CPHR Workplace Health and Safety 2 â Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under OSHA's General Duty Clause, employers are required to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause what?
- Minor discomfort
- Death or serious physical harm (Correct answer)
- Property damage only
- Temporary illness
Correct answer: Death or serious physical harm
The General Duty Clause (Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act) requires employers to protect workers from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm.
Question 2: A 'near miss' incident report is most valuable to an organization because it:
- Satisfies OSHA recordkeeping requirements
- Identifies hazards before they cause injury (Correct answer)
- Reduces workers' compensation premiums immediately
- Assigns blame for unsafe behavior
Correct answer: Identifies hazards before they cause injury
Near-miss reporting is a proactive safety tool that surfaces hazard conditions before they escalate into actual injuries or fatalities.
Question 3: Which hierarchy of controls is considered the most effective method for eliminating workplace hazards?
- Administrative controls
- Personal protective equipment
- Engineering controls
- Elimination (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Elimination
Eliminationâphysically removing the hazardâis the most effective control because it prevents exposure entirely rather than managing it.
Question 4: An employer's Experience Modification Rate (EMR) directly affects:
- OSHA inspection frequency
- Workers' compensation insurance premiums (Correct answer)
- The number of required safety committee meetings
- Federal contractor eligibility
Correct answer: Workers' compensation insurance premiums
The EMR compares a company's actual claims history to the industry average, and insurers use it to adjust workers' compensation premium rates up or down.
Question 5: Under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom), Safety Data Sheets (SDS) must contain how many standardized sections?
- 8
- 12
- 16 (Correct answer)
- 20
Correct answer: 16
OSHA's HazCom Standard aligned with the GHS requires SDS documents to have exactly 16 standardized sections.
Question 6: A joint health and safety committee (JHSC) is most effective when it:
- Is composed solely of management representatives
- Conducts workplace inspections and makes recommendations to management (Correct answer)
- Has authority to immediately discipline unsafe workers
- Meets only after a serious injury occurs
Correct answer: Conducts workplace inspections and makes recommendations to management
JHSCs are most effective when worker and management representatives jointly inspect workplaces and recommend corrective actions, fostering shared ownership of safety.
Question 7: Which type of work-related musculoskeletal disorder is most commonly associated with repetitive forceful gripping and awkward wrist postures?
- Rotator cuff tendinitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome (Correct answer)
- Lumbar disc herniation
- De Quervain's tenosynovitis
Correct answer: Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome results from median nerve compression often triggered by repetitive wrist flexion/extension, forceful gripping, and prolonged awkward wrist postures.
CPHR Workplace Health and Safety 2
Under OSHA's General Duty Clause, employers are required to provide a workplace free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause what?