Sample CRSPEX Questions
Accident Theory (AT)
1. Unwanted energy flow is:
A. Uncontrolled energy flow that can be directed to do unwanted work.
B. A high-energy component involved in an energy release.
C. A by-product of high-energy environment production.
D. A term used in the field of stress management.
2. ISMEC is the acronym for:
A. Illustrating work, Starting task, Mentoring worker, Estimating difficulty, Commending success.
B. Illuminating roles, Sending signals, Managing stress, Evaluating performance, Counting mistakes.
C. Identification of work, Standards established, Measuring performance, Evaluating performance, Correcting deficiencies (and commending success).
D. Identification of risks, Standards of performance, Managing people, Evaluating performance, Correcting mistakes (and commending success).
Environmental Practices (EP)
3. A medium size company that continually engages in environmentally hazardous activities has:
A. Considered the potential effects of failing to have a corporate environmental policy.
B. Staffed technically competent professionals with environmental responsibility.
C. Failed to consider the potential benefits of an active environmental management system.
D. Funded environmental programs with senior management commitment.
4. One purpose of an environmental audit is to:
A. Assess the management systems related to environmental issues.
B. Review environmental risks associated with the site and site operation.
C. Identify staff with environmental responsibilities.
D. Review training records of staff tasked with handling environmentally sensitive substances.
Ergonomics (ERG)
5. One kind of muscular effort can be described as static. Static effort is characterized as:
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A. An alternation between contraction and extension of the muscles.
B. Tension and relaxation of the muscles.
C. A prolonged state of contraction of the muscles.
D. Change in rhythm of the muscle length.
6. When evaluating repetitive work, the key factors to be considered include:
A. The average number of lifts per minute over a fifteen-minute period.
B. The duration of the shift and the repetition rate and recovery time provided.
C. The position of the joints when the task is performed; the force exerted and the repetition rate or amount of recovery time provided.
D. The level of fatigue and boredom that may affect the worker’s ability to perform the task well.
Fire Prevention and Protection (FPP)
7. A systematic approach to fire protection systems’ inspection, testing and maintenance should follow guidelines established by the manufacturers and by:
A. NFPA
B. NRC
C. Factory Mutual
D. Underwriters’ Laboratories
8. In Canada, the National Building Code and the National Fire Code are developed under the:
A. Underwriters Laboratories Canada Inc.
B. Factory Mutual
C. Canadian Standards Association
D. National Research Council
Health Promotion (HP)
9. A treating physician can provide the following information to the employer about an injured worker:
A. The patient’s treatment for healing
B. A diagnosis of patient’s condition.
C. A prognosis of patient’s condition.
D. Any restrictions on patient activities.
10. A strategy that gives structure and organization to the activity of returning injured workers to the workplace as soon as possible following a work related accident is a definition of a:
A. Modified Work Program
B. Claims Management Program
C. Vocational Rehabilitation Program
D. Disability Management Program
Law and Ethics (LE)
11. A ‘procedural’ approach to regulation:
A. Sets a general standard that you must meet without much concern about how you meet it.
B. Sets out the requirements of procedural justice.
C. Sets out the rules of the Court.
D. Sets out detailed rules telling you how to reach a standard.
12. A ‘privative clause’:
A. Is a provision in a contract that is secret.
B. Is a clause that concerns the legal right to hygiene facilities in the workplace.
C. Prevents a person from appealing an administrator’s decision.
D. Prevents people from opting out of the OHS system through contract.
Occupational Health Safety and Environment Systems (OES)
13. The effective manager in the emerging workplace recognizes as foundational goals:
A. High productivity and low operating costs.
B. High performance and low labour conflict.
C. High performance and satisfaction among team members.
D. High productivity and low loss rates.
14. In the field of management theory, “Theory Z” refers to:
A. High-risk, potentially high-return preferences.
B. Managing by cultural norms.
C. Adherence to Japanese management principles.
D. Eastern European management principles.
Occupational Hygiene (OH)
15. A worker in a noisy environment was monitored for 8 hours and subject to the following exposures. 4 hrs at 80dBA (allowable exposure time 24 hours), 2 hrs at 85dBA (allowable exposure time 8 hrs), and 2 hours at 90dBA (allowable exposure time 2 hrs). During the 8 hours was the worker:
