Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

20.2 
The written examinations
The previous chapter on study skills gives some useful 
advice on tackling examinations and should be read in 
conjunction with this chapter. Particular attention should 
be paid to terminology used in NEBOSH examin-
ations and the meaning of the action verbs used in the 
questions.
Candidates have always had most diffi culty with 
the action verb ‘
outline
’ and, for this reason, several of 
the specimen questions chosen use ‘
outline
’ so that 
some guidance on the depth of answer expected by the 
examiners can be given.
It is diffi cult to give a defi nitive guide on the exact 
length of answer to the examination questions because 
some expected answers will be longer than others. 
As a general guide, for the long answer question on the 
examination paper, it should take about 25 minutes to 
write about one and a half pages (550 to 620 words). 
Each of the ten short answer questions require about 
half a page of writing (170 to 210 words).
While candidates may not be guaranteed 100% by 
following the guidance in this chapter, they should obtain 
a comfortable pass.
20.2.1
NGC1 – The management of health 
and safety
Paper 1 – Question 1
(a) 
Outline
the factors that should be considered
when selecting individuals to assist in carrying
out risk assessments in the workplace. 
(5)
(b) 
Describe
the key stages of a general risk
assessment. 
(5)
(c) 
Outline
a hierarchy of measures for controlling 
exposures to hazardous substances. 
(10)
Answer:
(a) The most important factor is the competence and 
experience of the individuals in hazard identifi cation 
and risk assessment. Some training in these areas 
should offer evidence of the required competence. 
They should be experienced in the process or activ-
ity under assessment and have technical knowledge