CIH IH Program Management 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An IH professional is assigned to evaluate a newly acquired facility. Which activity should occur FIRST in the program establishment process?
- Purchase air sampling equipment and begin monitoring
- Conduct a comprehensive walkthrough survey to identify potential hazards and characterize operations (Correct answer)
- Review OSHA inspection history and citations
- Establish a medical surveillance program for all employees
Correct answer: Conduct a comprehensive walkthrough survey to identify potential hazards and characterize operations
A walkthrough survey provides the foundational understanding of operations and potential hazards needed to guide all subsequent IH program decisions.
Question 2: In IH program management, 'similar exposure groups' (SEGs) are used primarily to:
- Satisfy OSHA recordkeeping requirements for exposure data
- Group workers with comparable exposures to enable statistically valid monitoring with fewer samples (Correct answer)
- Identify which employees require immediate medical removal
- Determine workers' compensation eligibility for occupational illness claims
Correct answer: Group workers with comparable exposures to enable statistically valid monitoring with fewer samples
SEGs allow IH professionals to characterize exposures across a workforce using targeted sampling rather than monitoring every individual worker.
Question 3: Which of the following is the most appropriate approach when IH monitoring data reveals exposures above the action level but below the PEL for a substance with a specific OSHA standard?
- No action is required since exposures are below the PEL
- Implement the additional program requirements triggered at the action level, such as medical surveillance and enhanced monitoring (Correct answer)
- Immediately implement engineering controls to bring exposures to zero
- Notify OSHA of the monitoring results within 30 days
Correct answer: Implement the additional program requirements triggered at the action level, such as medical surveillance and enhanced monitoring
Many OSHA standards trigger specific medical surveillance, training, and monitoring requirements when exposures exceed the action level, even below the PEL.
Question 4: When an IH program's written procedures conflict with informal 'how we've always done it' practices observed during a facility walkthrough, the IH manager should:
- Update the written procedures to match observed practices without further investigation
- Investigate the root cause of the discrepancy and close the gap through training, procedure revision, or enforcement (Correct answer)
- Report the discrepancy directly to OSHA for guidance
- Accept the informal practices as long as no injuries have occurred
Correct answer: Investigate the root cause of the discrepancy and close the gap through training, procedure revision, or enforcement
Procedure-practice gaps require root cause investigation to determine whether the written procedure or the practice needs correcting before the gap can be sustainably closed.
Question 5: An IH program manager is developing a training needs assessment. Which information source is most valuable for identifying gaps in worker hazard awareness?
- Vendor safety data sheets for purchased chemicals
- Incident and near-miss reports, job hazard analyses, and employee feedback surveys (Correct answer)
- OSHA standard interpretations and letters
- Annual industry conference proceedings
Correct answer: Incident and near-miss reports, job hazard analyses, and employee feedback surveys
Incident reports, JHAs, and employee feedback directly reveal where worker knowledge and behavior gaps exist in relation to actual workplace hazards.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes the IH professional's role during the design phase of a new production process?
- Observe and document hazards after the process is fully operational
- Participate in design reviews to identify and eliminate hazards before construction or installation (Correct answer)
- Conduct post-startup air monitoring to establish exposure baseline
- Provide PPE recommendations to workers at process startup
Correct answer: Participate in design reviews to identify and eliminate hazards before construction or installation
Prevention through design (PtD) engagement during design reviews is far more effective and economical than retrofitting controls after a process is built.
Question 7: An IH manager must select between two engineering controls with similar efficacy: one costs $50,000 with 15-year service life, the other $20,000 with 5-year service life. Which analysis method best supports this decision?
- Simple payback period calculation
- Life-cycle cost analysis comparing total costs over equivalent time periods (Correct answer)
- First-year installation cost comparison only
- Maintenance labor hours per year comparison
Correct answer: Life-cycle cost analysis comparing total costs over equivalent time periods
Life-cycle cost analysis accounts for all costs over the full service life, revealing that the higher-cost option may be more economical over time.
CIH IH Program Management 4
An IH professional is assigned to evaluate a newly acquired facility.
Which activity should occur FIRST in the program establishment process?