Safe Pass Study Guide 2026

About Safe Pass

Safe Pass is a mandatory one-day health and safety awareness programme for the construction industry in Ireland. It is run by SOLAS and delivered in a classroom by SOLAS-approved tutors. When you complete it, you get a Safe Pass registration card.

Under the Construction Regulations 2013, all construction workers, including apprentices and trainees, must hold a valid card. New entrants to construction must complete the course, including transition year students on construction work experience.

You can also renew by doing the full classroom day again. SOLAS lists the renewal test fee as €93.84, including the card. Renewal tests are booked on constructioncourses.ie.

What the course covers

The programme has 13 learning units:

1. Introduction to site safety
2. Legislation and site safety
3. Site accident reporting
4. Introduction to risk assessment
5. Risk assessment for electricity
6. Risk assessment for excavations
7. Risk assessment for heights
8. Behaviour-based safety
9. Site safety and construction equipment
10. Site safety and construction vehicles
11. Personal health and welfare
12. Noise and vibration
13. Personal protective equipment

The law on site

Safe Pass is based on the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005, the General Application Regulations 2007 and the Construction Regulations 2013. The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) enforces this law.

Employer duties

• Protect the safety, health and welfare of employees as far as is reasonably practicable (section 8).
• Safety measures must not cost employees money, so required PPE is free.
• Identify hazards and assess the risks (section 19).
• Prepare a written safety statement based on the risk assessment (section 20).
• Let employees choose a safety representative (section 25).
• Never penalise an employee for raising a safety concern or acting on safety (section 27).

Your duties as an employee (section 13)

• Take reasonable care of your own safety, health and welfare and that of anyone affected by what you do.
• Do not be under the influence of alcohol or drugs to the extent that you put yourself or others in danger.
• If reasonably required, agree to appropriate intoxicant tests by or under a registered medical practitioner.
• Co-operate with your employer on safety.
• Do not engage in improper conduct or behaviour, such as horseplay, that could put anyone in danger.
• Attend the safety training your employer requires and undergo any assessment.
• Use protective equipment and other items correctly, as you were trained and instructed.
• Report dangers, defects and breaches of safety law to your employer as soon as practicable.
• Do not misrepresent your training when you take a job.

Construction projects

Under the Construction Regulations 2013, the client appoints a Project Supervisor Design Process (PSDP) for the design stage and a Project Supervisor Construction Stage (PSCS) to coordinate safety and health during construction. Follow the site rules and the safety and health plan.

Accident reporting and risk assessment

Report every accident, injury and near miss to your supervisor. A near miss is an event that could have caused harm but did not. Reporting helps find the cause before someone is hurt.

An employer must report an accident to the HSA when it stops a worker from doing their normal work for more than 3 consecutive days, not counting the day of the accident.

Hazards and risks

• A hazard is anything that can cause harm, such as an open trench, a live cable or a noisy machine.
• A risk is the likelihood that the hazard will cause harm, together with how serious the harm could be.
• A risk assessment identifies hazards, looks at the risks and sets out the controls.

The hierarchy of controls

1. Eliminate the hazard if you can.
2. Substitute something less dangerous.
3. Use engineering controls, such as guards and barriers.
4. Use safe systems of work, signs, training and supervision.
5. Use PPE for the risk that is left.

PPE comes last because it only protects the wearer, and only if it fits and is worn correctly.

Electricity

Electricity can kill through shock, burns or fire. On site:

• Use a reduced-voltage 110 V supply (centre-tapped to earth) for portable tools, or battery tools.
• A residual current device (RCD) cuts the power quickly if current leaks to earth, which lowers the risk of a serious shock.
• Check tools, leads and plugs before use. If a cable is damaged, stop, take it out of use and report it.
• Before digging, check the service drawings, use a cable locator and treat every cable as live. Dig carefully by hand near services.
• Keep plant away from overhead power lines. Barriers and height limits (goal posts) help prevent contact.

Excavations

The main danger in a trench is collapse. Even a small fall of soil can crush or bury a person. Other dangers are falls into the excavation, vehicles tipping in, buried services, and water or bad air.

• Support the sides with shoring or trench boxes, or batter (slope) them back.
• Keep spoil heaps, materials and machines back from the edge. Use stop blocks for vehicles.
• Put barriers or guardrails around the edge to stop people falling in.
• Provide a safe way in and out, such as a secured ladder.
• Have a competent person inspect the excavation before work each shift and after anything that could affect it, such as heavy rain.

Working at height

Falls from height cause many deaths and serious injuries in construction. Plan the work in this order:

1. Avoid working at height if you can.
2. Prevent falls with safe equipment, such as scaffolds and platforms with guardrails.
3. Minimise the distance and consequences of a fall, for example with nets.

• Working platforms need guardrails and toe boards on open edges.
• Only a competent scaffolder may put up, change or take down a scaffold. If something is in your way, ask your supervisor.
• Set a leaning ladder at 1 out for every 4 up (about 75°) and make sure it is secured.
• When a ladder is used to reach a platform, it should extend about 1 metre above the landing to give you a handhold.
• Fragile roofs, such as old cement sheets and roof lights, can give way without warning. Never walk on them.

Behaviour, equipment and vehicles

Behaviour-based safety means everyone takes responsibility. If you see an unsafe act, such as a dangerous short cut, speak up or tell your supervisor. Horseplay is not just foolish; the 2005 Act forbids it when it could put anyone in danger.

Equipment

• Only use equipment you are trained and authorised to use.
• Never use a machine or tool with a guard missing. Report it.
• Check equipment before use and report defects.

Construction vehicles

• Only trained, authorised operators may drive plant such as dumpers and excavators.
• Keep pedestrians and vehicles apart with separate routes where possible.
• Reversing vehicles cause many deaths. Use a trained signaller (banksman) and keep people out of the reversing area.
• On plant with rollover protection, wear the seat belt so you stay inside the protective frame if the machine overturns.

Personal health, noise and vibration

Health and welfare

• Wash your hands before eating, drinking or smoking to avoid swallowing harmful substances.
• Leptospirosis (Weil's disease) is spread by rat urine in water and wet ground. Cover cuts, wear gloves and wash your hands.
• Never come to work under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Lift loads safely: check if a mechanical aid can be used, plan the route, keep the load close to your body and get help with heavy or awkward loads.

Noise

The General Application Regulations 2007 set these noise levels for a daily exposure:

Vibration

Long use of vibrating tools such as breakers and grinders can cause hand-arm vibration syndrome, with tingling, numbness and white fingers. Use low-vibration tools, limit time on the tool, take breaks and report symptoms early.

PPE and safety signs

Your employer must provide the PPE you need free of charge. You must wear it correctly, look after it and report any damage. A cracked helmet must be replaced.

Site signs use colours and shapes: blue circles tell you what you must do, red circles with a line tell you what you must not do, yellow triangles warn of danger, and green signs show safe conditions such as exits and first aid.

Fire and emergencies

• In an emergency in Ireland, call 112 or 999.
• If the fire alarm sounds, stop work, leave by the nearest safe route and go to the assembly point.
• Use a carbon dioxide (CO2) extinguisher on electrical fires. Never use water on them.
• Know where the first aid kit is and who the first aiders are.

Tips for the assessment

• Listen carefully: on the first course the tutor reads each question twice.
• Pick the answer that keeps people safe and follows the law, even if it is slower.
• Watch for questions about who does what: the employer, the employee, the HSA or SOLAS.
• If you are taking the computer-based renewal test, remember you need 45 out of 50, so revise every topic.