1. The most effective safety committees perform the role of a ___________?

b. Consultant... not a cop!

2. Which of the items listed is the least appropriate activity for the safety committee?

a. Purchase personal protective equipment. Typically, safety committees are not assigned this duty. This is more effectively the responsibility of the safety manager or other line manager.

3. Complete the following statement: A primary purpose of the safety committee is to:

c. identify hazards and make recommendations. The safety committee should not enforce safety rules: that's the responsibility of line managers. The safety committee should help management do safety, but not actually do it for the employer. By "doing" we mean providing resources, enforcement, supervision, and training.

4. The "function" of the safety committee reflects what its "intended effect" is on workplace safety.

b. False. Function is the actual outcome and is very dependent upon the safety committee's ability to fulfill its intended purpose. Good intentions are not enough. The safety committee must compliment good intentions with sound development and implementation of plans, policies, procedures, etc. Facts, as well as feelings are important to successful safety.

5. If the safety committee is not properly trained it might function to _________ the safety management program?

b. hurt. That's right. A well-intended, but incompetent safety committee can actually destroy an employer's safety management program through poor design of safety management processes.

6. The "Purpose" of the safety committee describes a(n) _____________ result?

c. intended. Yes, purpose is intentional. Function is the actual result.

7. The "function" of the safety committee is a dependent variable because it is tied to the safety committee's ability to fulfill its purpose.

a. True. Purpose is the independent variable. The actual outcome, or function, depends on how well the intended purpose is carried out.

8. OR-OSHA rules require members of the safety committee to enforce rules.

b. False. No rule requires the safety committee to control or enforce safety rules. Enforcement should be the responsibility of line managers.

9. The safety committee is to promote all of the following, except?

a. Adversarial relationships. Absolutely not. The "Prime Directive" (a little Star Trek lingo here) for safety committees is to increase trust between labor and management: To promote a cooperative relationship.

10. According to Safety Committees — Purpose 437-001-0765(1), safety committee are to... __________________ and makes recommendations for change.

c. assist the employer. Emphasis here on "assist" not "do". Assisting can take many forms: observation, inspection, analysis, evaluation, recommendations, training, etc.

11. When designed and conducted effectively the safety committee can save the organization far more money than is invested in safety. According to the text, when the safety committee does this, it functions as a _______________.

c. profit-center activity. A cost-center activity does things in such a way that it drains the coffers and/or duplicates activities of the line organization.

12. Bottom-line benefits of safety committees include all of the following except?

d. coercive relationships. Actually, relationships between the safety committee, employees and management will probably improve quite a bit.

13. According to the NSC, the average direct and indirect costs for a lost time injury on the job is _______.

b. $28,000. Yes, and remember the NSC figures for a fatality is $980,000!

14. According to the text, the average Oregon workers' compensation costs to "close" a lost-time claim is around _______.

a. $12,600. That's right. Get all your supervisors understanding these costs. If someone identifies a serious hazard, and suggests a way to remove it...that's worth some sort of tangible reward, isn't it.

15. According to the text, the average Oregon workers' compensation costs to "close" a fatality claim is around _______.

d. $300,000. Ouch! And add to that an estimated additional $700,000 to cover indirect costs and you've got a million-dollar loss in addition to the personal and corporate tragedy.

16. A well-written safety committee plan does all of the following except?

c. Increases safety committee member anxiety. Actually, a well-written plan will reduce anxiety by helping everyone clearly understand their responsibilities...how things work.

17. It's important that the safety committee chairperson be appointed by the safety manager or employer.

b. False. Chairs need to be elected by committee members, not appointed by management.

18. It's important that the safety committee not be dominated by management in general, or any one individual, be it the safety director, chairperson, or member. To make sure this does not happen, do any/all of the following except?

b. appoint that person as the chair. All of the other procedures help to fulfill the "one person: one vote" idea. In some cases, the employer will mistakenly appoint the safety director as the safety committee chairperson. The director is pulling double duty and it's quite likely other safety committee members will expect the chair to "do it all."

19. The safety committee's action plan should include all of the following except:

b. enforcement procedures. No way! The safety committee should not "steal" this very important responsibility from management. Line managers need to establish accountability. The safety committee helps by evaluating the quality of the accountability.

20. All safety committee members should be involved in designing the action plan.

a. True. You bet! The more involved they are, the more ownership they will feel, and the more likely they will work according to plan. We value what we own.

