SMSTS Mock Test: 25 Questions and Answers Explained

The SMSTS (Site Management Safety Training Scheme) is the CITB course for people who plan, organise and control work on a construction site. It ends with a multiple-choice assessment, and many candidates find the questions trickier than they expected. Several answers can look reasonable, but only one matches what the law and good practice actually require.

This post goes through a 25-question SMSTS mock test from Training 1st Ltd. We have grouped the questions by theme and explained the reasoning behind each answer, so you understand why the right answer is right and don’t just memorise a letter.

If you are still deciding between courses, our guide on what the SSSTS course is explains how the supervisor-level course compares with the SMSTS.

Legislation and CDM 2015 Duty Holders

Expect plenty of questions on legislation. As a site manager, you need to know which law does what and who is responsible for each duty.

• The core law: The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA) is the main piece of UK legislation. It puts a general duty on employers to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare of their employees and of other people affected by their work. COSHH, CDM and the Manual Handling Operations Regulations are all regulations, and they sit underneath HASAWA.
• Who sets the project up: Under CDM 2015, the client has ultimate responsibility for making sure a project is set up to secure health and safety. The client must also appoint the principal designer and principal contractor. A common trap is picking the principal contractor, who manages the construction phase but doesn’t set up the project.
• F10 notification: The client must send an F10 to the HSE when a project will last more than 30 working days with more than 20 workers on site at the same time, or when it will exceed 500 person days. Don’t confuse the F10 with the health and safety file or the construction phase plan. Those documents are also required under CDM, but they do a different job.

“The correct answer is C, the client.”

That one answer catches a lot of candidates out. Remember that duties under CDM start with the client, before anyone breaks ground.

Risk Assessments, Method Statements and Management Systems

The SMSTS expects you to understand how documents and systems fit together, not just that they exist.

• Method statements: A method statement clearly describes the safe system of work that must be followed to carry out the task and control the risks identified in the risk assessment. It doesn’t transfer legal responsibility to workers, and it isn’t a staff list.
• Safety management systems: The main benefit of an effective health and safety management system is that the site team can systematically plan, do, check and act to keep improving performance. No system removes every risk, and no system lets you avoid HSE inspections.
• Safety climate: This is the shared perceptions and beliefs that workers have about safety in their workplace. Leadership and worker engagement shape it. If people think shortcuts are quietly accepted, your paperwork won’t save you.
• Permits to work: For high-risk activities such as entering a confined space, the right control is a specific permit-to-work system. A verbal instruction or a warning sign isn’t enough.

RIDDOR, Welfare and Occupational Health

Managers are responsible for long-term health as well as accident prevention. The mock test reflects that.

• RIDDOR records: Records of reportable incidents must be kept for at least 3 years.
• Welfare facilities: Sanitary and washing facilities must be kept clean. The mock test’s answer is that they should be thoroughly cleaned daily, and on a busy site that is the practical minimum.
• Stress and mental health: The main reason to manage these actively is to reduce the costs and impact of work-related ill health and to improve overall productivity. Construction has a serious mental health record, and the SMSTS treats it as a core management issue.
• Drugs and alcohol: A good site policy covers identifying, managing and supporting the people affected, and includes an understanding of the legal framework. Blanket bans on all medicines, or ignoring the problem until an accident happens, are both wrong.

Hazardous Substances: COSHH, Lead and Asbestos

These questions test whether you know the correct order of actions.

• COSHH hierarchy: Substitute a hazardous substance with a safer one before you put engineering controls in place. PPE comes last, after every other control has been considered.
• Lead: On refurbishment work, the first step before work starts is to carry out a site-specific risk assessment for lead exposure and put control measures in place. Never assume older paint is lead-free.
• Asbestos: If you find damaged material that you suspect is asbestos, stop work immediately, evacuate the area and secure it so no one can get in. Then arrange for the material to be sampled and assessed by competent people.

“Stop work immediately, evacuate the area and secure it to prevent entry.”

Dampening the material might look sensible, but it is not the immediate action a site manager should take. Your first priority is getting people away from the fibres.

Noise, Fire and Site Layout

• Noise: Control measures should focus on eliminating or reducing noise at the source. Hearing protection is the last line of defence, not the first.
• Fire: In a fire, the site manager’s main job is to make sure the emergency plan is put into action and everyone is safely evacuated to the assembly point. Saving paperwork or tackling the fire yourself before calling the fire service are both wrong answers.
• Traffic management: The key way to prevent vehicles hitting pedestrians is to design segregated routes for pedestrians and vehicles, with clear signage. Plan this at the set-up stage, not after a near miss.

Temporary Works, Lifting and Work Equipment

These questions come up often and are mostly about inspection intervals and competence.

• Temporary works: They must be planned, designed, installed, maintained and removed properly by competent persons. Following the drawings isn’t enough if the person doing the work isn’t competent.
• LOLER 1998: Lifting accessories in use must be thoroughly examined by a competent person at least every 6 months.
• Work equipment and hand tools: Control them through effective planning, risk assessment, training and maintenance. Where a tool is stored, or whether it is new, isn’t the point.

Work at Height and Excavations

Falls from height are still one of the biggest killers in construction, so expect several questions on this.

• Work at Height Regulations 2005: The first step in the hierarchy is to avoid working at height where it is reasonably practicable to do so. If you can’t avoid it, prevent falls. If you can’t prevent them, minimise the consequences.
• Scaffold inspections: These are required after the scaffold is first erected, after any exceptional circumstances, and at intervals of no more than 7 days. The answer is all of the above.
• Fall arrest vs restraint: A fall arrest system stops a person who is already falling and limits the force on their body. A restraint lanyard stops the worker from reaching the edge in the first place.
• Excavations: Before anyone enters an excavation, a robust system for supporting the sides must be in place.
• Underground and overhead services: Before breaking ground, get the service plans and use detection equipment to locate, mark and isolate services accurately. Never guess where services are from street furniture.

“Avoid working at height where it is reasonably practicable to do so.”

How to Use This Mock Test in Your Revision

A mock test is only useful if you learn from what you got wrong. A few tips:

1. Look for the management answer. SMSTS questions usually reward the option that shows planning, competence and systems. Options that react after something has gone wrong are rarely right.
2. Learn the numbers. 30 working days, 20 workers, 500 person days, 3 years, 6 months and 7 days all come up again and again.
3. Know the hierarchies. Questions on COSHH, noise and work at height all test whether you know that elimination comes before PPE.
4. Practise under exam conditions. Time yourself, then go over every wrong answer.

If you want more practice at supervisor level, our SSSTS practice questions and answers cover a lot of the same ground. Many SMSTS holders also work towards the gold Supervisor or black Manager CSCS card. Our guide to CSCS card types explains which card fits your role.

How CSCS Mastery Fits Into This

The SMSTS assessment rewards candidates who understand the reasoning behind each regulation, not just the wording. The SiteSafetyPlus app on our site safety page has more than 900 SSSTS and SMSTS practice questions. Every question comes with a detailed explanation, and there are full mock tests to build exam stamina.

The app also includes practical tools that reflect real site management work: an F10 notification checker, a risk matrix, a permit-to-work builder and a RIDDOR reporting guide. You can use them to revise for the exam and keep using them once you are running a site. Visit the site safety page to start practising for your SMSTS today.