CPHA CPHA Environmental Health & Occupational Safety 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which federal agency is primarily responsible for setting and enforcing workplace safety and health regulations in the United States?
- CDC
- OSHA (Correct answer)
- EPA
- NIOSH
Correct answer: OSHA
OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) is the primary federal agency responsible for setting and enforcing workplace safety standards in the US.
Question 2: The Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom) requires employers to provide employees with information about hazardous chemicals through which document?
- Incident Report
- Safety Data Sheet (SDS) (Correct answer)
- OSHA 300 Log
- Job Hazard Analysis
Correct answer: Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
Safety Data Sheets (SDS) are required under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard to communicate chemical hazard information to workers.
Question 3: Which concept describes the maximum concentration of an airborne hazardous substance to which workers can be exposed during an 8-hour workday without adverse health effects?
- Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health (IDLH)
- Threshold Limit Value (TLV)
- Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) (Correct answer)
- Short-Term Exposure Limit (STEL)
Correct answer: Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs), set by OSHA, define the maximum allowable airborne concentration of a hazardous substance during an 8-hour workday.
Question 4: A public health administrator is evaluating a community near an industrial facility for environmental exposures. Which tool is most appropriate for identifying all potential hazardous waste sites nationwide?
- TOXNET Database
- EPA's Superfund CERCLIS Database (Correct answer)
- OSHA Injury Tracking Application
- NIOSH Pocket Guide
Correct answer: EPA's Superfund CERCLIS Database
The EPA's CERCLIS (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System) database lists all known or suspected hazardous waste sites under the Superfund program.
Question 5: Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), who bears liability for cleanup costs at hazardous waste sites?
- Only current property owners
- Only the original waste generators
- Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) including past and present owners (Correct answer)
- Only the federal government
Correct answer: Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs) including past and present owners
CERCLA establishes strict, joint, and several liability for Potentially Responsible Parties (PRPs), which can include current and past owners, operators, generators, and transporters.
Question 6: Which risk assessment step involves estimating the probability that adverse health effects will occur in exposed individuals?
- Hazard Identification
- Dose-Response Assessment
- Exposure Assessment
- Risk Characterization (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Risk Characterization
Risk characterization integrates hazard identification, dose-response, and exposure data to estimate the probability and magnitude of adverse health effects in the population.
CPHA CPHA Environmental Health & Occupational Safety 1
Which federal agency is primarily responsible for setting and enforcing workplace safety and health regulations in the United States?