21. Credibility is an entitlement that is owed to the safety committee.

b. False. Certainly not. Credibility must be earned. The safety committee gains credibility through what is says and does.

22. According to the text, what can the safety committee employee representative do to most effectively gain credibility with coworkers?

c. Providing timely feedback. Of the choices available, providing feedback is probably most important as far as the coworker is concerned.

23. Safety committees are designed perfectly to produce what they produce.

a. True. That's right. A safety committee (as a system) can't really produce any outputs other than what it's designed to produce. Carefully plan the structure, inputs, processes and outputs of your safety committee. If the outputs are not what you desire, check into the system.

24. _________ is probably the most significant cause of apathy towards the safety committee.

a. Absence of positive consequences. Yes, of the choices offered, this is by far the most significant. We do what we do because of consequences.

25. Having the ear of the person at the top describes ______________.

b. position power. That's right. Who does your safety committee chairperson talk to about committee activities?

26. Having all the answers to coworkers safety questions increases one's _______.

c. Expert power. The more expertise we have, the greater our ability to influence the actions of others.

27. Expressing concern for safety without investing time and money describes ______________.

c. moral support. When management doesn't "walk the talk" it expresses a degree of support, but not real commitment.

28. __________ might consist of monthly merit pay increases or bonuses for taking on additional professional responsibilities.

d. Tangible rewards. If you can tough it, taste it, see it, hear it or smell it...it's tangible. Oh, and if you can spend it...it's very tangible ;-)

29. Threatening punishment to gain compliance is an example of ___________.

d. coercive power. We've all probably worked for people who rely on this form of power, and it's rarely a positive experience. It is far more common than we think. Government agencies and employers regularly employ some form of coercive power to gain compliance. Employers and individuals comply with government regulations and employer policies to primarily stay out of trouble.

30. A safety committee Chairperson that everyone likes is able to take advantage of __________.

a. charismatic power. People will just fall over themselves to please a leader they believe to be awesome. Can you think of any examples?

31. List two benefits your employer will realize from a trained safety committee.

There are many benefits. Some include helping management demonstrate effective safety leadership and management; lower injury and illness rates; improve profitability, competitiveness, and morale; correct hazards in a timely manner; gain a better understanding of the positive impact of safety; maintain a fair system of accountability; and develop a successful recognition program.

32. List two benefits you receive from safety committee training.

Again, many benefits to you. You be better able to understand the role and purpose of the safety committee and carry out your individual responsibilities; understand and carry out employer safety plans, policies, and processes; understand important safety and health concepts, principles, and methods; improve personal safety leadership skills; improve personal communications and meeting management skills; improve analysis, evaluation and problem-solving skills; and improve suggestion and recommendation writing skills. You'll increase your value to the company, and the opportunity for career advancement. And, hey. it helps you build a stronger resume. You can take safety with you no matter where you work!

33. List two benefits the safety committee will see from being properly trained.

The safety committee will be better able to fulfill its mission to assist the employer; improve its status within the company; work together as a problem-solving team; submit high quality recommendations to correct hazards; have a positive impact on lowering claims costs, raising profits. When the safety committee is perceived as something worth being a part of, membership is assured.

34. All of the subjects below are required for safety committee training, except?

b. Workers' compensation law. Nice to know, but not required by OR-OSHA law.

35. How can the safety committee be best trained in identifying specific hazards in your workplace?

I'm asking for your opinion here, so whatever you come up with is fine with me. I personally think that conducting a mock safety inspection is a great way to train safety committee members on the types of hazards throughout the workplace. Another way is to show slides with hazards and ask the class to identify them.

36. According to the text, most accident reports fall short of being effective because:

b. accident reports do not uncover root causes. Most of the time the accident investigator is not properly trained in safety management and/or they don't have time. I think a way to overcome this weakness is to change the analysis process. Have the investigator address what happened and identify surface causes. Have someone who is qualified (safety committee/safety coordinator) continue with root cause analysis.

b. Group exercise and problem solving. Most adults like working in small groups or teams and they generally like to solve problems. You can conduct great training sessions, just by presenting a hypothetical problem scenario and asking the class/group to discuss the scenario to solve the problem. For example, you might present an accident scenario and ask the group to determine if discipline is appropriate.

c. training during safety committee meetings. You bet. Assign mini-training presentations to committee members. Keep track of new rules, policies, etc and conduct training on them. Do training on single concepts or a unique scenario. Can be very interesting and help to improve the quality of the meeting.

b. False. If the safety committee is operating as a profit center, they will "make the time" for education and training. After answering the last question, how could you miss this one! ;-)

d. structural controls. Yes, there's no such animal in the text. Engineering controls fix things. Management control fix behavior (good luck ;-). PPE sets up barriers, and interim measure are temporary applications of the other control strategies.

a. Unsharpened saw. This isn't rocket science. A hazardous condition describes an unsafe "state of being": That might include any object or person.

d. Horseplay. Great example of unsafe behavior. When engaged in horseplay, we're not focused at all on the work we're doing...if that work exposes us to hazards, the probability of an accident increases.

