work or not.
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Task 4:- To satisfy the expectations of the Inspector, you have developed a formal safety
management system in line with ISO 45001. Based on the scenario only, what are the likely
benefits to the organization of having this formal safety management system?
Answer- Benefits to the organization on implementing an ISO 45001 based safety management
system includes moral, legal, financial gains apart from reducing accidents and improving safety
performance. Below are other specific benefitsHaving a structured management approach based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle concept which
will simplify day today safety management across all 100 stores nationally. Currently, there is no
system for recording near misses in written format, no HS representative chosen, no written system
for registering complaints.
Being able to demonstrate the commitment of top management by setting a policy, a framework of
OHS objectives, and targets. This will help to reduce worker absence and turnover as the
commitment will be clear to workers.
Being able to comply with all legal requirements, closely monitor compliance and thus avoiding any
fines, prosecutions from regulatory authorities.
Being able to deal with non-conformities and deficiencies and having a monitoring arrangement.
Currently, there is no system to attend to complaints.
Being able to fulfill the needs and expectations of the workers and stakeholders. Leadership and
worker participation in the core of an OHSMS and can be achieved through safety committees,
feedback systems, etc. This will also boost worker morale and improve productivity and ownership
at all levels.
Being able to consider internal issues, external issues, needs, and expectations of workers and
stakeholders while making the framework. This will help the organization to consider varied aspects
while doing risk assessments and make them suitable and sufficient.
Being able to specify roles and responsibilities for each worker and manager. This will avoid
confusion and encourage the store manager to address worker complaints, take a site tour thus
involving his role in safety management.
Being able to improve the reputation of the organization by complying with a standard. ISO 45001
standards will give recognition in the market and attract more customers and clients towards the
business giving financial gain and competitive advantage.
Being able to facilitate consultation and participation from workers before decision-making.
Currently, workers' inputs and complaints are not being responded to or considered. This will
improve ownership and boost worker morale.
Being able to set criteria on how to assess worker competence, how to improve
their awareness towards risks, how to manage internal and external communication, how
to allocate sufficient resources, and how to document information that may be used as evidence
when labor inspector revisits for future inspection.
Being able to implement management of change, informing workers on the progress of changes, its
reasons, and benefits and thus keep all workers in the loop.
Having a system in place for emergency management and preparedness. The hospital being 8 km
away would require the organization to do a first aid assessment and provide suitable facilities in the
warehouse.
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Task 5:- What are the negative indicators of safety culture at the warehouse?
Answer- Indicators showing negative safety culture includesUnsafe behavior and acts that include rule-breaking in the warehouse, stacking goods in aisles,
stepping into vehicle zones.
Absence of written records for all near-misses that have been verbally reported.
A repeat of more serious injury and records of many injuries in the past indicate poor safety
performance and lack of action from management to improve safety performance
High worker absence and turnover as understood from the staff records possibly due to high rate of
accidents and poor commitment from management. It could also be due to excessively long working
hours which is currently at 48 hours a week instead of the standard 40 hours a week by 8hrs for 5
days a week shift system.
Absence of health and safety worker representative as understood from the records possibly due
to lack of election arrangement in place.
Absence of written records or worker complaints and their verbal account of not seeing
management visit the warehouse for safety tours.
Poor leadership, commitment, and negative attitude towards safety from management/warehouse
manager which is evident from his perception of lack of money and that it would cause disruption to
business.
Absence of suitable and sufficient risk assessment and the fact that it does not reflect actual risks in
the warehouse. This shows poor attention while doing the risk assessment
Absence of arrangement to review safety performance as of now evident from the fact that it is
being planned to be done in the future based on the inspector’s feedback.
Using Young workers (vulnerable category) for critical tasks like FLT driving. They are likely to be
inexperienced, untrained, or having excessive enthusiasm which may make them more vulnerable to
accidents.
Absence of first aid provisions which is understood by the fact that injured worker had to be rushed
to the hospital which is 8km away. This shows poor planning and foresight.
Possible absence of procedures on mobile phone usage especially during driving or a possible
violation of procedures and associated disciplinary action.
