TheoryCSCS Card UK
Practice Test
Pass your CSCS Health, Safety & Environment test with targeted practice questions covering site safety, hazard awareness and emergency procedures. Get on site faster.
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CSCS Card UK exam — full Q&A walkthrough
Every question read aloud with the answer explained. Play it on your commute, then test yourself.
30 free CSCS Card UK questions
Sampled across every topic area — not just the first page. Try them as a quiz or flip them as flashcards.
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CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, which of the following is a duty placed on employees?
Correct — D. Section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 places a duty on every employee to take reasonable care for their own health and safety and that of others who may be affected by what they do or fail to do at work. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
What colour background is used for mandatory safety signs, such as those requiring the wearing of personal protective equipment?
Correct — D. Under the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, mandatory signs — those that require a specific action or the use of PPE — must have a blue circular background. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A toolbox talk is BEST described as which of the following?
Correct — B. A toolbox talk is a short, focused safety briefing delivered at or near the workplace to inform workers about specific hazards, safe working practices, or changes to a task; it is a practical communication tool, not a statutory document. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, employers with five or more employees must do which of the following?
Correct — C. Section 2(3) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers with five or more employees to prepare and, as often as may be appropriate, revise a written statement of general health and safety policy, and bring it to the notice of all employees. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under CDM 2015, who is responsible for planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating health and safety during the construction phase of a project?
Correct — B. Regulation 12 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 places the duty on the principal contractor to plan, manage, monitor and coordinate health and safety throughout the construction phase, including preparing the construction phase plan. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Which of the following injuries sustained by a worker at work must be reported to the enforcing authority under RIDDOR 2013?
Correct — B. The Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013 (RIDDOR) classify the loss of a limb or digit as a 'specified injury' that must be reported to the enforcing authority immediately, whereas absence from work must exceed seven consecutive days before it triggers a report. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A method statement on a construction site is PRIMARILY used to do which of the following?
Correct — C. A method statement — sometimes called a safe system of work — documents the step-by-step sequence of operations for a specific task alongside the control measures needed to manage identified risks, and is typically read alongside the associated risk assessment. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under RIDDOR 2013, over-seven-day injuries to workers must be reported to the enforcing authority within how many days of the accident?
Correct — B. Regulation 4 of RIDDOR 2013 requires that where a worker is incapacitated for more than seven consecutive days (not counting the day of the accident), the employer must notify the enforcing authority within 15 days of the accident. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A site induction for a new worker should cover which of the following?
Correct — D. CDM 2015 and general HASAWA duties require that new arrivals on site receive an induction covering at minimum: emergency and evacuation procedures, first-aid arrangements, site-specific rules, welfare facilities, and the significant hazards and controls relevant to the site. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Which safety sign colour is used to indicate a prohibition — something you must NOT do?
Correct — B. The Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996 specify that prohibition signs use a red circular border and diagonal bar on a white background with a black symbol, meaning the action depicted is forbidden. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under CDM 2015, the principal designer's MAIN duty during the pre-construction phase is to do which of the following?
Correct — B. Regulation 11 of CDM 2015 makes the principal designer responsible for planning, managing, monitoring and coordinating health and safety during the pre-construction phase, and for preparing and updating the health and safety file — not the construction phase plan, which is the principal contractor's document. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
An employer is assessing risks from manual handling tasks under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992. In what order should the hierarchy of control measures be applied?
Correct — B. Regulation 4 of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 requires employers to first avoid the need for manual handling where it is reasonably practicable to do so, and only where avoidance is not reasonably practicable to assess the remaining task and reduce the risk of injury as far as reasonably practicable. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under RIDDOR 2013, which of the following is classified as a 'dangerous occurrence' that must be reported even if no one is injured?
Correct — D. Schedule 2 of RIDDOR 2013 lists the unintentional collapse or partial collapse of a scaffold more than five metres in height as a specified dangerous occurrence that must be reported to the enforcing authority, regardless of whether anyone is hurt. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A risk assessment concludes that a particular hazard cannot be eliminated. According to the general hierarchy of control set out in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, which control measure should be considered BEFORE simply providing personal protective equipment?
Correct — C. Regulation 4 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 requires employers to apply the hierarchy: eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls (including safe systems of work and training), and only as a last resort provide PPE — meaning engineering controls must be considered before relying on PPE. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under the Work at Height Regulations 2005, what is the FIRST step an employer must take before deciding how to work at height?
