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NEBOSH PSM Questions and Answers
Latest 2026
Immediate cause Ans: The unsafe act or unsafe condition
that leads directly to the consequences
Root cause Ans: An underlying circumstance that allowed
the unsafe condition to exist
Leading indicators Ans: Proactive measurements of
conditions that monitor process safety before something
goes wrong and to see if things are operating as intended
Lagging indicators Ans: Reactive measures that look at
failures, such as the number of injuries, the number of
near misses etc
Auditing Ans: Systematic, objective critical evaluation of
how well an organisation's management system is
performing by examining evidence
Hazard Ans: Something that has the potential to cause
harm
Risk Ans: Likelihood that a hazard will cause harm, in
combination with the severity
Acronym: Failure Mode Effect Analysis Ans: Acronym:
FMEA
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Risk Priority Number (RPN) equation Ans: Severity x
Occurrence x Detection
Severity X Occurrence X Detection Ans: Risk Priority
Number (RPN) equation
HAZID Ans: A structured, team-based approach to
identify hazards, potential consequences and
requirements for risk reduction
HAZID characteristics Ans: top-down, consequence
driven study
top-down, consequence driven study Ans: Is HAZID
bottom up or top down?
HAZOP Ans: A very thorough analysis of a process to
identify ways in which the process could deviate from its
design intention
HAZOP characteristics Ans: Bottom up, cause driven
study
Bottom up, cause driven study Ans: Is HAZOP top down
or bottom up?
Event Tree Analysis Ans: Tool used to evaluate the
mitigation measures that will operate after an event
Hierarchy of risk controls Ans: Inherent safety;
elimination; substitution; engineering controls;
administrative controls
© 2025 All rights reserved
NEBOSH PSM Questions and Answers
Latest 2026
Immediate cause Ans: The unsafe act or unsafe condition
that leads directly to the consequences
Root cause Ans: An underlying circumstance that allowed
the unsafe condition to exist
Leading indicators Ans: Proactive measurements of
conditions that monitor process safety before something
goes wrong and to see if things are operating as intended
Lagging indicators Ans: Reactive measures that look at
failures, such as the number of injuries, the number of
near misses etc
Auditing Ans: Systematic, objective critical evaluation of
how well an organisation's management system is
performing by examining evidence
Hazard Ans: Something that has the potential to cause
harm
Risk Ans: Likelihood that a hazard will cause harm, in
combination with the severity
Acronym: Failure Mode Effect Analysis Ans: Acronym:
FMEA
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
Risk Priority Number (RPN) equation Ans: Severity x
Occurrence x Detection
Severity X Occurrence X Detection Ans: Risk Priority
Number (RPN) equation
HAZID Ans: A structured, team-based approach to
identify hazards, potential consequences and
requirements for risk reduction
HAZID characteristics Ans: top-down, consequence
driven study
top-down, consequence driven study Ans: Is HAZID
bottom up or top down?
HAZOP Ans: A very thorough analysis of a process to
identify ways in which the process could deviate from its
design intention
HAZOP characteristics Ans: Bottom up, cause driven
study
Bottom up, cause driven study Ans: Is HAZOP top down
or bottom up?
Event Tree Analysis Ans: Tool used to evaluate the
mitigation measures that will operate after an event
Hierarchy of risk controls Ans: Inherent safety;
elimination; substitution; engineering controls;
administrative controls
© 2025 All rights reserved