The fact that worker is having to take legal advice for seeking compensation rather than the
organization offering him support, rehabilitation, compensation, and access to OH support.
Task 6:- What do you need to consider so that first-aid needs are realistic and proportionate for
the warehouse workers?
Answer- For the first aid needs to be realistic and proportionate for warehouse workers, following
need to be considered
Activities and nature of work at the warehouse and Risk & hazards present in the warehouse
that includes the movement of vehicles like forklift, using hazardous chemicals, using hardware DIY
goods and putting them on shelves. These activities pose could cause various types of harm such as
breaking bones upon collision with FLT, chemical exposure to hazardous substances, manual
handling injuries, entrapping at automatic door.
Past accident history, previous near-misses, previous collisions that happened at the
warehouse, and what were the consequences of the incidents like what were the injuries or ill health
to the workers, what level of treatment was required.
The geographical location of the warehouse that is located on the outskirts of a large town served
by good roads and distance from the nearby Hospital is 5 miles which are very far the workers
cannot get immediate medical help.
Work pattern and shift systems. The current system involves 12 hours work duration which is long
and workers may tend to lose focus and concentration. Night Shift poses an increased risk of injury
to due lighting conditions causing slip, trip and falls and overall efficiency at night will be lesser than
the day shift.
Availability of trained First aiders at the warehouse. Scenarios depict a possible absence of firstaiders
Presence of vulnerable workers. In this case, young workers are present who are more prone to
accidents and injury.
Total several workers. The provisions like first aid equipment should be sufficient in quantity for 24
people working.
The spread of the ware house concerning areas which are more prone to accidents. First aid
provisions should be stored where the likelihood of an accident is higher.
Task 7:- Decide what level of investigation (minimal, low, medium, high) is appropriate in this
case, clearly justifying each step you take that leads to your decision.
Answer- A A high level of investigation would be taken in this case
Likelihood of recurrence
Certain, Likely, Possible, Unlikely, Rare
The potential worst consequence of the adverse event
Minor, Serious, Major, Fatal
Likelihood is very likely, since many such incidents have occurred in the past as given in the scenario.
Consequence is Major or can even be fatal, as collision with FLT broke his bone which required 6
weeks of medical care and there are possibilities for more severe injury and even fatality.
A high-level investigation will involve a the team-based investigation, involving supervisors or line
managers, health and safety advisers, and employee representatives. It will be carried out under the
supervision of senior management or directors and will look for the immediate, underlying, and
root causes.
A high the level investigation will help function as reactive monitoring and analyze trends. It will
focus on root cause analysis and prevent it in the future. It will also give an idea on what new control
measures to implement, which in this case was to appoint an external contractor to design the
dedicated pathways. It will also help to find the costs behind the accident, to comply with legal
requirement considering the level of the accident, to initiate disciplinary actions against workers
who were involved or in breach and to process claim from an insurance agency.
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Task 8:- What individual human factors could have negatively influenced the behavior of the
young FLT driver?
Answer- Individual human factors that could have negatively influenced the behavior of the young
driver includePoor perception since he is young and lack experience and possibly training too. He may not have
been able to recognize spilled oil to be a slip hazard while driving FLT.
Routine and repetitive tasks of driving FLT could have reduced his attention levels and led to failure
of identifying the risk of spilled oil and hard braking.
Fatigue and stress due to long working hours especially towards the end of shift could have deprived
his perception towards identifying the risk.
Attitude could have been influenced by the prevailing negative safety culture which is evident from
poor visible leadership and lack of worker participation.
Peer group pressure could have influenced him because other experienced workers have taken the
absence of a structured system lightly and their casual attitude towards high frequency of incidents.
Lack of motivation due to inadequate levels of worker consultation and participation and absence of
any incentive schemes or adequate supervision levels or high absence levels
Lack of adequate competence which can be understood by the high number of collision-related
incidents. Drivers may not have adequate training, license, experience and supervision to drive FLT
safely.
Possible influence of drugs and alcohol. Young workers are more prone to consume drugs and
alcohol due to peer influence which will increase reaction time and lead to accidents.
