Safety When Working On Roofs & Maternity Allowance For Working Women – IELTS Reading Answers

Raajdeep Saha

9 min read

Updated On Jul 15, 2024

Reading Passage 1
Reading Passage 2
Answers For Safety When Working On Roofs & Maternity Allowance For Working Women IELTS Reading Answers with Location and Explanations
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The General Reading passages on ‘Safety When Working On Roofs’ & ‘Maternity Allowance For Working Women’ serve as a valuable resource for IELTS General Reading preparation. Both of these passages provide insight into the passage types and questions, aiding in familiarizing yourself with question formats and difficulty levels and score a higher IELTS Reading band score.

The question types in these Reading Passages include:

Note Completion (Q. 1-8)
IELTS Reading Sentence Completion (Q. 9-13)

For more IELTS Reading practice, take more IELTS General Reading practice tests.

Reading Passage 1

You should spend about 10 minutes on questions 1-7, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Safety When Working On Roofs

A. A fall from height is the most serious hazard associated with roof work. Preventing falls from roofs is a priority for WorkSafe New Zealand. Investigations by WorkSafe into falls that occur while working at height show that more than 50 percent of falls are from under three meters, and most of these are from ladders and roofs. The cost of these falls is estimated to be $24 million a year – to say nothing of the human costs that result from these falls. More injuries happen on residential building sites than in any other workplace in the construction sector.

B. In order to prevent such injuries, a hazard assessment should be carried out for all work on roofs to assess potential dangers. It is essential that the hazards are identified before the work starts, and that the necessary equipment, appropriate precautions, and systems of work are provided and implemented. Hazard identification should be repeated periodically or when there is a change in conditions, for example, the weather or the number of staff onsite.

C. The first thing to be considered is whether it is possible to eliminate this hazard completely so that workers are not exposed to the danger of falling. This can sometimes be done at the design, construction planning, and tendering stages. If the possibility of a failure cannot be eliminated, some form of edge protection should be used to prevent workers from falling. It may be possible to use the existing scaffolding as edge protection. If this is not practicable, then temporary work platforms should be used. In cases where such protection is not possible, then steps should be taken to minimize the likelihood of any harm resulting. This means considering the use of safety nets and other similar systems to make it less likely that injury will be caused if a fall does occur.

D. Ladders should only be employed for short-duration maintenance work such as touching up paint. People using ladders should be trained and instructed in the selection and safe use of ladders. There should be an inspection of all ladders on a regular basis to ensure they are safe to use.

Questions 1-8

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

Safety when working on roofs

Investigations show that

over half of falls are from less than 1 ……………………
most falls are from ladders and roofs
falls cost $24 million per year
the majority of falls occur on 2 ……………………

Hazard identification should be carried out

before the work starts
when conditions such as the weather or worker numbers change

Controls

3 …………………… the hazard at the planning stage before the work begins if possible
prevent a fall by using edge protection e.g. scaffolding or 4 …………………… .
reduce the likelihood of injury, e.g. by using 5 …………………….

Ladders

these should only be used for 6 …………………… which does not take a long time
training should be provided in their 7 …………………… and use
regular 8 …………………… of ladders is required

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Reading Passage 2

You should spend about 10 minutes on questions 9-13, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Maternity Allowance For Working Women

A. You can claim Maternity Allowance once you’ve been pregnant for 26 weeks. Payments start 11 weeks before the date on which your baby is due.

The amount you can get depends on your eligibility. You could get either:

£140.98 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is less) for 39 weeks
£27 a week for 14 weeks

B. Maternity Allowance for 39 weeks

You might get Maternity Allowance for 39 weeks if one of the following applies:

you’re employed
you’re self-employed and pay Class 2 National Insurance (including voluntary National Insurance)
you’ve recently stopped working
You may still qualify even if you’ve recently stopped working. It doesn’t matter if you had different jobs, or periods when you were unemployed.

C. Maternity Allowance for 14 weeks

You might get Maternity Allowance for 14 weeks if for at least 26 weeks in the 66 weeks before your baby is due:

you were married or in a civil partnership
you were not employed or self-employed
you took part in the business of your self-employed spouse or civil partner

D. How to claim

You’ll need an MA1 claim form, available online. You can print this and fill it in, or fill it in online. You also need to provide a payslip or a Certificate of Small Earnings Exemption as proof of your income, and proof of the baby’s due date, such as a doctor’s letter.
You should get a decision on your claim within 24 working days.
You should report any changes to your circumstances, for example, if you go back to work, to your local Jobcentre Plus as they can affect how much allowance you get.

Questions 9-13

Complete the sentences below.

Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

The maximum amount of money a woman can get each week is £ …………………… .
Being …………………… for a time does not necessarily mean that a woman will not be eligible for Maternity Allowance.
In order to claim, a woman must send a …………………… or a Small Earnings Exemption Certificate as evidence of her income.
In order to claim, a woman may need to provide a …………………… as evidence of the due date.
Payment may be affected by differences in someone’s …………………… such as a return to work, and the local Jobcenter Plus must be informed.

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Answers For Safety When Working On Roofs & Maternity Allowance For Working Women IELTS Reading Answers with Location and Explanations

Check out the answers and detailed explanations for each question in the passages – Safety When Working On Roofs & Maternity Allowance For Working Women – and find out your score to understand how to improve your overall IELTS band score.

Answer: 3 meters/ 3 metres // three meters/ three metres