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Occupational safety and health — Planning and preparation

Introduction

This aiMOOC is the Planning and preparation module of Occupational safety and health. It is designed for vocational learners in Blacksmithing, artistic metalwork, architectural ironwork and related forge practice.

Selected jurisdiction: United Kingdom. Legal and training references are deliberately separated by territorial scope. Occupational-safety law in this course is labelled for Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales and is checked against the Health and Safety Executive. The apprenticeship pathway is labelled England only and is checked against Skills England and Ofqual. Standards information is labelled United Kingdom and is checked against UK government guidance on the British Standards Institution. Northern Ireland is identified separately because its occupational-safety system is led by HSENI.

Priority rule: Official law, regulator guidance, manufacturer instructions, employer procedures, site rules, risk assessments, safe systems of work and instructions from a competent supervisor take precedence over this course. This aiMOOC does not confer competence, certification, authorisation or permission to use a forge, grinder, power hammer, press, welding plant or any other hazardous equipment.

Learner safety boundary: Do not carry out hazardous work unsupervised. Live-fire work, heating metal, powered forging, grinding, thermal cutting, welding, lifting operations and work with gases or hazardous substances must only take place when your workplace or training provider has authorised the activity, the required controls are in place, and competent supervision is provided.

The image shows blacksmithing activity for context. It is not a model safety assessment: photographs may omit guards, extraction, PPE, exclusion zones or other controls that are required in your workplace.

A well-planned forge job begins before any equipment is energised. You translate a drawing, sample or client requirement into a safe sequence, verify materials and equipment, identify hazards, select controls, organise the workspace, confirm people and responsibilities, and decide what conditions would stop the job from starting.

Jurisdiction and official authority check

Information checked: 1 September 2026. Because law, standards, guidance and apprenticeship requirements can change, always check the current official source before relying on a requirement.

Scope	Competent or official source	How this course uses it
Great Britain: England, Scotland and Wales	Health and Safety Executive	Workplace risk management, work equipment, PPE, manual handling, hazardous substances, welding fume and related health-and-safety duties. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is the main framework Act for Great Britain, supported by regulations and guidance.
England only	Skills England and Ofqual	The Blacksmith apprenticeship occupational standard ST0378, version 1.1, is approved for delivery at Level 3. Skills England describes blacksmiths as designing, shaping and joining metal by hot forging and other metalworking processes. Ofqual is the external quality assurance provider listed for this apprenticeship standard.
United Kingdom	UK Government and British Standards Institution	BSI is the UK National Standards Body. Standards can support good practice and, where formally designated, may support demonstration of conformity, but standards do not replace applicable legal requirements.
Northern Ireland	Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland	HSENI is the lead body for promoting and enforcing occupational health-and-safety standards in Northern Ireland. Great Britain legal references in this module must not be treated as Northern Ireland law.

Official links for expert review:

No automatic equivalence: This course does not claim that UK or England laws, qualifications, apprenticeship standards, job titles, certificates or competence requirements are automatically equivalent to those of Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or any other country.

Learning outcomes

After completing this module, you should be able to:

Job planning: Turn a specification, drawing, sample or verbal brief into a planned sequence of work before hazardous activity begins.
Risk assessment: Identify hazards, consider who may be harmed and how, and propose controls using the hierarchy of control.
Work equipment: Check that planned tools and machinery are suitable, authorised, maintained and available with the required guards, controls and inspection status.
Materials management: Verify stock identity, condition, coating status, consumables and relevant safety information before processing.
Workshop organisation: Plan safe movement, hot-metal zones, access, extraction, lighting, housekeeping and emergency arrangements.
Quality assurance: Define dimensions, finish, tolerances, acceptance criteria and records before production starts.
Sustainable metalwork: Reduce avoidable waste and energy use without weakening safety or quality.
Professional communication: Brief others, record decisions, identify stop-work conditions and seek competent advice when limits are reached.

Core Concepts

Hazard, risk and control

A hazard is something with the potential to cause harm. In a forge or artistic-metalwork workshop, examples include hot stock, moving machinery, ejected scale, abrasive sparks, noise, vibration, welding fume, awkward loads and combustible material near hot work.

Risk concerns the likelihood that harm could occur and the possible severity of that harm. A risk assessment is not simply a score. It is a structured way to decide what must be controlled, who may be affected, whether current controls are adequate and what further action is needed.

In Great Britain, HSE's risk-management approach expects employers to identify hazards, decide who might be harmed and how, evaluate risks and controls, record significant findings where required, and review the assessment when necessary. Learners should contribute evidence and follow the workplace system; they should not make legal determinations on their own.

Video purpose: This Health and Safety Executive animation explains risk assessment and management. Use it to compare HSE's general process with the planning form used in your own college or workplace.

The hierarchy of control

Use higher-order controls before relying on PPE. The exact control set depends on the task and workplace.

Control level	Planning question for blacksmithing and metalwork	Example
Eliminate	Can the hazardous step be removed?	Design a component so that an unnecessary hazardous finishing operation is not required.
Substitute	Can a less hazardous material or process achieve the requirement?	Where technically suitable, use a cold joining method instead of a process that creates welding fume.
Engineering control	Can people be separated from the hazard or the hazard captured at source?	Use suitable guarding, a fixed barrier, local exhaust ventilation or a mechanical handling aid where required.
Administrative control	What safe system, sequence, authorisation, signage, exclusion zone or supervision is needed?	Schedule a task so other learners are outside the controlled work area and brief everyone before starting.
PPE	What residual risk remains after higher-order controls?	Select compatible eye, face, hearing, respiratory, foot, hand or body protection as required by the assessment and workplace instructions.

PPE is important, but HSE states that it may be needed for hazards that remain after engineering controls and safe systems of work have been applied. PPE must be suitable, properly maintained and stored, and supported by adequate information, instruction and training.

The image shows PPE storage, not a universal forge PPE specification. Your required PPE must come from the task-specific assessment and workplace instructions.

Planning flow diagram

Job requirement → Process route → Hazards and people → Controls → Equipment and material verification → Briefing → Authorised release or stop → Review

At every arrow, ask: What information is missing? Who is competent to decide? What would make us stop? A strong plan makes uncertainty visible before energy, heat or motion is introduced.

Authentic Workshop Example

A client orders a pair of decorative forged brackets for an interior architectural installation. The drawing specifies the overall size, mounting-hole positions, visible surface character and finish. The trainer proposes identified mild-steel bar stock and a supervised sequence involving layout, hot forging, cooling, drilling and surface finishing. Welding is not part of this version of the design.

Your planning work is to decide how the job will be controlled, not to start forging. You would:

confirm the current drawing revision and acceptance criteria;
verify the stock identity, dimensions, surface condition and coating status;
break the job into stages and identify hazards at each stage;
identify which stages require authorisation, supervision or specialist competence;
verify suitable tools, guards, extraction, emergency controls and inspection status;
plan material movement and a clearly understood hot-metal holding or exclusion system;
define quality checks before irreversible steps;
record stop conditions and obtain the required approval before live work begins.

This contextual image illustrates hot metal at an anvil. Never use colour alone to decide whether metal is safe to touch. Follow the workshop's hot-metal identification, handling and cooling procedure.

Tools, Equipment and Materials

Hand tools and workholding

Practitioner terminology in the England Blacksmith occupational standard includes tongs, punches, chisels, hammers, anvil tools and jigs. Planning means matching the tool to the workpiece and checking condition before use, not improvising with an unsuitable tool.

For hammers, planning checks can include whether the tool type and mass are suitable for the authorised task, whether the head and handle are sound, and whether the work area gives safe clearance. A damaged or inappropriate hammer is a stop condition.

