COHN COHN-S 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An occupational health nurse notices a statistically significant increase in musculoskeletal disorders in the assembly line department. The BEST tool to identify contributing risk factors is:
- A severity rate calculation
- An ergonomic job analysis (Correct answer)
- A OSHA 300 log audit
- A pre-placement physical exam review
Correct answer: An ergonomic job analysis
An ergonomic job analysis systematically evaluates tasks for physical stressors such as force, repetition, and awkward posture that contribute to musculoskeletal disorders.
Question 2: A nurse manager wants to benchmark the company's occupational injury rate against the industry. Which OSHA metric should be used?
- Lost workday rate
- Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) (Correct answer)
- Severity rate
- Workers' compensation cost per claim
Correct answer: Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR)
The TRIR standardizes incident data per 200,000 hours worked, making it the standard metric for cross-industry benchmarking.
Question 3: A COHN-S is developing a return-to-work program. Which element is MOST important for a successful transitional duty program?
- Requiring full medical clearance before any return
- Collaboration between the nurse, supervisor, and treating physician (Correct answer)
- Limiting all transitional duties to sedentary work only
- Ensuring workers return within the first three days of injury
Correct answer: Collaboration between the nurse, supervisor, and treating physician
A successful transitional duty program requires coordinated communication among the occupational health nurse, supervisor, and treating physician to match restrictions with available work.
Question 4: Which federal agency is responsible for setting and enforcing workplace exposure limits called Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs)?
- NIOSH
- EPA
- OSHA (Correct answer)
- ACGIH
Correct answer: OSHA
OSHA establishes and enforces PELs as legally binding exposure limits under 29 CFR 1910 (general industry) and 29 CFR 1926 (construction).
Question 5: A worker who was injured on the job is reluctant to return to work despite medical clearance. This behavior is BEST addressed through:
- Immediate termination for non-compliance
- Peer support and a graduated return-to-work plan (Correct answer)
- Mandatory psychiatric evaluation
- Denial of workers' compensation benefits
Correct answer: Peer support and a graduated return-to-work plan
A graduated return-to-work plan combined with peer support addresses fear, builds confidence, and facilitates successful reintegration after injury.
Question 6: Under HIPAA, an occupational health nurse may share an employee's protected health information (PHI) with the employer without authorization when:
- The employer specifically requests the full medical record
- It is needed to comply with OSHA medical surveillance requirements (Correct answer)
- The employee's supervisor asks about the diagnosis
- The information is more than 7 years old
Correct answer: It is needed to comply with OSHA medical surveillance requirements
HIPAA permits disclosure of PHI to comply with legally mandated OSHA medical surveillance programs without individual employee authorization.
Question 7: An employee presents with symptoms of acute solvent overexposure including dizziness and nausea. After removing the worker from exposure, the NEXT priority is:
- Administering activated charcoal
- Identifying the specific solvent from the SDS
- Assessing vital signs and level of consciousness (Correct answer)
- Scheduling a follow-up appointment for next week
Correct answer: Assessing vital signs and level of consciousness
After removing the worker from the hazardous environment, immediate clinical assessment of vital signs and neurological status is the priority to guide treatment.