43. Which is the greatest cause of all workplace injuries and illnesses?

c. Inadequate management controls. Effective management controls have the potential to eliminate or reduce all controllable accidents in the workplace: the 98%. Well-written and implemented policies, programs, plans, processes, procedures and will prevent hazardous conditions and unsafe practices.

Because it's a process that considers both hazardous conditions and unsafe behaviors when analyzing tasks. The walkaround inspection may be effective in uncovering conditions in the workplace, but it is typically not effective in uncovering unsafe activities. A properly conducted JHA has the potential to directly or indirectly eliminate/reduce 98% of all accidents in the workplace.

45. Which of the following variables is least important when analyzing for the OSHA 300 Log?

e. Who is at fault. The OSHA log is a great statistical too that you can use to "fix the system." It abused when it's used to "fix the blame."

46. Which cause category is ultimately most responsible for accidents in the workplace?

b. Root causes. These are the system flaws that cause or contribute to 98% of all accidents in the workplace. Uncontrollable "acts of God" account for only 2%.

47. According to the text, what are the four areas within which all hazards exist?

d. Materials, equipment, environment, people.

48. What is a major weakness inherent in the walkaround safety inspection process?

b. Does not take enough time. We walk around, look around, ask a few questions in a work area, and then move on. It's not likely, especially when workers know they're being inspected, unsafe activities will be uncovered.

49. Which root causes below might indicate inadequate supervision in a workarea?

d. All of the above. Yes, any of those activities listed could indicate inadequate supervision that would result in failure to detect and correct a hazard before it causes an injury.

50. What approach do we take to most effectively analyze an accident?

a. First determine is system weaknesses exist. To be most effective, an accident investigation must always include root cause or system analysis to determine if weaknesses in the safety management system contributed to the accident. Never consider discipline unless root cause analysis is conducted first.

52. The first step in the six-step accident investigation process described in the text is to:

d. Secure the accident scene. When a serious accident or fatality occurs, first rope or tape off the accident scene. Once you're sure material evidence will not be disturbed, then start documenting the scene.

a. Analyze each event to identify surface causes. Once surface causes are identified, it's important to ask why they exist to discover any contributing root causes.

b. the purpose of the analysis is fulfilled. So what! Big deal! Well, if analysis stops after you've blamed someone; found fault, most likely you'll not continue the analysis process to determine if root causes exist. That's why it's important to conduct root cause analysis BEFORE conducting fault analysis. Most of the time you'll discover that fault analysis is not required due to the existence of root causes. Fix the system...not the blame!

c. Leak in a pipe. Of course, this describes a hazardous condition that might directly cause the accident. All other choices are actually contributing root causes.

56. The Oregon "General Duty Clause" is detailed in ________?

c. Oregon Safe Employment Act 654.010

d. furnish, adopt

a. True

b. the employer. Is is called the "chain of accountability" and helps employees understand clearly who they answer to for their actions.

d. Regulation.

b. False. Concerted refusals by the employees to comply with the OSEAct may result in Oregon OSHA citing the employer where the employer has failed to exercise full authority to the maximum extent reasonable, including discipline and discharge, to ensure compliance with the OSEAct.

b. False. This rule shall not be construed to require a supervisor on every part of an operation nor to prohibit workers from working alone.

b. Working injury free. This concept describes and end-state or result, not actually a behavior. Complying and reporting are appropriate behaviors.

a. determine the means to prevent recurrence. The term, "Means" in this context refers to system solutions. Be sure you make every attempt to uncover system weaknesses before addressing the need for discipline. If system weaknesses exist, justification for discipline is in doubt.

d. as of often as the type of operation requires. Inspections might be required every hour, day, week, month. It all depends on what the operation requires. That's a judgment call. A basic rule of thumb, here, is that "the more frequent the change in the workplace, the more frequent the inspections."