Young workers are more vulnerable to the frequent use of mobile phones and thus more
susceptible to get distracted to the excessive influence of social media on the young generation.
Young workers are more prone to drive faster due to higher enthusiasm and thrill factor which may
have also been a factor
Task 9:- The investigation into the recent accident, when a worker’s leg was broken, is now
focusing on management failures. Based on the scenario only, what management failures could
have contributed to this accident?
Answer- Management failures that could have contributed to the accident includeFailure to identify hazards and risks arising from routine activities, unsafe behaviors, and conditions
visible at the warehouse
Failure to provide an arrangement to report near misses in written format and to review the same
to take further action.
Failure to provide clear & written Policy, rules & regulation, absence of safety management
system and not kept any provision of disciplinary actions against the violation of rules & regulations
inside the warehouse by workers.
Failure to identify root causes and analyze from past incidents and take further new control actions
to avoid repetition of similar incidents in the future.
Failure to depute experienced workers for critical activities like FLT driving. Young workers need
more supervision and should be avoided for critical activities.
Failure to provide adequate training on FLT operation to understand the correct braking technique.
Failure to control violations and develop a policy on mobile phone usage while at work.
Failure to organize safety inspections and safety tours as part of active monitoring to identify oil
spillages, blockages of walking paths, etc.
Failure to assess first aid requirements and provide the necessary equipment, arrangements, and
first-aiders at the site.
Failure to address causes for high attrition and absence rates and failure to appoint a worker
representative as required by the law.
Failure to provide arrangements for written reporting of complaints, addressing them and to show
visible leadership through safety tours and site visits by top management.
Failure to give priority to safety and the attitude maintained by a top manager
Failure to review safety performance and making risk assessments not in a specific, suitable, and
sufficient manner.
Management has failed to develop & implement the suitable control measure giving the excuses to
money problem and if money available also, then disruption of the business.
Task 10:- (a) Based on evidence from the scenario only, comment on how the organization is
performing in the following areas (i) active and reactive monitoring. (ii) the adequacy of current
risk assessments. (iii) operational procedures and rules. (iv) compliance with legal requirements.
(b) Based on evidence from the scenario only, what sources of benchmarking information could be
used?
Answer- 10 (a) (I) Organization is not performing well as there is no active monitoring like safety
inspection, safety survey, safety sampling, safety Audit, and safety tours. Management is not seen
on the site as per the scenario.
The organization is not doing any Reactive monitoring like investigation, root cause analysis and
review of previous near-misses, previous collisions, analysis of Accident statics like Accident rate,
Worker absence, and turnover rate. The organization not collecting any information & data to
enhance the performance at the warehouse.
Answer- 10 (a) (ii) Risk assessments are found to be too generic in nature and not considered the
specific factors like young workers, night shifts, and do not reflect the actual risks in the warehouse.
It has been found not to be suitable and sufficient as required for the site.
Answer- 10 (a) (iii) There appears to be a lack of organizational procedures about mobile
phone usage at work, method statements for specific work, rules on where it is allowed to walk, and
where it is not. Lack of procedures on where to stock the goods, procedures for reporting near
misses and complaints, procedures for dealing with emergencies.
Lack of rules about usage of dedicated FLT-only pathways and on storage of hardware stock. Past
relevant data is also not be considered during the risk assessment.
Answer- 10 (a) (iv) The the organization has not complied with the legal requirements of HASWA
Act 1974, The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 as there are more than 5
workers at warehouse. It is clearly visible from the warehouse that it is in breach of ILO conventions
C155 and recommendations R164. Situations like young person assigned for high-risk activities like
FLT driving without supervision, not doing a proper risk assessment, not creating provision of First
Aid & First Aiders, Not able to provide a safe workplace, Safe plant, and machinery.
Answer- 10 (b) Sources for benchmarking includes safety performance within the warehouse in the
past months and years and its trend, safety performance of other branches in the country, accident
incidence rates across other branches, near miss statistics across branches, training and competency
records of workers, staff turnover rates and absence rates across branches, formal order records in
the past, audit, and inspection data.