A. Overexposed.
B. At the allowable exposure level.
C. Not overexposed.
D. Significantly overexposed.
16. Which chemical exposure was associated with a liver cancer called angiosarcoma?
A. Trichloroethylene.
B. Vinyl chloride
C. Lead
D. Asbestos
Risk Management (RM)
17. The safety practitioner will approach risk management as:
A. A management system directed at influencing worker behaviour, with emphasis on worker safety and health.
B. A system designed to manage quality and process safety.
C. A system-wide assessment of risks and risk control, with emphasis on worker safety and health.
D. A responsibility for the safety practitioner to document all workplace related risks and develop controls for the identified risks.
18. Perceptions of risk may affect the tolerance for certain types of hazards. Which of the following may bias the judgement of one of the affected parties?
A. Scientific evidence not containing sufficient evidence to support a potential for harm.
B. Value assumptions; or, subjective interpretations of evidence based on personal or societal values.
C. The principle of achieving a technically agreeable control measure.
D. All occupational hazards should be measure using the ‘precautionary principle’.
Safety Techniques and Technology (STT)
19. The term ‘protective factor’ in respiratory protection is used to describe:
A. The overall life expectancy the user can expect to get from the equipment.
B. The overall effectiveness of a respirator and the nature of contaminants.
C. The degree of inhalation resistance the equipment’s material has been rated for.
D. The amount of training the wearer is required to have before using the equipment.
20. Portable conveyors are equipped with skirtboards or sideboards because:
A. They permit access to the point of operation.
B. They provide complete guarding of the in-running nip hazard.
C. They prevent operators from reaching into the conveyor.
D. They keep material from falling over the sides.
Case Study - Occupational Hygiene (OH)
Occupational dermatitis represents one of the most common forms of occupational disease. The significance of dermal [skin] absorption in terms of overall body burden of chemicals is still largely unknown.
In 1997, a single incident focused the attention of health and safety professionals on to the seriousness of dermal exposure. A professor of chemistry died of mercury intoxication, days after a brief exposure to dimethyl mercury. The occasion occurred in the laboratory when the chemical leaked across a latex glove.
1. How could this fatality have been prevented?
A. The ventilation rate in the laboratory fumehood could have been increased, thereby increasing the evaporation rate.
B. The professor of chemistry should have recognized the hazard and taken appropriate precautions.
C. The glove selection should have been impermeable to the chemical used.
D. The latex glove may have been old or compromised.
2. How could a safety practitioner have assisted in a prevention program?
A. The CRSP could have checked the fumehood flow rate and set out a regular maintenance schedule.
B. The CRSP could have completed a risk assessment, noting the chemicals and PPE in use.
C. The CRSP could have initiated a chemical inventory program for the laboratory.
D. The CRSP could have completed a risk assessment, noting the chemicals and PPE in use, for the laboratory manager with recommended controls.
3. What is the most common approach used to assess skin exposure to a contaminant?
A. Biological monitoring is commonly used to assess total body burden of chemical contaminants.
B. Critical flux is the dose resulting from inhalation exposure combined with dermal exposure.
C. Using pads or dosimeters to determine the amount of contaminant deposited on the skin.
D. There is no recognized approach to assess skin exposure to a contaminant.
ANSWERS FOR SAMPLE CRSPEX QUESTIONS AND CASE STUDY
Accident Theory (AT)
Question 1: Correct answer - B
Justification: The choice of A is clearly wrong with the inclusion of the words ‘unwanted work’. C and D are distracters using ‘by-product’ and ‘stress management’ inappropriately. The energy models discussed in the Study Guide emphasize the release of unwanted energy as a component of accident causation.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Accident Theory (AT) Study Guide, Energy Models (Ball’s Energy Model) and CAN/CSA-Z796-98
Question 2: Correct answer - C
Justification: This illustrated an important change in accident theory between the earlier Bird theory along with Heinrich’s original model of ‘blaming’ the worker for accidents, and a shift to a systems or management control model. A, B and D were all used as distracters in this question.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Accident Theory (AT) Study Guide, Bird’s up-dated accident sequence.
