How do you work safely in the metalwork workshop, and what protective equipment and safe practices does each process need?
Health and safety in the workshop: identifying hazards, using personal protective equipment (safety glasses, apron, gloves where appropriate), guarding machines, keeping a tidy area, and following safe working practices for hot, sharp and rotating processes.
How SQA National 5 Practical Metalworking expects you to work safely: spotting hazards, using personal protective equipment such as safety glasses and aprons, guarding machines, keeping a tidy workspace, and following safe practices for hot, sharp and rotating processes.
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What this dot point is asking
The metalwork workshop has hot, sharp and rotating hazards, so the SQA expects you to work safely at all times and to be able to describe safe practices and the protective equipment each process needs. Safety runs through every practical and is sampled in the case study, where you may be asked how to carry out a process safely.
Spot the hazard, then control it
Naming a hazard and the matching control (rather than just listing equipment) is what earns marks. For example, the hazard "flying swarf when drilling" is controlled by "wearing safety glasses".
Personal protective equipment (PPE)
- Safety glasses: protect the eyes from flying swarf, chips and sparks. Worn for drilling, grinding, chiselling and welding (welding needs proper shaded eye protection).
- Apron: protects clothing and skin from sparks, swarf and oil.
- Gloves: protect the hands when handling sharp or hot metal. Important: gloves are not worn near a drill, lathe or grinder, because they can be caught and drag the hand into the rotating part.
- Stout footwear: protects the feet from dropped metal.
Safe practice on machines
Try this
Q1. State the personal protective equipment worn to protect the eyes when grinding. [1 mark]
- Cue. Safety glasses (eye protection).
Q2. State why a workpiece is clamped rather than held by hand when drilling. [1 mark]
- Cue. So the drill cannot snatch and spin the work, which could injure the hand.
Q3. Explain why gloves should not be worn when using a lathe or drill. [2 marks]
- Cue. A glove can be caught by the rotating chuck or work and drag the hand into the machine.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA-style Describe4 marksDescribe four safe working practices you would follow when using a pillar drill to drill a hole in a steel plate.Show worked answer →
Award 1 mark for each correct, relevant safe practice, to a maximum of 4. Clamp the workpiece to the drill table or hold it in a machine vice, never by hand, so the drill cannot snatch and spin it (1). Wear safety glasses to protect the eyes from flying swarf, and tie back long hair and remove loose clothing or jewellery so nothing can be caught by the rotating chuck (1). Remove the chuck key before switching on, because a key left in the chuck becomes a dangerous flying object (1). Let the drill stop fully before clearing swarf, and clear it with a brush, not your fingers, because swarf is hot and sharp (1). Other creditable points include using the correct speed and not leaning over the machine.
SQA-style Explain3 marksExplain why personal protective equipment and machine guards are used in the metalwork workshop.Show worked answer →
Award up to 3 marks for clear cause-and-effect points. Personal protective equipment protects the body from the specific hazard of a process: safety glasses stop flying swarf or sparks injuring the eyes, an apron protects clothing and skin, and gloves protect the hands when handling sharp or hot metal (1, plus 1 for a second linked example). Machine guards stop the operator reaching into or being caught by moving parts such as a grinding wheel or rotating chuck, so a slip cannot put a hand into the danger zone (1). A strong answer links each control to the hazard it removes rather than just listing equipment.
Related dot points
- Bench tools and hand processes: holding work in a bench vice, cutting with a hacksaw, removing metal by filing (cross-filing and draw-filing), cutting with a cold chisel, and the correct hammers (ball pein, cross-pein and claw).
The core hand-tool skills in SQA National 5 Practical Metalworking bench work: holding work in a bench vice, cutting with a hacksaw, removing metal by cross-filing and draw-filing, using a cold chisel, and choosing the right hammer (ball pein, cross-pein, claw).
- Drilling holes with a twist drill and countersinking, and cutting screw threads by hand: an internal thread with a tap and tap wrench, and an external thread with a die and die stock.
How SQA National 5 Practical Metalworking covers making holes and threads: drilling with a twist drill, countersinking, cutting an internal thread with a tap and tap wrench, and cutting an external thread with a die and die stock, all done accurately and safely.
- Machine drilling on a pillar or bench drill (work clamped, correct speed, chuck and twist drill) and using an off-hand (bench) grinder to shape, deburr and sharpen tools, with the correct guards and safe practice.
How SQA National 5 Practical Metalworking covers machine drilling on a pillar or bench drill (clamping the work, correct speed, twist drill in a chuck) and using an off-hand bench grinder to shape, deburr and sharpen, with the correct guards, tool rest and safe practice.
- Thermal joining: joining metal with heat by welding (e.g. MIG/arc), brazing and soft soldering, the difference between them (melting the parent metal versus a filler), and the safety needed for hot work.
How SQA National 5 Practical Metalworking covers joining metal with heat: welding (MIG or arc), brazing and soft soldering, the difference between melting the parent metal and using a filler, the relative strength of each, and the safety needed for hot work.
- Metals and their properties: ferrous metals (mild steel) and non-ferrous metals (aluminium, copper, brass), and the properties that decide their use - strength, hardness, toughness, malleability, ductility, conductivity and corrosion resistance.
How SQA National 5 Practical Metalworking groups metals into ferrous (mild steel) and non-ferrous (aluminium, copper, brass) and the properties - strength, hardness, malleability, ductility, conductivity and corrosion resistance - that decide which metal suits a workshop job.