EPHM7320 Occupational Health and Safety Management
The Complete Exam Bible · S1 2026-27EPHM7320 Overview
- Hong Kong Baptist University
- Semester 1, 2026-27
- Postgraduate course
- Health and Medicine
- Final examination component
What this course is really testing
Occupational Health and Safety Management asks you to connect recognition with action.
- Assessment structure Continuous assessment contributes 70% and the final examination contributes 30% of the course result.
- Core method Define the activity, trace exposure, choose the highest practicable control, assign ownership and verify effectiveness.
- Hardest distinction An action is complete when work is done, but effective only when later evidence shows the risk or cause changed.
- Exam boundary The available outline gives the examination weight and lecturer split but does not publish its format or permitted materials.
How EPHM7320 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Individual assignment | 25% | Risk-assessment report; maximum 1,500 words |
| Quiz | 10% | Dr Leung continuous assessment |
| Mr Sung continuous assessment | 35% | The course outline does not publish its component breakdown |
| Final examination | 30% | Examination allocation split equally between the two lecturers |
What EPHM7320 covers
Ten chapters move from OHS foundations and risk control through accident analysis, Hong Kong duties, confined-space work and ISO 45001 improvement.
Foundations and Scope of Occupational Safety
anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control across the worker, task and environmentPrevention starts before injury
Occupational health and safety is organised around anticipating, recognising, evaluating and controlling workplace hazards.
- Anticipation, recognition, evaluation and control
- Physical, mental and social well-being
- Worker, task and environment interaction
- Immediate injury and delayed ill health
- Roles across the OHS professional team
- Evidence that a prevention claim needs
Hazards, Exposure and Risk
hazard sources, exposure pathways, delayed health effects, likelihood and consequenceFour terms with different jobs
A hazard is a potential source of harm, exposure is the route that allows it to act, harm is the possible outcome, and risk combines likelihood with consequence under stated conditions.
- Hazard sources and adverse effects
- Exposure routes and working conditions
- Immediate safety hazards and delayed health hazards
- Likelihood and consequence
- Existing-control performance
- Complete risk statements
Risk Assessment and the Control Hierarchy
the five assessment steps and controls from elimination to personal protective equipmentAssessment must lead to an owned action
The five-step sequence identifies hazards, people and routes of harm, evaluates risk, records findings and controls, then reviews the assessment.
- The five assessment steps
- Likelihood and consequence reasoning
- Elimination and substitution
- Engineering and administrative controls
- Personal protective equipment
- Ownership and review triggers
Incidents, Near Misses and Root Causes
event potential, direct and surface causes, system causes and corrective actionAn event is evidence about a control system
A near miss exposes a real pathway without producing harm on that occasion. Investigation should distinguish the outcome, direct causes, surface conditions and deeper management-system causes.
- Incidents and near misses
- Potential harm and timing
- Direct and surface causes
- Root and basic causes
- Correction and corrective action
- Effectiveness review
Accident Causation Models
domino, human factors, incident, epidemiological, systems and combination lensesModels direct attention to different evidence
Domino, human-factors, accident or incident, epidemiological, systems, combination and fault-tree approaches organise different questions about an event.
- Domino sequences and interruption
- Human factors and performance conditions
- Accident and incident interaction
- Epidemiological combinations
- Systems feedback and interfaces
- Fault trees and combination theory
Investigation, Evidence and Reporting
scene control, records, interviews, causal findings and evidence-linked recommendationsPreserve before interpreting
Investigation begins with continuing safety and evidence preservation, then moves through documentation, samples, records, witness interviews, timeline construction, causal analysis and reporting.
- Scene safety and preservation
- Photography, sketches and samples
- Records and equipment evidence
- Witness identification and interviews
- Timelines, facts and inference
- Reports and corrective-action follow-up
Hong Kong Duties and Manual Handling
employer, occupier and employee responsibilities with task-based handling assessmentApply duties to controlled conditions
Hong Kong OHS requirements assign responsibilities to employers, occupiers and employees, with specific rules for particular workplace conditions.
- Employer and occupier responsibilities
- Employee care and cooperation
- Coexisting duties in shared workplaces
- Task, load and environment factors
- Manual-handling design controls
- Compliance evidence and review
Confined Space Entry Controls
competent assessment, isolation, testing, permits, certified workers and rescue readinessEntry is a coordinated control system
Confined-space work can involve toxic or harmful atmospheres, oxygen deficiency and hazards created by connected plant or the task performed inside. The first question is whether entry can be avoided.
