Free Certified Safety and Health Manager (CSHM) examination Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Certified Safety and Health Manager (CSHM) examination practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1A plant director signs a document stating that worker protection has the same organizational importance as productivity and profitability. The document commits the company to maintaining its safety program but sets no numerical target. Which program document is this?

   1. A.A task-specific operating procedure
   2. B.A safety and health policyCorrect answer: B
   3. C.A hazard inventory and risk register
   4. D.An emergency evacuation plan

   Explanation: OSHA explains, "A clear, written policy helps you communicate that safety and health is a primary organizational value". The signed statement communicates an organization-wide commitment, so it is a policy. An operating procedure directs a task, a hazard inventory records hazards, and an evacuation plan addresses emergency movement; none describes this statement of management commitment.

   Reference: OSHA Recommended Practices — Management Leadership — Action item 1: Communicate your commitment to a safety and health program

2. 2A trainer presents correct safety procedures, but employees cannot understand the presentation's technical vocabulary or reading level. Which change most directly corrects this communication problem?

   1. A.Provide the training in understandable language at an appropriate literacy levelCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Give the same presentation more often using the same technical vocabulary
   3. C.Increase the number of technical slides while retaining the same reading level
   4. D.Replace discussion time with additional written material at the same reading level

   Explanation: OSHA says, "Ensure that training is provided in the language(s) and at a literacy level that all workers can understand." Frequency and quantity do not correct an inaccessible language or literacy level.

   Reference: OSHA Recommended Practices — Education and Training — Action item 1: Provide program awareness training

3. 3A risk review ranks hazards solely by the number of previous incidents. Which additional information is needed to evaluate hazards that have not yet caused an incident?

   1. A.Equipment age, inspection frequency, and maintenance completion
   2. B.Employee tenure, training frequency, and supervisor tenure
   3. C.Potential outcome severity, event likelihood, and workers potentially exposedCorrect answer: C
   4. D.Previous claim cost, equipment value, and insurance deductible

   Explanation: OSHA recommends, "Evaluate each hazard by considering the severity of potential outcomes, the likelihood that an event or exposure will occur, and the number of workers who might be exposed." Historical counts alone miss potentially severe future events.

   Reference: OSHA Recommended Practices — Hazard Identification and Assessment — Action item 6: Characterize the nature of identified hazards, identify interim control measures, and prioritize the hazards for control

4. 4A company wants a consensus-standard framework specifically for an occupational health and safety management system. Which standard fits that purpose?

   1. A.ISO 9001
   2. B.ISO 14001
   3. C.ISO/IEC 27001
   4. D.ISO 45001Correct answer: D

   Explanation: ISO identifies ISO 45001 as specifying requirements for "an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system." The other listed standards address quality, environmental management, and information security, respectively.

   Reference: ISO — ISO 45001:2018 Overview — What is ISO 45001?

5. 5During process redesign, a team can remove the need for a hazardous cleaning chemical entirely. Other proposals retain it with ventilation, training, or gloves. Which control has the highest position in the hierarchy?

   1. A.Removing the hazardous chemical from the processCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Installing ventilation for the retained chemical
   3. C.Training employees in handling the retained chemical
   4. D.Selecting gloves for use with the retained chemical

   Explanation: NIOSH states, "Elimination removes the hazard at the source" and identifies it as the preferred solution. Ventilation, training, and gloves reduce or manage exposure while retaining the hazard.

   Reference: NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls — Elimination

6. 6An investigation concludes 'operator error' after a collision, although aisle visibility, production pressure, and traffic-layout decisions have not been examined. What should the team do next?

   1. A.Finalize the conclusion because the operator was involved
   2. B.Limit the inquiry to whether the operator signed the training roster
   3. C.Continue examining underlying conditions and program factorsCorrect answer: C
   4. D.Treat the injury's severity as the complete explanation of its cause

   Explanation: OSHA says, "the team must look beyond the immediate causes of an incident." An operator-error label does not explain whether layout, visibility, production demands, or other systemic conditions contributed.

   Reference: OSHA — Incident Investigation — Incident Investigation — root causes

7. 7A manufacturer sets a goal to complete its machine-guarding review by the end of the quarter. No one has yet been assigned to perform the review. What should the safety manager add to turn the goal into an implementation plan?

   1. A.A revised statement giving safety equal importance to productivity
   2. B.A new list of general organizational safety values and commitments
   3. C.A historical summary of injury rates from earlier reporting periods
   4. D.Assigned review tasks, responsible people, timeframes, and resourcesCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: OSHA recommends, "Develop plans to achieve the goals by assigning tasks and responsibilities to particular people, setting timeframes, and determining resource needs." Those elements turn the stated objective into work that can be carried out. A policy statement, values list, or historical injury summary does not assign execution of this review.

   Reference: OSHA Recommended Practices — Management Leadership — Action item 2: Define program goals

8. 8Employees have submitted hazard suggestions but hear nothing about the resulting actions. Which communication practice best closes this feedback loop?

   1. A.Send employees a summary of last year's overall injury counts
   2. B.Send employees the dates and attendance totals for safety training
   3. C.Send employees the schedule for upcoming routine inspections
   4. D.Report routinely on actions taken in response to their concernsCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: OSHA recommends, "Report back to workers routinely and frequently about action taken in response to their concerns and suggestions." Injury summaries, attendance totals, and future schedules do not identify what happened to the submitted concerns.

   Reference: OSHA Recommended Practices — Worker Participation — Action item 2: Encourage workers to report safety and health concerns

9. 9A hazard register describes a highly toxic substance used in a sealed system. A second task opens the same substance to frequent worker contact. What must the assessor consider to distinguish the risks of the two tasks?

   1. A.The common substance name as the complete risk measure
   2. B.The purchase quantity without considering the work methods
   3. C.The different opportunities for worker exposure during each taskCorrect answer: C
   4. D.The common supplier as evidence of equal risk

   Explanation: OSHA explains, "Thus, risk can be reduced by controlling or eliminating the hazard or by reducing workers' exposure to hazards." The substance has the same hazardous properties in both tasks, but the opportunities for worker exposure differ. Name, quantity without work-method analysis, and common supplier do not establish the same task risk.

   Reference: OSHA Recommended Practices — Hazard Identification and Assessment — Action item 6 — Note

10. 10A safety manager needs the consensus-standard family addressing personal fall-arrest systems, work positioning, rescue, and related fall-protection equipment. Which family is the appropriate starting point?

    1. A.ANSI/ASSP Z359Correct answer: A
    2. B.ANSI/ISEA Z358.1
    3. C.ANSI/ASSP Z117.1
    4. D.ANSI/ASSP Z244.1

    Explanation: ASSP states that the Z359 standards address "fall protection equipment and systems for climbing, work positioning, fall arrest, rescue, evacuation and other fall hazards." The other families concern emergency washing equipment, confined spaces, and hazardous-energy control.

    Reference: ASSP — Fall Protection and Fall Restraint Standards — What Are Fall Protection and Fall Restraint Standards