Tongs are workholding tools, not a guarantee of control. Before hot work, a competent instructor should confirm that the selected tongs give stable, task-appropriate grip on the intended stock. Do not improvise modifications during live work unless your workplace procedure specifically authorises them and the work is made safe first.

Fixed and powered equipment

The England occupational standard also uses terms such as power hammers, presses, forges, furnaces, guillotines, rolls, metalworkers, linishers, drills, grinders, lathes, milling machines, welding plant, profile cutters and extraction systems.

For Great Britain, PUWER requires work equipment to be suitable for its intended use, safe and maintained, inspected where required, and used by people who have adequate information, instruction and training. Suitable guarding, emergency-stop arrangements, isolation and other protective measures may be required.

The photograph provides visual context for a power hammer. It is not a safety endorsement of the pictured setup. Power hammers and presses involve high-energy trapping, crushing and ejection hazards. A learner must not use them without workplace authorisation, suitable controls and competent supervision.

Historic and museum equipment can help you understand craft development, but it must not be treated as a current safety model. Modern workplace requirements, equipment instructions and risk controls take precedence.

Materials and consumables

A planning sheet should identify material, section, quantity, condition and any coating or contamination. Typical blacksmithing work may use forgeable ferrous metals, fixings, welding consumables where welding is specified, and surface-treatment products.

Unknown material is a planning problem. Do not heat, weld, grind or otherwise process unidentified, plated, galvanised, painted, oily or contaminated stock until a competent assessment has established the material and suitable controls. Coatings and contamination can change the health, fire and fume hazards.

For substances hazardous to health, use the workplace COSHH assessment and relevant product safety data. A safety data sheet is an information source, not a substitute for the employer's assessment and controls.

Risk Controls for Forge and Artistic Metalwork Planning

Heat, hot stock and radiant heat

Planning must account for burns, radiant heat, hot scale and the fact that metal can remain dangerously hot after its visible glow has disappeared. Define:

where hot work is authorised;
how hot material is identified and segregated;
who may enter the area;
how work is held and moved;
where cooling or controlled holding occurs;
what happens if a workpiece is dropped or control is lost.

Do not rely on memory, appearance or touch to determine whether stock is safe.

Sparks, fire and combustible materials

Forging, grinding, thermal cutting and welding can produce ignition sources. Before authorised hot work, the workplace plan may require removal or protection of combustibles, checking for hidden fire spread routes, appropriate fire precautions, a permit-to-work system, and a post-work fire watch. The exact requirements come from the site risk assessment and fire arrangements.

Grinding sparks can travel beyond the immediate tool position. The image is useful for discussing line of fire, nearby people, combustible materials and the location of screens or barriers. It is not an instruction to perform grinding.

Fume, dust and local exhaust ventilation

Grinding, thermal cutting, welding, surface preparation and some coatings can create hazardous airborne contaminants. Under Great Britain COSHH duties, exposure must be adequately controlled.

HSE states that all welding fume can cause lung cancer. Where welding is part of the authorised work, control planning can include avoiding welding where a suitable cold-joining alternative exists, selecting a lower-fume process where appropriate, using suitable local exhaust ventilation, maintaining controls, using adequate general ventilation and providing RPE where required for residual exposure.

LEV must be treated as safety-critical equipment. Before a job that relies on extraction, verify that the correct system is available, positioned and operating according to workplace instructions, and that required examination or maintenance status is current. Do not improvise extraction arrangements.

Noise and hearing protection

Hammering, power hammers, grinders, linishers and other workshop equipment can generate harmful noise. Planning should first consider quieter methods, engineering measures, maintenance, enclosure or separation, work organisation and exposure management. Hearing protection is selected for the remaining risk and must allow necessary communication and warning signals to be managed safely.

The pictured earmuffs are an example of a hearing-protection product category. They are not a product recommendation and may not be suitable for your noise environment or compatible with other PPE.

