CHSP Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment & Control 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A healthcare safety officer is reviewing a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) for sterile processing technicians. Which step should be performed FIRST?
- Identify PPE requirements
- Break the job into sequential tasks (Correct answer)
- Interview experienced employees about near-misses
- Evaluate existing control measures
Correct answer: Break the job into sequential tasks
A JHA begins by breaking the job into discrete sequential tasks before hazards within each task can be identified and controls assigned.
Question 2: Under OSHA's hierarchy of controls, which intervention would be considered the MOST effective for eliminating sharps injuries in a hospital unit?
- Mandatory double-gloving
- Providing puncture-resistant disposal containers
- Switching to needleless IV connector systems (Correct answer)
- Conducting annual sharps-safety training
Correct answer: Switching to needleless IV connector systems
Needleless systems eliminate the sharp hazard at the source, placing them at the 'elimination/substitution' tier — the most effective level of the hierarchy.
Question 3: A risk matrix plots probability against severity. A hazard scored as 'likely' and 'catastrophic' falls into which risk priority category?
- Low
- Moderate
- High (Correct answer)
- Acceptable
Correct answer: High
A combination of high probability and catastrophic severity places the hazard in the highest (unacceptable/high) risk zone requiring immediate corrective action.
Question 4: Which NIOSH lifting equation variable accounts for the horizontal distance between the worker's hands and the midpoint of the ankles at the start of a lift?
- Frequency multiplier (FM)
- Asymmetry multiplier (AM)
- Horizontal multiplier (HM) (Correct answer)
- Coupling multiplier (CM)
Correct answer: Horizontal multiplier (HM)
The horizontal multiplier (HM) in the NIOSH Revised Lifting Equation penalizes lifts where the load is farther from the body's center of gravity.
Question 5: During a proactive safety walkthrough, a nurse manager notices a wet floor near a sink but no wet floor sign is available. Which interim control should be implemented IMMEDIATELY?
- File a work order and document the hazard
- Restrict access to the area until it is dry or a sign arrives (Correct answer)
- Notify risk management and wait for instructions
- Place a chair in front of the hazard to warn staff
Correct answer: Restrict access to the area until it is dry or a sign arrives
Restricting access is the most immediate administrative control that reduces exposure when engineering or signage controls are unavailable.
Question 6: A hospital is implementing Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) on its medication dispensing process. What does the 'detectability' score in the Risk Priority Number (RPN) calculation represent?
- How often the failure mode occurs
- The severity of harm if the failure reaches the patient
- The likelihood that the failure will be caught before causing harm (Correct answer)
- The number of staff who could be affected
Correct answer: The likelihood that the failure will be caught before causing harm
Detectability in FMEA scores how easily current controls can identify a failure before it causes harm; a lower score means easier detection.
Question 7: A healthcare organization wants to prioritize capital expenditures for safety upgrades. Which quantitative risk assessment output is MOST useful for comparing multiple hazards with different probability and consequence profiles?
- A narrative incident report summary
- A risk-ranked priority list with composite risk scores (Correct answer)
- A list of reported near-miss events by department
- An OSHA 300 log summary
Correct answer: A risk-ranked priority list with composite risk scores
A risk-ranked priority list with composite scores enables objective, side-by-side comparison of diverse hazards to guide resource allocation.
CHSP Hazard Identification, Risk Assessment & Control 4
A healthcare safety officer is reviewing a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) for sterile processing technicians.
Which step should be performed FIRST?