To get most CSCS cards you first need to pass the CITB Health, safety and environment (HS&E) test. These free practice quizzes cover the same ground as the operatives test, with a short explanation and the regulation behind every answer, so you learn the reason and not just the letter.
How the HS&E test works
The test is set by CITB and taken at a Pearson Professional Centre. The operatives version has 50 questions in 45 minutes across five core knowledge areas: working environment, occupational health, safety, high-risk activities and specialist. CITB states a pass mark of 90%, so you need at least 45 correct answers. There are separate versions for specialists and for managers and professionals.
CSCS asks you to have passed the appropriate level of the test within the two years before you apply for a card. For the green Labourer card you also need a recognised qualification, the Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment. CSCS does not run tests or courses itself: the test is booked through CITB.
What to revise
The questions are about real situations on site, so the law behind them is worth knowing:
- your duties as an employee under section 7 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, and reporting dangers to your supervisor;
- health risks: noise (hearing protection at 85 dB(A)), hand-arm vibration, silica dust, asbestos in buildings built or refurbished before 2000, dermatitis and cement burns, leptospirosis;
- high-risk activities: work at height and scaffold inspections, ladders, fragile roofs, excavations, buried and overhead services, confined spaces, lifting operations and site traffic;
- site rules under CDM 2015: induction, welfare facilities, emergency procedures;
- reporting accidents under RIDDOR 2013.
Our two quizzes split the material in the same way: one on site safety and health, one on high-risk activities.
Practice questions, not the real test
These quizzes were written by Quizhat from the regulations and HSE guidance. They are not CITB questions and they are not the questions you will see in the test, and Quizhat has no link with CITB or CSCS. For official revision, CITB publishes its own question book (GT100), an app with mock tests and a free demo test. Use our quizzes to check your understanding and to discuss the answers in a group; use the official material to get used to the format.