Hand-arm vibration

Grinders, powered hammers and other vibrating hand-held or hand-guided equipment can contribute to hand-arm vibration exposure. Planning should reduce unnecessary exposure through process choice, suitable low-vibration equipment where appropriate, maintenance, exposure management and competent assessment. Do not assume that gloves remove vibration risk.

Manual handling and movement of stock

In Great Britain, HSE summarises the legal approach as: avoid hazardous manual handling so far as reasonably practicable; assess operations that cannot be avoided; and reduce the risk of injury as low as reasonably practicable. The law does not set one universal safe lifting-weight limit.

Plan long bar, awkward forgings, tooling and finished work with attention to weight, shape, centre of gravity, temperature, route, floor condition, destination, team coordination and available handling aids.

These HSE videos support task-specific manual-handling risk management. They do not replace your workplace assessment, handling-aid instructions or supervised training.

Gas, fuel, electricity and stored energy

A forge may involve fuel gases, solid fuel, electrical equipment, compressed systems or other stored energy. Planning must identify the energy sources and the authorised controls. Do not light a forge, adjust gas pressure, alter burners, open gas equipment, bypass interlocks, perform electrical work or isolate machinery unless you are trained, authorised and following the workplace procedure.

If a cylinder, hose, regulator, cable, plug, guard, control or energy-isolation arrangement appears damaged or abnormal, do not improvise a repair. Stop, make the area safe as instructed and report the defect.

People, communication and exclusion zones

Risk assessment includes people other than the operator: nearby learners, visitors, contractors, clients and anyone sharing access routes. Plan line of fire, ejection direction, hot-metal movement, noise communication and emergency access.

A useful pre-start brief answers:

Who is supervising and who is authorised to operate each item of equipment?
What is the agreed job sequence?
Which areas are restricted?
What signals or verbal calls are used?
What condition requires an immediate stop?
Who is informed if the plan changes?

PPE Planning

PPE selection is task-specific. Depending on the assessment, it may include eye protection, face protection, hearing protection, safety footwear, protective clothing, RPE or gloves. Never copy a PPE list from a photograph or assume that one set is suitable for every operation.

Check compatibility. For example, eye, face, hearing and respiratory protection may need to be worn together without reducing fit or function. Gloves can introduce additional hazards around some rotating or moving machinery, so glove use must follow the specific assessment and equipment procedure.

The planner should confirm availability, correct type and size, condition, maintenance or replacement requirements, storage, and any required fit testing or user training. PPE is not a substitute for missing guards, extraction or safe systems of work.

Step-by-Step Demonstration: Planning Before the Forge Is Lit

This demonstration is deliberately cold and non-operational. It can be completed at a desk and beside de-energised equipment under instructor control. It does not teach you how to light a forge, heat metal, grind, weld or operate a power hammer.

Demonstration sequence

Read the job information. Confirm the latest drawing, dimensions, material specification, finish, quantity and client or trainer acceptance criteria.
Build the process route. Write the proposed stages in order, including inspection points. Do not energise equipment.
Verify the material. Check stock identification, section, length, surface condition, coatings and traceability information. Quarantine uncertainty.
Identify hazards by stage. Consider heat, trapping, ejection, sparks, fume, noise, vibration, manual handling, fire, electricity, gas, housekeeping and nearby people.
Select controls using the hierarchy. Prefer elimination, substitution and engineering controls before administrative controls and PPE.
Confirm competence and authorisation. Mark each stage that requires a trained operator, competent person, supervisor, permit or specialist input.
Verify work equipment status. Using workplace records and visual pre-use checks permitted by your procedure, confirm suitability, guards, controls, inspection status, extraction and reported defects. Do not remove guards or dismantle equipment for this exercise.
Plan the workspace and material flow. Mark stock storage, the work position, hot-metal or exclusion areas, safe access, finished-work location and handling-aid route.
Check emergency and communication arrangements. Know the site alarm, first-aid, fire and reporting arrangements, and confirm how the supervisor will stop the activity if conditions change.
Release or stop. Present the plan to the authorised supervisor. Start live work only if that person confirms the job can proceed under the local system. Unresolved defects, unknown material, missing controls or unclear responsibility mean do not start.

