Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

Health and safety foundations
21
arrangements and procedures. If the audit is to be 
really effective, it must assess both the compliance 
with stated procedures and the performance in the 
workplace. It will identify weaknesses in the health 
and safety policy and procedures and identify unreal-
istic or inadequate standards and targets.
The conclusions from an audit of an organization’s health 
and safety performance should be included in the annual 
report for discussion at Board meetings. This is consid-
ered best corporate practice.
More detail is given on HSG65 and other health and 
safety management systems in Chapter 18.
1.17 
Practice NEBOSH questions for 
Chapter 1
1. 
Explain
, using an example 
EACH
case, the mean-
ing of the following terms:
(i) 
‘hazard’
(ii) 
‘risk’
2. (a) 
Outline
the main functions of:
(i) criminal law
(ii) 
civil 
law
(b) 
Explain
the principal differences between 
common law and statute law.
3. 
Outline
the 
four
key differences between civil law 
and criminal law.
4. An employer has common law duty of care for the 
health, safety and welfare of their employees. 
Giv-
ing
an example in 
EACH
case, 
identify
what the 
employer must provide in order to fulfi ll this com-
mon law duty of care.
5. (a) 
Defi ne
the term ‘negligence’.
(b) 
Outline
the three standard conditions that must 
be met for an injured employee to prove a case 
of negligence against his/her employer following 
an accident at work.
(c) 
Outline
the general defences available to an em-
ployer in a case of alleged negligence brought 
by an employee.
(d)