CIEE Cost-Benefit Analysis of Interventions 5

Question 1

When presenting an ergonomic CBA to senior management, which framing approach is most persuasive for securing budget approval?

Accepted Answer

Linking ergonomic investment to operational metrics such as productivity, quality, and turnover cost reduction

Answer

Senior management responds to business metrics; framing ergonomics in terms of productivity, quality, and turnover costs directly aligns with financial decision-making priorities.

Question 2

Turnover costs are often included in ergonomic CBA because MSDs increase employee turnover. A conservative estimate of turnover cost for a single mid-skilled manufacturing worker typically ranges from:

Accepted Answer

$10,000–$30,000

Answer

Research estimates turnover costs (recruitment, training, lost productivity) for mid-skilled workers at approximately 10–30% of annual salary, typically $10,000–$30,000.

Question 3

Which of the following represents a 'cost avoidance' rather than a 'cost reduction' in ergonomic CBA?

Accepted Answer

Preventing a projected increase in injury rates from new production line expansion

Answer

Cost avoidance prevents a future cost from materializing, as opposed to cost reduction, which reduces an existing, already-incurred expenditure.

Question 4

The concept of 'diminishing returns' in ergonomic program investment means that:

Accepted Answer

Each additional dollar invested in ergonomics yields progressively smaller incremental benefit once the highest-risk hazards are addressed

Answer

After high-priority, high-risk hazards are remediated, subsequent investments address lower-risk issues, yielding smaller incremental benefits per dollar spent.

Question 5

A company is deciding whether to pilot an ergonomic intervention at one facility before full rollout. From a CBA perspective, the primary benefit of piloting is:

Accepted Answer

Generating facility-specific data to refine benefit estimates and reduce uncertainty before full investment

Answer

A pilot generates real-world, site-specific data that improves the accuracy of benefit projections, reducing the risk of a poor full-scale investment decision.

(CIEE) Certified Industrial Ergonomic Evaluator Practice Test

(CIEE) Certified Industrial Ergonomic Evaluator Practice Test

CIEE Cost-Benefit Analysis of Interventions 5