Demonstration record example

Planned stage	Main planning concern	Control or verification	Example stop condition
Stock selection	Wrong grade, coating or contamination	Verify specification and stock identity before processing	Identity or coating status cannot be confirmed
Forge stage	Heat, hot scale, fire, fuel and nearby people	Authorised forge, local risk controls, hot-metal system and supervised operator	Defect, missing control or unauthorised person in the work area
Power-hammer stage	Crushing, trapping and ejection	Suitable machine, guarding and controls, authorised operator, defined exclusion area	Guard or control defect, uncertain tooling or unstable workholding
Finishing stage	Abrasive contact, sparks, noise and dust	Suitable guarded equipment, extraction where required, screen or exclusion control, task-specific PPE	Damaged equipment, unavailable extraction or combustible exposure
Handling stage	Awkward load or hot workpiece	Avoid unnecessary handling; use assessed route and suitable handling aid where required	Route blocked, load unstable or temperature status unclear

Common Planning Errors

Starting before planning: Heating stock before the drawing, material identity, controls and responsibilities are confirmed.
Unknown stock: Treating scrap or coated metal as safe because it looks familiar.
PPE-first thinking: Choosing gloves and glasses while ignoring elimination, guarding, extraction or work organisation.
Poor workholding: Failing to confirm that tongs, jigs or fixtures suit the stock and stage.
Assumed machine safety: Using a familiar power hammer, grinder or linisher without checking current status, guards or defects.
Extraction assumptions: Planning a fume-producing task without confirming the correct LEV is available and serviceable.
Hidden fire path: Clearing only the visible bench while ignoring combustibles, voids or nearby work.
Weak material flow: Allowing hot and cold stock, finished work and scrap to become confused.
Manual-handling shortcuts: Treating a weight estimate as proof that a lift is safe instead of assessing the whole handling task.
Uncontrolled change: Altering material, process, tool or sequence during production without reviewing the risk and quality plan.
Certificate confusion: Assuming a course certificate automatically proves workplace competence or authorisation.
Silent uncertainty: Continuing when a learner does not understand an instruction, control or stop condition.

Quality Criteria

A planning package is ready for supervised production when:

the job requirement, drawing revision, dimensions and finish are unambiguous;
material identity, section and quantity are verified;
the process route is technically feasible and includes appropriate inspection points;
suitable tools and equipment are identified and their required safety status can be verified;
hazards, affected people and controls are recorded using the workplace method;
required extraction, guarding, handling aids, PPE and emergency arrangements are available;
responsibilities, supervision and authorisation are clear;
stop conditions and change-control arrangements are explicit;
waste, offcuts, consumables and finishing residues have planned destinations;
the competent reviewer can trace why the job is considered ready.

Quality and safety are linked. A rushed or poorly controlled process can damage dimensions, surface quality, tooling, equipment and people. Good planning aims for repeatable work with fewer surprises.

Sustainability and Resource Efficiency

Sustainable forge planning must never trade away safety. Useful actions include:

create a cut list and sensible stock layout to reduce avoidable offcuts;
keep identified reusable offcuts separate from unknown scrap;
select the smallest suitable stock form and process route that meets the design and engineering requirement;
avoid unnecessary reheating, rework and finishing through accurate templates, jigs and inspection points;
maintain forges, burners, extraction and powered equipment according to the responsible workplace system so they operate as intended;
segregate recyclable metals and manage contaminated waste, used abrasives, coatings and chemicals according to local procedures;
design durable and repairable artistic metalwork where the commission allows;
record coatings and finishes so future repairers are not left with unidentified materials;
consider material provenance and service life as part of quality, not only purchase price.