- Avoiding entry
- Competent risk assessment
- Isolation and atmospheric control
- Permit conditions and time limits
- Certified entrants and attendants
- Communication, rescue and stop rules
ISO 45001 Planning and Participation
PDCA, context, leadership, proactive hazard planning and worker participationA cycle rather than a clause list
ISO 45001 links context, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation and improvement through PDCA.
- PDCA and clause groups
- Context and interested parties
- Leadership and OHS policy
- Proactive hazard identification
- Legal requirements and objectives
- Consultation and worker participation
Audit, Corrective Action and Improvement
audit evidence, management review, root-cause action and verified continual improvementCompletion is not effectiveness
Internal audit tests conformity and effective implementation using defined criteria, scope and impartial evidence.
- Audit criteria and scope
- Competence, objectivity and impartiality
- Conformity and implementation
- Management-review inputs and outputs
- Correction and corrective action
- Effectiveness and continual improvement
You need to identify a hazardous source, explain how a defined person can be exposed, judge risk under actual working conditions, select a control at the highest practicable level and state how the organisation will know that the control worked. The course therefore joins occupational health, safety engineering, law, investigation and management systems rather than treating them as separate lists.
A sound recommendation names an owner and leaves evidence that can be reviewed.
How the content develops
The opening chapters establish OHS scope, hazard and risk terminology, the five-step assessment process and the hierarchy of controls. Accident chapters then move from near misses and causal layers into formal causation models and evidence-preserving investigation.
The legal chapters map Hong Kong responsibilities to real work, including manual handling and confined-space entry. The final chapters use ISO 45001 to show how policy, planning, worker participation, operational control, audit, management review and corrective action form a continuous system.
How to use this guide before assessment
Start each chapter by rebuilding its figure from memory.
Then work the original case without looking at the model response. Mark your answer by tracing every recommendation back to a hazard, exposure pathway, supported cause or duty. Finish by naming the responsible role, implementation evidence and review trigger.
This approach fits the published assignment rubric because it demonstrates technical understanding, analytical distinctions, feasible ideas, coherent organisation and accurate use of sources. It also prepares you for applied questions without assuming an examination format that the course has not published.
Worked example · free
Choose controls for a blocked chemical-transfer route
- 3Define the task, people and exposure pathways.
- 4Select controls in hierarchy order and justify feasibility.
- 3Assign ownership and effectiveness evidence.
Key terms
- Hazard
- A source, condition or practice with the potential to cause injury, ill health or other loss.
- Risk
- A judgement combining how likely harm is with the severity of the possible consequence under stated conditions.
- Exposure Pathway
- The route by which a hazardous source can reach and affect a person.
- Near Miss
- An incident where a small change in time or distance could have produced harm but did not on that occasion.
- Root Cause
- A deeper system condition that allowed direct and surface causes to exist or persist.
- Elimination
- Removal of the hazard so the exposure pathway no longer exists.
- Substitution
- Replacement of a hazard with a less hazardous alternative that must itself be assessed.
- Engineering Control
- A physical or process change that isolates, encloses or reduces the hazard or exposure route.
- Permit to Work
- A time-bounded authorisation recording verified conditions and precautions for specified hazardous work.
- Nonconformity
- A failure to meet a requirement of the management system, standard or controlled process.
- Corrective Action
- Action that removes a cause of nonconformity or incident so recurrence becomes less likely.
- Management Review
- Top management's integrated evaluation of system suitability, adequacy, effectiveness and improvement needs.
EPHM7320 FAQ
How is this course assessed?
The published course outline assigns 70% to continuous assessment and 30% to the final examination. The continuous assessment includes a 25% individual assignment, a 10% quiz and a 35% share associated with Mr Sung's part. The available outline does not break that 35% share into named tasks, so use BUMoodle for operational details.
What is known about the final examination?
The available course outline states that the examination contributes 30% and divides the examination allocation equally between the two lecturers' sections. It does not publish the duration, sections, question types, permitted materials or a hurdle. Prepare the taught content and follow the official BUMoodle instructions when they are released.
What is the difference between a hazard and a risk?
A hazard is a source or condition with potential to cause harm. Risk is the judgement made after considering who may be exposed, the route and conditions of exposure, existing controls, likelihood and consequence. The same hazard can therefore produce different risk across two tasks or workplaces.
How should I use the hierarchy of controls in an answer?