Correct — B. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 require employers to follow a hierarchy: first avoid working at height if reasonably practicable, then prevent falls, then minimise the consequences of a fall. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Which colour safety sign would you expect to see at the entrance to a confined space warning of an oxygen-deficient atmosphere?
Correct — C. Yellow triangular warning signs are used to alert workers to hazards such as a dangerous atmosphere; they do not instruct or prohibit but draw attention to the risk. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
When using a leaning ladder on a construction site, what is the correct angle at which the ladder should be set against the supporting surface?
Correct — C. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 and HSE guidance specify that a leaning ladder should be placed at approximately 75 degrees — a 1-in-4 ratio of base distance to height — to ensure stability. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Before any excavation begins on a construction site, what must be done regarding buried services such as gas pipes and electricity cables?
Correct — A. CDM 2015 and HSE guidance require that underground services are identified using service drawings, cable and pipe locators, and other means before any excavation work starts to prevent strikes. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A mobile elevating work platform (MEWP) is to be used on a construction site. Under LOLER 1998, how often must it undergo a thorough examination by a competent person?
Correct — D. LOLER 1998 requires lifting equipment used to lift persons — which includes MEWPs — to be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least every 6 months, or after any event that could have affected its safety. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Which of the following correctly describes the hierarchy of control for working at height under the Work at Height Regulations 2005?
Correct — A. The Work at Height Regulations 2005 establish a three-step hierarchy: avoid the work at height, then prevent falls using collective protection such as guardrails, and finally minimise the distance and consequences of any fall. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
You are about to enter a confined space to carry out maintenance work. What must be in place BEFORE you enter, in addition to a risk assessment?
Correct — A. The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 require a safe system of work that includes a permit-to-work, continuous atmospheric monitoring, and a pre-planned rescue arrangement before entry is made. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
An excavation on site is 1.8 metres deep. What is the minimum requirement to protect workers inside it from collapse?
Correct — D. HSE guidance under HASAWA 1974 and CDM 2015 requires that excavations likely to collapse are made safe by battering the sides, installing proprietary trench supports, or other engineering measures before workers enter. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Overhead power lines are present above a proposed construction access route. Which of the following control measures takes highest priority under the hierarchy of control?
Correct — D. The hierarchy of control requires elimination first — rerouting the road removes the risk entirely, whereas goal-posts, banksmen, and driver instruction are lower-order controls that merely manage or reduce the hazard. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A worker is using a class-three harness and fall-arrest lanyard attached to a single anchor point on a scaffold. The anchor point is level with the worker's waist. What is the PRIMARY additional hazard this arrangement creates compared with an anchor above the worker's head?
Correct — C. When an anchor is at waist level rather than above the head, the worker free-falls twice the lanyard length before arrest begins; longer free-fall increases arrest forces and the risk of a pendulum swing-fall striking a structure. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997, who is legally permitted to carry out a rescue from a confined space where atmospheric monitoring has detected a dangerous gas level?
Correct — B. The Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 require that no rescue is attempted unless adequate rescue arrangements — including a trained team, correct personal protective and resuscitation equipment, and a safe method — are established before entry. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
A principal contractor receives a notification that an excavation on site has collapsed, burying a worker for three hours before rescue. The worker is taken to hospital with fractures. Under RIDDOR 2013, what reporting obligation applies?
Correct — B. RIDDOR 2013 classifies a fracture other than to a finger, thumb, or toe as a specified injury, which must be notified to the HSE without delay (immediately by phone or online), and the scene should be preserved pending investigation. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
During a risk assessment for working at height, the assessor concludes that neither avoidance nor collective fall-prevention measures are reasonably practicable. The next step in the Work at Height Regulations 2005 hierarchy is to minimise the consequences of a fall. Which combination of measures BEST achieves this?
Correct — A. Where falls cannot be prevented, the Work at Height Regulations 2005 require fall-mitigation equipment — personal fall-arrest systems with certified anchors arrest the fall and limit injury, and a rescue plan addresses the risk of suspension trauma. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
What does the abbreviation COSHH stand for in UK health and safety law?
Correct — A. COSHH stands for the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002, which require employers to assess and control workers' exposure to hazardous substances. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
Under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, what is the FIRST action an employer must take when a manual handling task cannot be avoided?
Correct — C. The Regulations require employers to carry out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of any manual handling task that cannot be eliminated, before deciding on control measures. -
CITB Health, Safety & Environment
What colour are mandatory safety signs on a UK construction site, such as the sign requiring you to wear a hard hat?
