Hazard Recognition and Risk Assessment Flashcards
7 cards from real STSC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Hazard Recognition and Risk Assessment flashcards as text
A construction supervisor notices workers repeatedly bypassing a safety guardrail to save time. Which risk assessment step should be prioritized first?
Answer: Identify why workers are bypassing the guardrail before imposing penalties
Understanding the root cause of unsafe behavior (e.g., inconvenience, poor placement) is the first step in effective risk assessment to create lasting corrective action.
Which hierarchy of controls option is considered most effective when addressing a recognized construction site hazard?
Answer: Elimination of the hazard
Elimination—physically removing the hazard—is the most effective control because it prevents exposure entirely rather than managing it.
During a pre-task hazard assessment for excavation work, which document should a supervisor consult to identify underground utility hazards?
Answer: Site-specific utility locating (811 dig-safe) records
Consulting 811 dig-safe utility locating records before excavation identifies buried lines that pose electrocution, fire, or explosion risks.
A Risk Priority Number (RPN) in a Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is calculated by multiplying which three factors?
Answer: Severity, Occurrence, and Detectability
RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detectability; a higher RPN indicates a higher priority risk requiring immediate attention.
Which condition would classify soil as Type C—the least stable classification—during a trenching hazard assessment?
Answer: Soil that is fissured, submerged, or previously disturbed
Type C soil is fissured, subject to water seepage, previously disturbed, or has an unconfined compressive strength of 0.5 tsf or less, making it the least stable.
What is the primary purpose of a Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) in construction?
Answer: To systematically identify hazards associated with each task step before work begins
A JHA breaks a job into steps, identifies hazards at each step, and establishes controls before work starts to prevent injuries.
When conducting a risk assessment, 'residual risk' refers to which of the following?
Answer: The risk remaining after all feasible controls have been implemented
Residual risk is the level of risk that remains after controls are in place; supervisors must determine whether it is acceptable before authorizing work.