What is the CITB Health Safety and Environment test?
Those individuals who are working at construction sites come in regular contact with materials which can harmful to them. There are heavy machines involved, which if manhandled can cause grievous injuries, some even resulting in death. There is always a risk of being electrocuted as the construction sites need to be supplied with a lot of electricity. There can be short circuits which can be potentially threatening the entire area inside and outside the construction zone. The workers also need to handle hazardous and corrosive materials; which if not handled with care can be dangerous. Extreme precautions thus need to be taken by a worker before stepping inside the construction zone. The CITB health and safety test serves to determine whether a worker understands the severity of the situation and has the knowledge to operate the machinery inside the zone. The CITB health safety and environment test which is conducted by the CITB is given in order to ensure that the workforce is qualified and possess the right knowledge, skills, and training.
The test communicates knowledge of maintaining health and safety at the worksite. The test has duration of 45 minutes. In these 45 minutes, the candidates are required to answer 50 questions. These questions are multiple choice questions and the candidate needs to select the correct choice. Three new question styles have been included in the test because of which, the questions will be presented in a different way, even though the content of the questions will remain similar. To keep the test up-to-date, CITB has introduced new styles which enable the questions to be asked in a more engaging and effective way. The new styles will comprise drag and drop image questions, hot spots and hot areas. The test will still be made up of behavioural case studies and questions based on knowledge which check the individuals of how to behave in situations and how to raise awareness of health, safety and environmental issues. The questions based on knowledge comprise the five major sections; legal and management, health and welfare, general safety, high-risk activities, environment. In the present setup, the number of general knowledge questions on health and safety issues number to 32 and the number of questions on case studies describing how to behave safely on site number to 12.
In order to prepare for the test, one can take the help of the resource material present. There are also sample test papers. Qualifying the test is an important step for those who want to know how to get a CSCS card online. There are three types of tests; the operative test which focuses on health, safety, environment, high risk activities, legal aspects and management. The second type of health and safety test is the specialist test where candidates will be required to answer specialist knowledge-based questions on topics like pipefitting, welding, tunnelling, highway works, plumbing, etc. The third type of health and safety test is the managers and professionals test where questions from construction regulations, demolition and plumbing would be included.