Begin with elimination, then consider substitution and engineering controls before administrative controls and personal protective equipment. If a higher option is not practicable, explain why. For every selected control, state which source or exposure route it changes and how the organisation will verify that it remains effective.
What makes an accident investigation answer analytical?
Separate the outcome, direct causes, surface conditions and deeper management-system causes. Support each inference with scene, document, equipment or witness evidence, acknowledge conflicts and uncertainty, then connect corrective actions to the supported causes. A recommendation list without that evidence chain remains descriptive.
How does ISO 45001 connect the course topics?
ISO 45001 places hazard knowledge and legal requirements inside a cycle of context, leadership, planning, support, operation, performance evaluation and improvement. Risk assessments guide controls, incidents and audits test them, corrective action addresses causes, and management review decides what resources or system changes are needed next.
Questions students ask in each EPHM7320 chapter
- Why can a workplace with no injuries still be unsafe?
- Injury records describe realised outcomes and can miss uncontrolled exposure, near misses and health effects with a latency period. Prevention needs evidence about sources, pathways, control performance and changing work conditions, not only a count of recorded injuries. Chapter 01 · Foundations and Scope of Occupational Safety
- Can the same hazard have different risk in two workplaces?
- Yes. The source may be identical while access, exposure route, duration, frequency, quantity, energy, vulnerable groups and control performance differ. Risk belongs to the real task and conditions, so the assessor must explain likelihood and consequence rather than copy a label. Chapter 02 · Hazards, Exposure and Risk
- What are the five steps of risk assessment?
- Identify hazards, identify who may be harmed and how, evaluate likelihood and consequence, record findings and determine elimination or control, then review and update. Each step should retain enough information for the next person to understand the decision. Chapter 03 · Risk Assessment and the Control Hierarchy
- Why investigate a near miss when nobody was injured?
- The event shows that a hazardous pathway was active and that the missing injury may have depended on timing or distance. Investigation can identify failed controls and system causes while the organisation still has an opportunity to prevent recurrence. Chapter 04 · Incidents, Near Misses and Root Causes
- Which accident causation model is best?
- No model is universally best. Choose the one that fits the relationships in the evidence and directs useful investigation. A sequence model suits ordered dependencies, while systems reasoning is stronger where feedback, adaptation and interacting components shape the event. Chapter 05 · Accident Causation Models
- What comes first at an accident scene?
- Control continuing danger and protect people, then preserve and document evidence where it is safe to do so. If rescue or isolation changes the scene, record what changed, by whom, when and why so later reconstruction can account for it. Chapter 06 · Investigation, Evidence and Reporting
- Can several parties hold duties for the same work?
- Yes. A contractor may control the method, an occupier may control premises and access, and an employer may control workers, resources and supervision. Coexisting duties require coordination evidence because risk can cross organisational boundaries. Chapter 07 · Hong Kong Duties and Manual Handling
- What is the first question before confined-space entry?
- Ask whether the task can be completed without entry through remote inspection, cleaning, retrieval or redesign. Avoiding entry removes the confined-space exposure and should be considered before relying on permits, testing or protective equipment. Chapter 08 · Confined Space Entry Controls
- How does PDCA map onto ISO 45001?
- Planning spans context, leadership, planning and support; operation implements controls; performance evaluation checks evidence; improvement acts on incidents, nonconformities and opportunities. Leadership and worker participation influence the entire cycle rather than sitting in one isolated step. Chapter 09 · ISO 45001 Planning and Participation
- What is the difference between conformity and effectiveness?
- Conformity asks whether requirements are met, while effectiveness asks whether the implemented system achieves its intended outcomes. A procedure and completed form may conform in appearance but remain ineffective if hazardous conditions or repeated failures continue. Chapter 10 · Audit, Corrective Action and Improvement
How to study for the exam
Build one evidence ledger across the course. For every case, write the activity boundary, exposed people, hazardous source, exposure route, existing controls, likelihood and consequence reasoning, selected control, responsible role, completion evidence, effectiveness measure and review trigger. Rebuild the chapter figures from memory, because each figure encodes a relationship that a list cannot show.
Alternate classification drills with longer causal cases: one session should distinguish hazard from harm, direct cause from root cause and correction from corrective action; the next should apply those distinctions to a complete workplace scenario. Use the published assignment rubric to edit your writing by checking technical vocabulary, warranted distinctions, feasibility, organisation, references and clarity.
For the final examination, rely on the latest official instructions rather than assuming duration, sections or permitted materials from another course.
