CONSTRUCTION SAFETY AND HEALTH
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS COMPLETE STUDY
GUIDE FULL SOLUTION
●● What are the responsibilities of contractors related to safety and
health?
Answer: Contractors, as the owners of the company, bear the ultimate
responsibility for safety and health on their job sites. Contractors are
responsible for the following: 1) setting a pro-safety tone for the
company, 2) establishing a complete commitment to safety and health
from the top down, and 3) ensuring that sufficient resources are provided
to support a comprehensive, company-wide safety effort. By letting their
managers and supervisors know that they expect safe and healthy job
sites, contractors set a tone for the company which ensures that safety
and health will be high priorities. By including safety and health in the
company's strategic plan, contractors can establish the necessary
commitment on the part of all employees. By providing the resources
necessary to support company-wide safety and health programs,
contractors ensure that the safety and health program is properly staffed
and sufficiently funded.
●● What are the safety and health responsibilities of managers and other
professionals in a construction company?
Answer: Managers and other professionals are responsible for setting a
positive example relating to safety and health and for translating the
,commitment of the contractor into everyday practice. This is
accomplished by the following types of actions: 1) developing job
descriptions that make safety and health part of every employee's job; 2)
developing performance appraisal forms that contain safety and health
criteria; 3) rewarding safe behavior on the job by making it an important
factor in promotions and pay raises; 4) developing work procedures that
emphasize safety and health; 5) recognizing safe work behavior as a part
of company incentive programs; 6) ensuring that the company has a
comprehensive, effective safety and health program; 7) keeping up to
date with the latest OSHA standards and regulations relating to
construction; and 8) effectively communicating safety and health
information to all employees and subcontractors.
●● Explain the responsibilities of safety and health professionals in
construction companies.
Answer: The Safety and Health Manager is responsible for establishing,
implementing, and managing the company's overall safety and health
program who reports to the CEO. Specific duties include the following:
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive company-wide safety and
health program.
• Assess and analyze all jobs, processes, and materials for potential
hazards.
• Work with appropriate personnel to develop, implement, monitor, and
evaluate accident prevention/hazard control strategies.
• Ensure company-wide compliance with all applicable laws, standards,
and codes.
,• Coordinate the activities of all members of the company's safety and
health program.
• Plan, implement, and broker, as appropriate, safety and health-related
training.
• Maintain all required safety and health-related records and reports.
• Conduct accident investigations as necessary.
• Develop and maintain a company-wide Emergency Action Plan (EAP).
• Establish and maintain an ongoing safety promotion effort.
• Analyze the Company's products from the perspectives of safety,
health, and liability.
●● How does one go about becoming a "Certified Safety Professional?"
Answer: • Apply to the Board of Certified Safety Professionals
1. Meet an academic requirement
2. Meet a professional safety experience requirement
3. Pass the Safety Fundamentals Examination
4. Pass the Comprehensive Practice Examination
●● Explain the domino theory of accident causation, including its origin
and its impact on more modern theories.
Answer: This is how Heinrich's theory of accident causation works.
According to Heinrich, there are five factors in the sequence of events
leading up to an accident. These factors can be summarized as follows:
, 1. Ancestry and social environment. Negative character traits that may
lead people to behave in an unsafe manner can be inherited (ancestry) or
acquired as a result of the social environment.
2. Fault of person. Negative character traits, whether inherited or
acquired, are why people behave in an unsafe manner and why
hazardous conditions exist.
3. Unsafe act/mechanical or physical hazard. Unsafe acts committed by
people and mechanical or physical hazards are the direct causes of
accidents.
4. Accident. Typically, accidents that result in injury are caused by
falling or being hit by moving objects.
5. Injury. Typical injuries resulting from accidents include lacerations
and fractures.
Heinrich's study laid the foundation for his Axioms of Industrial Safety
and his theory of accident causation, which came to be known as the
domino theory. So much of Heinrich's theory has been discounted by
more contemporary research that it is now considered outdated.
However, since some of today's more widely accepted theories can be
traced back to Heinrich's theory, students of construction safety should
be familiar with his work.
●● Explain the following concepts in the domino theory: preceding
factor; central factor.
Answer: Heinrich's theory has two central points: 1) Injuries are caused
by the action of preceding factors; and 2) removal of the central factor
(unsafe act/hazardous condition) negates the action of the preceding
factors and, in so doing, prevents accidents and injuries.