Never reduce required ventilation, extraction, guarding, supervision or cooling time simply to save energy or time.

Inclusive Planning and Human Factors

Safe planning recognises that workers and learners differ. Do not assume one body size, strength, hearing ability, language level, dominant hand or previous experience.

An inclusive plan can consider:

adjustable working heights or positioning where reasonably practicable;
mechanical handling rather than relying on individual strength;
clear spoken, written and visual instructions;
communication methods that remain effective when hearing protection is required;
accessible routes and emergency arrangements;
additional instruction or supervision for new starters and learners;
fatigue, heat load, workload and concentration;
individual risk assessments or reasonable workplace adjustments where needed.

Inclusion does not mean lowering safety controls. It means designing the task, communication and environment so competent people can work safely without avoidable barriers.

Glossary

Term	Practitioner meaning in this module
Hazard	A source or situation with the potential to cause harm.
Risk	The combination of how likely harm is and how serious its consequences could be.
Risk assessment	The structured process used to identify hazards, affected people, existing controls and further action.
Hierarchy of control	The preferred order of risk controls, beginning with elimination and ending with PPE for residual risk.
Safe system of work	An organised method of carrying out work safely, based on risk assessment and local procedures.
Method statement	A task-focused description of how work will be organised and carried out; the exact workplace use varies.
COSHH	Great Britain framework for controlling substances hazardous to health.
SDS	Safety data sheet supplied for a substance or mixture; an information source used within risk assessment.
PUWER	Great Britain regulations governing the provision and use of work equipment.
LEV	Local exhaust ventilation that captures airborne contaminant at or near its source.
RPE	Respiratory protective equipment selected for a specific respiratory hazard and use condition.
PPE	Personal protective equipment used for residual risks after higher-order controls where required.
Linisher	A powered abrasive-belt machine used for finishing or shaping; workplace terminology can vary.
Workpiece	The piece of material or component being worked.
Pre-use check	A check permitted by local procedure before use to identify obvious defects or missing safety features.
Competent person	A person with the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and other qualities for the particular safety function.
Exclusion zone	An area from which people are kept out while a specified hazard is present.
Stop condition	A predefined defect, uncertainty or change that means work must not begin or continue until resolved.
Near miss	An unplanned event that did not cause injury or damage but had the potential to do so.

Reflection

Use these prompts before the interactive tasks:

Which hazard in your training workshop is easiest to overlook during planning, and why?
Where could a higher-order control replace reliance on PPE?
What evidence would you need before accepting an unfamiliar piece of stock for hot work?
Which change to a job should automatically trigger a review of the risk assessment or method?
How can planning improve both craft quality and occupational safety at the same time?

Interactive Tasks

Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

What should you establish before selecting tools for a new blacksmithing job? (The job requirement and planned process route) (!The preferred hammer colour) (!The final selling price only) (!The personal habit of the last operator)

Which control is highest in the hierarchy of control? (Eliminating the hazard) (!Providing PPE) (!Adding a warning sign) (!Relying on experience)

What is the correct planning response to unidentified coated metal? (Do not process it until it is assessed and authorised) (!Heat it briefly to see what happens) (!Grind the coating away without controls) (!Assume all scrap steel is equivalent)

What does PUWER planning require for work equipment in Great Britain? (It must be suitable safe maintained and used by trained people) (!It is safe if it is old and familiar) (!Only new machines need safety controls) (!A learner may remove guards to inspect moving parts)

What is an appropriate planning control for welding fume? (Use suitable engineering controls such as LEV and manage residual exposure) (!Rely on workshop smell) (!Open a door as the only control) (!Assume small welds create no health risk)

What is the first principle in Great Britain manual handling risk control? (Avoid hazardous manual handling where reasonably practicable) (!Use one universal lifting weight) (!Ask the strongest person to lift) (!Rely on lifting technique alone)

