Safety Programs and Concepts practice questions

Answer: A) Interview each witness individually and promptly, once the scene is safe and secure

Witnesses should be separated and interviewed one at a time, as soon as possible after the scene is safe. This keeps their recall accurate and stops them from influencing each other.

• ACorrect. OSHA guidance says to interview as promptly as possible after the site is safe, because earlier statements are more accurate and candid. It also says to separate witnesses so they keep their individual perceptions.
• BIncorrect. Group interviews let witnesses influence each other and lose their own perceptions. Witnesses should be separated and interviewed one at a time.
• CIncorrect. Witness statements are inputs to the root cause analysis. Delaying them lets memories fade and become contaminated.
• DIncorrect. Showing witnesses a draft account biases their recall. The goal is each witness's own independent account.

Answer: C) An administrative control

• AIncorrect. The hazard remains.
• BIncorrect. The noise source is unchanged.
• CCorrect. It changes work practices.
• DIncorrect. Nothing is replaced.

Answer: B) Stays outside and monitors

• AIncorrect. The attendant stays outside.
• BCorrect. The attendant doesn't enter.
• CIncorrect. The attendant remains.
• DIncorrect. The attendant monitors throughout.

Answer: B) What-if analysis, using team brainstorming to question possible deviations and failures

What-if analysis is a team brainstorming method, recognized as a PHA methodology in 29 CFR 1910.119(e)(2). The team asks 'what if' questions about deviations and records their consequences and safeguards.

• AIncorrect. A HAZOP systematically applies set guide words (no, more, less, reverse, etc.) to design parameters at defined nodes. It does not rely on open-ended questions.
• BCorrect. What-if analysis is one of the PHA methods listed in 1910.119(e)(2). It is a brainstorming method in which an experienced team asks 'what if' questions about deviations and records consequences, safeguards, and recommendations.
• CIncorrect. FMEA works through the system one component at a time, recording how each item can fail and what effect each failure has. It is not organized around open-ended team questions.
• DIncorrect. Fault tree analysis is a deductive method. It starts from a defined undesired top event and uses AND/OR gates to trace combinations of causes.

Answer: A) About halfway between the top rail and the walking surface

• ACorrect. It's midway between the top rail and surface.
• BIncorrect. That's the top rail height.
• CIncorrect. That's a toeboard.
• DIncorrect. That isn't a midrail.

Answer: A) Test the atmosphere before employees enter, and retest as often as needed while ventilation is used to control contaminants

For excavations deeper than 4 feet where a hazardous atmosphere could reasonably be expected, 1926.651(g)(1) requires testing before entry and repeated testing while ventilation or other controls are used. The limits are 19.5% oxygen and 20% of the LFL.

• ACorrect. 1926.651(g)(1)(i) requires testing before employees enter excavations deeper than 4 feet where a hazardous atmosphere could reasonably be expected. Under (g)(1)(iv), testing must be repeated as often as needed while controls such as ventilation are used.
• BIncorrect. 1926.651(g) has no 20-foot trigger for retesting. Testing must be repeated as often as needed when controls are used to reduce contaminants.
• CIncorrect. The testing requirement in 1926.651(g)(1)(i) applies on its own to excavations deeper than 4 feet where hazardous atmospheres could exist. It does not depend on confined-space classification.
• DIncorrect. 1926.651(g)(1)(iii) requires precautions to prevent exposure to flammable gas above 20 percent of the lower flammable limit, not 50 percent.

Answer: A) Control load swing

• ACorrect. Keeping workers clear.
• BIncorrect. The rigging holds it.
• CIncorrect. That's barricades.
• DIncorrect. That's hand signals.

Answer: A) It is permitted, but it becomes improper if it is implemented in a way that discourages injury reporting

OSHA allows rate-based incentive programs but warns that they must not discourage reporting. Employers should balance them with measures such as rewarding hazard identification, training workers on their reporting rights, and checking whether workers are actually willing to report.

• ACorrect. OSHA states that rate-based incentive programs are permissible as long as they are not implemented in a manner that discourages reporting.
• BIncorrect. The 2018 interpretation clarifies that the rule does not prohibit safety incentive programs, including rate-based ones.
• CIncorrect. OSHA notes that a statement encouraging reporting may not, by itself, be enough to make sure employees actually feel free to report.
• DIncorrect. The rule doesn't depend on who receives the reward. OSHA specifically lists evaluating managers on their unit's lack of injuries as a rate-based program.

Answer: B) Tilted back where applicable and raised only as far as needed to clear the road surface

1910.178(n)(7)(iii) requires the load and forks to be tilted back where applicable and raised only enough to clear the road surface. Keeping the load low keeps the truck stable. If the load blocks the operator's view, the operator travels with the load trailing.

• AIncorrect. Tilting forward and raising the load moves the center of gravity forward and up, which makes tip-over more likely. The standard calls for tilting back and keeping the load low.
• BCorrect. 1910.178(n)(7)(iii) says that on all grades the load and load engaging means shall be tilted back if applicable and raised only as far as necessary to clear the road surface. This keeps the combined center of gravity low.
• CIncorrect. Traveling with a raised load makes the truck less stable. Loads are raised only at the point of stacking, not while the truck is moving.
• DIncorrect. Raising the load to see under it puts it higher than the standard allows. If a load blocks forward view, 1910.178(n)(4) requires traveling with the load trailing.

Answer: D) 42 inches

• AIncorrect. That's too high.
• BIncorrect. That's too low.
• CIncorrect. That's too low.
• DCorrect. Plus or minus 3 inches.