UPDATED ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS COMPLETE STUDY
GUIDE FULL SOLUTION
●● What are the responsibilities of contractors related to safety and
health?
Answer: Contractors, as the owners of the company, bear the ultimate
responsibility for safety and health on their job sites. Contractors are
responsible for the following: 1) setting a pro-safety tone for the
company, 2) establishing a complete commitment to safety and health
from the top down, and 3) ensuring that sufficient resources are provided
to support a comprehensive, company-wide safety effort. By letting their
managers and supervisors know that they expect safe and healthy job
sites, contractors set a tone for the company which ensures that safety
and health will be high priorities. By including safety and health in the
company's strategic plan, contractors can establish the necessary
commitment on the part of all employees. By providing the resources
necessary to support company-wide safety and health programs,
contractors ensure that the safety and health program is properly staffed
and sufficiently funded.
●● What are the safety and health responsibilities of managers and other
professionals in a construction company?
Answer: Managers and other professionals are responsible for setting a
positive example relating to safety and health and for translating the
,commitment of the contractor into everyday practice. This is
accomplished by the following types of actions: 1) developing job
descriptions that make safety and health part of every employee's job; 2)
developing performance appraisal forms that contain safety and health
criteria; 3) rewarding safe behavior on the job by making it an important
factor in promotions and pay raises; 4) developing work procedures that
emphasize safety and health; 5) recognizing safe work behavior as a part
of company incentive programs; 6) ensuring that the company has a
comprehensive, effective safety and health program; 7) keeping up to
date with the latest OSHA standards and regulations relating to
construction; and 8) effectively communicating safety and health
information to all employees and subcontractors.
●● Explain the responsibilities of safety and health professionals in
construction companies.
Answer: The Safety and Health Manager is responsible for establishing,
implementing, and managing the company's overall safety and health
program who reports to the CEO. Specific duties include the following:
• Establish and maintain a comprehensive company-wide safety and
health program.
• Assess and analyze all jobs, processes, and materials for potential
hazards.
• Work with appropriate personnel to develop, implement, monitor, and
evaluate accident prevention/hazard control strategies.
• Ensure company-wide compliance with all applicable laws, standards,
and codes.
,• Coordinate the activities of all members of the company's safety and
health program.
• Plan, implement, and broker, as appropriate, safety and health-related
training.
• Maintain all required safety and health-related records and reports.
• Conduct accident investigations as necessary.
• Develop and maintain a company-wide Emergency Action Plan (EAP).
• Establish and maintain an ongoing safety promotion effort.
• Analyze the Company's products from the perspectives of safety,
health, and liability.
●● How does one go about becoming a "Certified Safety Professional?"
Answer: • Apply to the Board of Certified Safety Professionals
1. Meet an academic requirement
2. Meet a professional safety experience requirement
3. Pass the Safety Fundamentals Examination
4. Pass the Comprehensive Practice Examination
●● Explain the domino theory of accident causation, including its origin
and its impact on more modern theories.
Answer: This is how Heinrich's theory of accident causation works.
According to Heinrich, there are five factors in the sequence of events
leading up to an accident. These factors can be summarized as follows:
, 1. Ancestry and social environment. Negative character traits that may
lead people to behave in an unsafe manner can be inherited (ancestry) or
acquired as a result of the social environment.
2. Fault of person. Negative character traits, whether inherited or
acquired, are why people behave in an unsafe manner and why
hazardous conditions exist.
3. Unsafe act/mechanical or physical hazard. Unsafe acts committed by
people and mechanical or physical hazards are the direct causes of
accidents.
4. Accident. Typically, accidents that result in injury are caused by
falling or being hit by moving objects.
5. Injury. Typical injuries resulting from accidents include lacerations
and fractures.
Heinrich's study laid the foundation for his Axioms of Industrial Safety
and his theory of accident causation, which came to be known as the
domino theory. So much of Heinrich's theory has been discounted by
more contemporary research that it is now considered outdated.
However, since some of today's more widely accepted theories can be
traced back to Heinrich's theory, students of construction safety should
be familiar with his work.
●● Explain the following concepts in the domino theory: preceding
factor; central factor.
Answer: Heinrich's theory has two central points: 1) Injuries are caused
by the action of preceding factors; and 2) removal of the central factor
(unsafe act/hazardous condition) negates the action of the preceding
factors and, in so doing, prevents accidents and injuries.