How should noise risk be planned? (Control noise at source and manage remaining exposure) (!Wear any earmuffs without assessment) (!Ignore short loud tasks) (!Increase music to mask machinery)

What should happen when a stop condition remains unresolved? (The job must not start or continue) (!The learner should improvise a workaround) (!The job should continue more slowly) (!The issue can wait until the end)

Which statement correctly describes the Blacksmith apprenticeship reference used here? (It is an England apprenticeship standard) (!It is a licence for all UK blacksmiths) (!It is automatically equivalent worldwide) (!It replaces workplace authorisation)

What is the correct approach to cross-country qualifications and safety rules? (Never assume automatic equivalence) (!Treat all English language systems as identical) (!Use the newest foreign rule automatically) (!Choose whichever rule is easiest)

Memory Game

Risk assessment	Structured process for identifying hazards and deciding controls
LEV	Extraction that captures airborne contaminant near its source
PUWER	Great Britain work equipment regulation framework
COSHH	Great Britain hazardous substances control framework
Linisher	Powered abrasive belt finishing machine
Workpiece	Material or component being worked
Stop condition	Situation requiring work not to begin or continue

Drag and Drop

Match the correct terms.	Topic
Verify stock identity	Materials
Confirm guards and inspection status	Work equipment
Plan a suitable handling aid	Manual handling
Check required extraction	Fume control
Brief the exclusion zone	People and layout

...

Crossword Puzzle

Hazard	What word means a source with the potential to cause harm?
Linisher	What powered abrasive belt machine may be used for finishing metalwork?
Extraction	What general word describes removal of airborne contaminant from a work area?
Forging	What process shapes metal through controlled deformation?
Supervision	What provides competent oversight for a learner carrying out hazardous work?
Inspection	What check may be required to verify equipment condition before or during service?

LearningApps

Cloze Text

Planning begins by checking the job

before selecting the process route. A

is something with the potential to cause harm. Risk assessment considers who may be harmed and the adequacy of

. In the hierarchy,

is preferred where practicable. Work equipment must have an appropriate safety and inspection

. Suitable

can capture hazardous airborne contaminant near its source. Unidentified coated stock must not be

until it has been competently assessed and authorised. Hazardous manual handling should be

where reasonably practicable. An unresolved stop condition must be

before live work proceeds. When material, process or equipment changes, the plan should be

.

Open-Ended Tasks

Easy

Hazard map: Create an annotated plan or photograph of a trainer-approved, inactive workshop area and mark heat, movement, access, noise, fume, fire and housekeeping considerations without operating equipment.
Pre-start job card: Produce a one-page planning checklist for a fictional forged bracket, including specification, stock identity, equipment status, controls, supervision and stop conditions.
Tool identification: Create a labelled diagram of tongs, hammers, anvil tools, grinders, linishers, power hammers and extraction equipment, adding one planning question for each item without using the equipment.
Safety briefing: Write and rehearse a sixty-second pre-start briefing that explains roles, exclusion zones, communication signals and the rule for stopping work.

Standard

Workshop risk assessment: Under instructor direction, complete a desk-based risk assessment for one approved blacksmithing process and justify each proposed control using the hierarchy of control.
Material traceability: Design a simple stock-identification and quarantine system that separates known material, reusable offcuts, coated material and unknown scrap.
Workshop layout plan: Draw a scaled layout showing safe routes, stock flow, hot-metal or exclusion zones, extraction positions, emergency access and finished-work storage; do not alter the real workshop.
Sustainability plan: Prepare a cut list and resource plan for a small artistic-metalwork commission that reduces avoidable waste and reheating while preserving all safety and quality controls.