Environmental Practices (EP)
Question 3: Correct answer: C
Justification: All of the answers could apply to a medium size company; however, the question relates to ‘continual risky activities’ and therefore the only correct answer would be C.
Source: Accident Prevention Manual for Business and Industry, 2nd Edition, Environmental Management, National Safety Council, p. 343-344
Question 4: Correct answer: B
Justification: The audit is conducted to ‘review environmental risks’ not ‘assess’ or ‘identify’. Training records of staff should be part of the company personnel safety and environmental procedures and do not form part of an environmental audit process.
Source: Accident Prevention Manual for Business and Industry, 2nd Edition, Environmental Management, National Safety Council, p. 347
Ergonomics (ERG)
Question 5: Correct answer: C
Justification: The correct answer is related to only one state; static, means virtually unmoving. Therefore ‘a prolonged state of contraction’ clearly describes the circumstance.
Source: Fitting the Task to the Human, 5th Edition, K.H.E. Kroemer and E. Grandjean, Taylor and Francis, p. 7
Question 6: Correct answer: C
Justification: Although all of the answers contain some element of truth, C is the only one that gathers all of the factors together; duration, rate, force and repetition/recovery.
Source: Accident Prevention Manual for Business and Industry, 12th Edition, Administration and Programs, National Safety Council, Ergonomic Program Repetitive Work, p. 405
Fire Prevention and Protection (FPP)
Question 7: Correct answer: A
Justification: NFPA Standards have been adopted by many Canadian jurisdictions giving them the force of law when referenced in a regulation or code. B, C, and D all refer to standard making organizations; however their guidelines and standards often defer to, or reference the National Fire Protection Association Standards.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Fire Prevention and Protection (FPP) Study Guide, Care, Maintenance and Inspection and The Fire Safety Management Handbook, 2nd Edition, Daniel E. Della-Giustina, Ph.D., American Society of Safety Engineers
Question 8: Correct answer: D
Justification: The NRC develops the Codes on a consensus basis through committees of various stakeholders.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Fire Prevention and Protection (FPP) Study Guide, Care, Maintenance and Inspection and The Fire Safety Management Handbook, 2nd Edition, Daniel E. Della-Giustina, Ph.D., American Society of Safety Engineers
Health Promotion (HP)
Question 9: Correct answer: D
Justification: Confidentiality of medical information limits the physician’s ability to provide the employer with any information on the patient other than that described in D.
Source: Disability Management: Theory, Strategy and Industry Practice, Dianne Dyck, Butterworths
Question 10: Correct answer: D
Justification: The key to this question is the descriptor, ‘strategy that gives structure and organization’. Thus, a disability management program may contain all the other programs in its scope.
Source: Disability Management: Theory, Strategy and Industry Practice, Dianne Dyck, ISBN 0-433-42413-3, Butterworths
Law and Ethics (LE)
Question 11: Correct answer: D
Justification: A regulation is the detailed legal authority, whereas an Act is the basic legal authority. Some jurisdictions are including performance standards into their procedural regulations; this will allow the organization to measure their procedures against the minimum legal standard for compliance.
Source: Occupational Health and Safety Law, Dr. Peter Strahlendorf, CRSP, School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University
Question 12: Correct answer: C
Justification: Workers’ compensation is a provincial matter. The study guide confirms that CRSP’s need to know the various compensation regimes in which they operate. Privacy clauses exist in compensation law to limit the appeal process. For example: ‘an action or decision of the _____ under this Act is final and is not open to question or review in a court.’
