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.
COHN COHN-S 5
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: