Safety Test 1 August 28

Question 1

Low focus on hazard vs. High focus on hazard

Answer 1

• low focus on hazard = high task achievement, but high injury occurrence
• high focus on hazard = lower task achievement and lower injury ocurrence

Question 2

How safe is safe enough?

Answer 2

• you’ll never know the answer
• depends on what you’re dealing with (contextual relativism)
• experts agree all accidents can NOT be eliminated

Question 3

What do we do as engineers? Brauer suggests 4 E’s:

Answer 3

• engineering
• education
• enforcement
• enthusiasm

Question 4

OSHA’s distinction between injuries and illnesses

Answer 4

• used to distinguish between the two on OSHA 200 log (now OSHA 300 log)
• primary distinction between the 2 is the “instantaneous” onset of injuries vs. the cumulative nature of illnesses

Question 5

Safety Engineer vs. Industrial Hygiene

Answer 5

• safety engineer is primarily responsible for hazards that can result in injuries and industrial hygiene is primarily responsible for hazards that can result in illness
• “injury” risk factors grouped as safety concerns, “illness” risk factors grouped as hygiene concerns

Question 6

What is necessary for an effective safety program?

Answer 6

• cooperation between safety and industrial hygiene staff

- good communication with health care providers both on-site and off-site is critical

Question 7

Hammurabi’s Code

Answer 7

• basically says “an eye for an eye”

- first “worker protection laws”

Question 8

prior to workers compensation laws, employers used what 3 major defenses to avoid compensating workers for on-the-job injuries?

Answer 8

• the workers contributory negligence
• negligence of co-workers
• inherent risk of the work

Question 9

OSH Act of 1970

Answer 9

• set min standards for workplace safety
• a general duty clause (for hazardous conditions and operations for which a specific standard does not exist)
• came with OSHAct

Question 10

General Duty Clause

Answer 10

• section 5a of OSHAct
• each employer shall:
• furnish to each of his employees employment and a place of employment which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm to his employees
• shall comply with occupational safety and health standards promulgated under this act
• only use general duty when another standard doesn’t apply, or if it is causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm

Question 11

OSHA Injury and Illness Rate

Answer 11

= (N x 200,000) / EH

• N is # of OSHA recordable injuries (at a threshold where you have to log it) for the year
• EH = employee hours worked for the year
• 200,000 is # hours worked by 100 full time workers in 1 year
• it represents the # of injuries and illnesses a company would expect to have (based on actual injury rate) if it had 100 full time employees
• allows for comparison between similar companies

Question 12

Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) Guidelines

Answer 12

• management commitment and employee involvement
• work site analysis
• hazard prevention and control
• safety and health training
• no OSHA visits if you’re a part of this; however, you must maintain high standards

Question 13

average OSHA injury and illness rate in 1995 (and what does this mean), 2005, and 2010

Answer 13

• 9.9 in 1995 - nearly 10% of general industry workforce suffered injury/illness in that year
• 6.3 in 2005
• 4.4 in 2010