Source: Occupational Health and Safety Law, Dr. Peter Strahlendorf, CRSP, School of Occupational and Public Health, Ryerson University
Occupational Health Safety and Environment Systems (OES)
Question 13: Correct answer: C
Justification: The author emphasizes that C result in sustained performance of the team members.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Occupational Health Safety and Environment Systems (OES) Study Guide, “Managers and Organizations”
Question 14: Correct answer: C
Justification: The answer is discussed in the study guide under OES, Comparative Management Practices. Theory Z (Wm. Ouchi) refers to Japanese management practices and business success.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Occupational Health Safety and Environment Systems (OES) Study Guide, “Comparative Management Practices”
Occupational Hygiene (OH)
Question 15: Correct answer: A
Justification: Without regard for possible differences in jurisdictional approach to allowable exposure to noise, the participant is being asked to solve this question using a mathematical formula available in most hygiene resource manuals. When the daily noise exposure is composed of two or more periods of exposure at different levels, the combined effect should be considered. If the sum of the fractions of the exposure exceeds 100%, then the mixed exposure should be considered to exceed the allowable limit value.
D = C1 + C2 + C3 + … Cn
T1 T2 T3 Tn
D = dose; C = exposure time at a particular level; T = total time allowed at that noise level.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Occupational Hygiene (OH) Study Guide and The Occupational Environment – Its Evaluation and Control, Salvatore R. DiNardi, Editor, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Noise, Chapter 20, p. 436
Question 16: Correct answer: B
Justification: This association of chemical exposure to vinyl chloride monomer, resulting in a rare form of liver cancer, has been published in occupational hygiene literature for the past 15 years.
Source: The Occupational Environment – Its Evaluation and Control, Salvatore R. DiNardi, Editor, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Occupational Toxicology, p. 81
Risk Management (RM)
Question 17: Correct answer: C
Justification: C is the only possible correct choice, as risk management has nothing to do with ‘influencing worker behaviour’ or ‘quality and process safety’. It is no longer acceptable to ‘blame the worker’ as a result of assessing risk. Nor does risk management direct the safety practitioner to ‘develop controls’ for all identified risks.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Risk Management (RM) Study Guide, What is Risk Management Source listed, “Risk Management; a Primer for Canadians”, 1.1-1.3
Question 18: Correct answer: B
Justification: The correct answer contains language that should be a dead give-away, ‘subjective interpretation’ based on ‘personal values’.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Risk Management (RM) Study Guide, Decision Making in Risk Management Primer, 1.12-1.18
Safety Techniques and Technology (STT)
Question 19: Correct answer: B
Justification: The assigned protective factor (APF) of respirators has been published by NIOSH and ANSI. The three other possible answers are all distracters.
Source: BCRSP’s Guide to Registration – Safety Techniques and Technology (STT) Study Guide and Accident Prevention Manual for Business and Industry, 12th Edition, Administration and Programs and Engineering and Technology, National Safety Council, personal protective equipment
Question 20: Correct answer: D
Justification: There may be an element of truth to A, B and C; however, skirting and sideboards describe a specific control to prevent material from falling from a conveyor. Portable conveyors require the same level of guarding as do fixed conveyor systems.
Source: Accident Prevention Manual for Business and Industry, 12th Edition, Administration and Programs and Engineering and Technology, National Safety Council, personal protective equipment, p. 481
Case Study (Occupational Hygiene)
Case Study 1: Correct answer: C
Justification: A is clearly wrong, as the ventilation plays no role in this scenario. B is wrong as we must not ‘blame the worker’ and the professor may have known all the chemical hazards related to the dimethyl mercury, but was unaware of the permeability of the selected latex glove. *Please refer to the Accident Theory (AT) domain with regard to safety systems and Fault Tree analysis. The latex is the culprit here as it readily breaks down in the presence of solvents and was not the glove material of choice. D has no import, as the age or condition of the latex would not have mattered in this case.
Source: The Occupational Environment – Its Evaluation and Control, Salvatore R. DiNardi, Editor, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dermal Exposure, p. 286
Case Study 2: Correct answer: D
Justification: The answer includes all aspects of the CRSP’s role, identifying risk, recommending controls and presenting the findings to a supervisor in charge of the workplace.
Source: The Occupational Environment – Its Evaluation and Control, Salvatore R. DiNardi, Editor, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dermal Exposure, p. 286
Case Study 3: Correct answer: C
Justification: A is correct but has no relationship to the question. B is also correct but talks about a definition of a particular dose, not exposure. D is incorrect by any standard.
Source: The Occupational Environment – Its Evaluation and Control, Salvatore R. DiNardi, Editor, American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dermal Exposure, p. 286