Correct — C. Under the Health and Safety (Safety Signs and Signals) Regulations 1996, mandatory signs — which instruct workers to take a specific action — are blue circles with a white symbol or text.
CSCS Card UK sample questions
Tap any question below to reveal the answer and a plain-English explanation.
CITB Health, Safety & Environment A worker regularly uses a vibrating disc cutter for several hours each day. Which health condition is the MOST likely long-term consequence if vibration exposure is not controlled?
A. Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS), which can cause permanent numbness and loss of grip ✓
B. Noise-induced hearing loss from the cutter's engine
C. Occupational asthma from cement dust
D. Dermatitis caused by contact with the vibrating handles
Correct — A. Prolonged exposure to hand-transmitted vibration above the action values set in the Control of Vibration at Work Regulations 2005 can cause HAVS, a permanent and debilitating condition affecting nerves, blood vessels and joints in the hands and arms.
Real Exam Practice When does your employer need to provide a first-aid box?
A. When total employees exceed 10
B. When total employees exceed 35
C. Every site should have one regardless of employee numbers ✓
D. First-aid boxes are discretionary
Correct — C. Every site must have a first-aid box regardless of the number of employees.
CITB Health, Safety & Environment Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, at which daily personal noise exposure level (LEP,d) must an employer FIRST provide workers with hearing protection if they request it?
A. 80 dB(A) ✓
B. 85 dB(A)
C. 90 dB(A)
D. 75 dB(A)
Correct — A. 80 dB(A) is the lower exposure action value; at this level employers must provide hearing protection on request, inform workers of the risks, and carry out health surveillance where appropriate.
Real Exam Practice Protective mid-soles on your footwear are used to?
A. Increase comfort throughout the day
B. Support ankles and prevent twisting
C. Protect feet from falling objects
D. Protect feet from stepping on nails and sharp objects ✓
Correct — D. Mid-sole protection (penetration-resistant insoles) prevents injury from stepping on sharp objects such as nails.
CITB Health, Safety & Environment Construction workers cutting or grinding sandstone and concrete are at risk from a serious lung disease caused by inhaling fine dust. What is the specific hazard called?
A. Coal workers' pneumoconiosis
B. Occupational asthma
C. Asbestosis
D. Silicosis ✓
Correct — D. Respirable crystalline silica (RCS) released when cutting silica-containing materials such as concrete, sandstone or brick causes silicosis, an irreversible and potentially fatal fibrotic lung disease.
Real Exam Practice Why are site inductions important?
A. Work site health and safety rules are discussed ✓
B. Opportunity to formally meet colleagues
C. Allows you to look around the work site
D. Opportunity to meet site manager and supervisors
Correct — A. Site inductions cover all site-specific health and safety rules and procedures.
CITB Health, Safety & Environment Before starting work on a building constructed before the year 2000 that may contain asbestos, what document should a worker request from the person responsible for the building?
A. The asbestos register and management plan ✓
B. The construction phase plan
C. The fire risk assessment
D. The site-specific COSHH assessment for dust
Correct — A. Regulation 4 of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 places a duty to manage asbestos on the dutyholder, who must maintain an asbestos register and management plan that workers and contractors must be able to consult before starting work.
Real Exam Practice Class 3 ladders are suitable for?
A. Heavy duty and industrial purposes
B. Domestic use ✓
C. Both industrial and domestic purposes
D. Building site purposes
Correct — B. Class 3 ladders are rated for light domestic use only, not industrial or construction use.
About the CSCS Card UK test
Revise for the CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test you need for a CSCS card, with original practice questions written from the publicly available CITB HS&E syllabus and UK construction health and safety law. Every question has a clear explanation.
What you get
- Legal and management duties, high-risk activities (working at height, excavations, confined spaces), occupational health (COSHH, dust, noise, HAVS, manual handling), fire, electricity and plant, PPE and safe behaviour, and environmental awareness.
- A clear explanation for every question.
- Timed mock tests in the style of the real HS&E test.
Original & safe
Every question is written for this app from the public CITB syllabus. Nothing is copied from any real exam, question bank or third-party material.
You will be tested on
- Work health & safety law and duty of care
- Spotting site hazards and controlling risk
- Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Emergency procedures and incident reporting
How TheoryPractice helps you pass
- Real exam-style questions with instant, detailed explanations
- Full timed mock exams that mirror the real test format
- Flashcards & quiz modes from the same question bank
- Progress tracking so you know exactly when you're ready
Topics in this question bank
Work health & safety law and duty of care
Spotting site hazards and controlling risk
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
Emergency procedures and incident reporting
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