Advanced

Method statement: Draft a method statement for a trainer-selected forge or fabrication job, identify assumptions and stop conditions, and submit it to a competent workshop reviewer before any practical activity.
Control comparison: Compare two safe planning scenarios for the same component and explain which uses higher-order controls more effectively without compromising craft quality.
Inclusive workshop design: Redesign a briefing, workstation plan or material-flow system for a diverse learner group, considering communication, reach, strength, hearing protection and access without lowering safety standards.
Expert interview: Interview a competent blacksmithing instructor, workshop manager or occupational-safety practitioner about planning failures and successful controls, then revise one of your planning documents using the feedback.

Learning Assessment

Planning rationale: Given a new decorative ironwork drawing, produce a process plan and explain why each stage is ordered as proposed before hazardous work begins.
Control hierarchy analysis: Analyse a scenario that relies heavily on PPE and redesign it using elimination, substitution or engineering controls where feasible.
Material uncertainty decision: Respond to a case involving unidentified coated stock by specifying what information, competent advice and controls are needed before any processing decision.
Equipment readiness review: Evaluate a simulated pre-use record for a grinder, power hammer or LEV system and decide whether the job can proceed, citing the evidence and any stop condition.
Human factors transfer: Adapt a planning brief for a learner with different communication or manual-handling needs while maintaining the same safety and quality outcome.
Quality and safety integration: Explain how drawing control, workholding, inspection points and process sequence can reduce both craft defects and safety risk.
Change management: Given a mid-job change of material, equipment or finish, identify which parts of the risk assessment, method, COSHH information and quality plan must be reviewed before work resumes.

Evidence of Learning

Strong evidence shows not only that you remember terminology but that you can apply it to a realistic workshop decision.

Evidence type	What good evidence looks like
Knowledge	Correctly distinguishes hazard, risk, control, PUWER, COSHH, LEV, PPE, competence, supervision and stop conditions within the stated Great Britain or England scope.
Planning skill	Converts a drawing or brief into a logical, reviewable sequence with hazards, controls, responsibilities and inspection points.
Workshop judgement	Recognises uncertainty, refuses to bypass a missing control and knows when competent advice is needed.
Product	Produces a clear job card, risk assessment, annotated layout, method statement or briefing suitable for expert review.
Quality evidence	Links material identity, workholding, tooling, dimensions, finish and inspection to the safe process route.
Sustainability evidence	Reduces avoidable stock waste, rework and energy use without weakening safety, extraction, guarding or supervision.
Transfer	Applies the same planning principles to a different metalwork task while checking the new hazards, equipment, people and jurisdictional requirements rather than copying controls blindly.

OERs on the Topic

This aiMOOC is prepared as an openly reusable educational resource for expert review. Original explanatory text and learning activities should be reused under the licence that MOOCwiki applies to the page. Third-party media retain the licences or terms shown on their source pages. Wikimedia Commons files used here are openly licensed or public-domain materials as indicated on their Commons description pages; embedded YouTube videos remain subject to the uploader's and platform's terms.

Useful open or official resources:

Occupational safety and health: General concepts and international context.
Blacksmith: Craft role, tools and historical context.
Forging: Metal-shaping process context.
HSE: Official Great Britain occupational health-and-safety guidance.
Skills England Blacksmith standard: Current England occupational-standard reference used in this module.
Wikimedia Commons: Licence information for each embedded image.

Expert Review Checklist

Before local delivery, ask a competent blacksmithing educator and an appropriate occupational-safety reviewer to check:

whether the jurisdiction labels still match current law and training arrangements;
whether workshop terminology matches local practitioner use;
whether the examples reflect the actual forge, fuels, machinery, extraction and materials available;
whether the stated controls align with the employer's current risk assessments and safe systems of work;
whether accessibility and individual learner needs are addressed;
whether media remain available under acceptable terms;
whether any local permit, inspection, health-surveillance, RPE fit-testing or specialist-competence requirement needs to be added.

Review status: Draft OER ready for expert review. It is not a substitute for workplace-specific instruction or supervision.