CHSP - Certified Healthcare Safety Professional Hazard Identification and Control 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A hospital is implementing a program to reduce needlestick injuries among phlebotomists. According to the hierarchy of controls, which action represents the most effective long-term control measure?
- Require double-gloving during all blood draws
- Replace standard needles with safety-engineered needle devices (Correct answer)
- Post reminders to use the one-handed recapping technique
- Educate staff on proper sharps container disposal procedures
Correct answer: Replace standard needles with safety-engineered needle devices
Engineering controls, such as safety-engineered needle devices, rank above administrative controls and PPE in the hierarchy of controls because they physically alter the tool to eliminate or reduce the hazard without relying on worker behavior or compliance.
Question 2: During a routine environmental safety tour of a medical-surgical unit, a healthcare safety professional identifies several findings. Which finding requires the highest priority for immediate corrective action?
- A fire extinguisher mounted slightly above the maximum recommended height
- A cardiac monitor with a frayed power cord plugged into an outlet adjacent to a patient bed (Correct answer)
- An overfilled sharps container that has not yet been swapped out
- A hallway supply cart positioned several inches away from the wall instead of flush against it
Correct answer: A cardiac monitor with a frayed power cord plugged into an outlet adjacent to a patient bed
A frayed power cord near a patient bed poses an immediate risk of electrical shock or fire, representing a life-threatening hazard that demands immediate correction ahead of lower-urgency environmental findings.
Question 3: A healthcare safety professional is evaluating chemical hazards in the central sterile processing department. According to GHS/HazCom 2012, what is the primary purpose of a Safety Data Sheet (SDS)?
- To document the annual purchase quantities of regulated chemicals
- To provide comprehensive hazard and safe handling information about a chemical substance (Correct answer)
- To replace the requirement for hazard labels on chemical containers in the workplace
- To serve as the sole required training resource for new employee chemical safety orientation
Correct answer: To provide comprehensive hazard and safe handling information about a chemical substance
Under GHS/HazCom 2012, the SDS is the primary reference document providing detailed information on chemical hazards, safe handling, storage requirements, required PPE, and emergency response procedures for each chemical substance.
Question 4: A diagnostic imaging department is working to reduce occupational radiation exposure among staff who assist during fluoroscopic procedures. Which of the following control measures best represents the 'time' component of the classic radiation protection triad?
- Installing lead-lined walls and lead glass windows in the fluoroscopy suite
- Requiring all staff to wear lead aprons and thyroid shields during procedures
- Rotating staff assignments so that no single individual accumulates excessive radiation dose (Correct answer)
- Instructing staff to stand at least six feet from the radiation source during beam activation
Correct answer: Rotating staff assignments so that no single individual accumulates excessive radiation dose
The radiation protection triad consists of time, distance, and shielding. Rotating staff assignments reduces the duration any individual spends near the radiation source, directly limiting cumulative occupational dose — this is the 'time' principle in action.
Question 5: A healthcare safety professional needs to evaluate the risk of upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders for nurses who spend extended shifts performing medication preparation tasks at fixed workstations. Which ergonomic assessment tool is most appropriate for this evaluation?
- NIOSH Lifting Equation
- Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA)
- Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) (Correct answer)
- Snook Psychophysical Tables
Correct answer: Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA)
RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) is specifically designed to assess upper limb posture, force, and repetition in sedentary or workstation-based tasks, making it the most appropriate tool here. REBA is better suited for whole-body dynamic postures, while the NIOSH equation and Snook Tables address manual material handling and lifting tasks.
Question 6: A hospital safety committee regularly reviews incident reports and near-miss data from inpatient units to identify recurring hazard patterns and prioritize corrective actions. This activity is best characterized as which type of hazard identification approach?
- Proactive hazard identification
- Reactive hazard identification (Correct answer)
- Prospective risk assessment
- Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)
Correct answer: Reactive hazard identification
Analyzing incident reports and near-miss data after events have occurred is a reactive hazard identification method, because it relies on actual harm or near-harm events to surface hazards. Proactive and prospective methods such as FMEA or planned safety inspections identify hazards before incidents occur.
CHSP - Certified Healthcare Safety Professional Hazard Identification and Control 2
A hospital is implementing a program to reduce needlestick injuries among phlebotomists.
According to the hierarchy of controls, which action represents the most effective long-term control measure?