CTSP Incident Response and Investigation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: After a serious incident, a tree care company's safety program should include a formal review of which of the following?
- Only the equipment maintenance records
- Job hazard analyses, training records, and existing safe work procedures relevant to the incident type (Correct answer)
- The injured worker's personal history and medical records only
- Insurance premium history for the past five years
Correct answer: Job hazard analyses, training records, and existing safe work procedures relevant to the incident type
A post-incident program review should examine whether existing hazard analyses, training, and procedures were adequate and followed.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes 'administrative controls' as a corrective action following an incident?
- Installing machine guards or physical barriers
- Changing work procedures, schedules, or supervision practices (Correct answer)
- Substituting a hazardous tool with a safer alternative
- Using personal protective equipment
Correct answer: Changing work procedures, schedules, or supervision practices
Administrative controls involve changing how work is organized or performed, such as modifying procedures, rotation schedules, or supervision levels.
Question 3: A tree care company's incident rate has increased compared to the industry average. The BEST use of this data is to:
- Dismiss the comparison because industry averages don't reflect local conditions
- Identify which operations or tasks are generating incidents and target preventive efforts there (Correct answer)
- Increase workers' compensation deductibles to reduce claims
- Report the rate to OSHA proactively to avoid penalties
Correct answer: Identify which operations or tasks are generating incidents and target preventive efforts there
Benchmarking incident rates against industry data helps pinpoint which operations need targeted safety improvements.
Question 4: When a chainsaw kick-back injures a worker, which type of investigation root cause is 'failure to maintain the chain brake' most accurately categorized as?
- Immediate cause (Correct answer)
- Contributing cause
- Root cause
- Administrative cause
Correct answer: Immediate cause
The failure to maintain the chain brake is an immediate (direct) cause—the unsafe condition that directly produced the injury.
Question 5: A company conducts a post-incident review and finds that the injured worker was never trained on the specific rigging technique being used. This finding is best categorized as a:
- Immediate cause
- Environmental cause
- Root cause related to a management system failure (Correct answer)
- Regulatory violation unrelated to the incident
Correct answer: Root cause related to a management system failure
Failure to provide required training is a systemic management failure and constitutes a root cause of the incident.
Question 6: Which of the following is the MOST effective long-term corrective action to prevent recurrence of a climbing fall incident?
- Issuing a verbal warning to the crew
- Requiring the crew to re-read the company safety manual
- Revising the job hazard analysis, updating training, and verifying competency through observed practice (Correct answer)
- Posting a safety reminder on the break room bulletin board
Correct answer: Revising the job hazard analysis, updating training, and verifying competency through observed practice
Updating hazard analyses, delivering targeted training, and verifying competency through observation addresses systemic gaps and ensures lasting behavioral change.
Question 7: An arborist company self-audits its incident reports and notices a pattern of hand lacerations from hand tools. The MOST appropriate systemic response is to:
- Require all workers to sign an acknowledgment of the hand tool safety policy
- Conduct a task-specific hazard analysis of all hand tool operations and revise PPE, training, and procedures accordingly (Correct answer)
- Replace all hand tools with power tools to reduce manual handling
- Issue cut-resistant gloves without further analysis and consider the matter closed
Correct answer: Conduct a task-specific hazard analysis of all hand tool operations and revise PPE, training, and procedures accordingly
A pattern of similar injuries signals a systemic gap best addressed by a fresh hazard analysis followed by targeted updates to controls, training, and PPE.
CTSP Incident Response and Investigation 5
After a serious incident, a tree care company's safety program should include a formal review of which of the following?