ARM 401 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Which one of the following types of risk analysis uses historical data to assign specific
values to consequences and their probabilities to reach a numeric indication of the level
of risk? - Answers - Quantitative analysis
From a system safety perspective, change analysis is an analysis - Answers - That
projects the effects a given system change is likely to have on an existing system
A worker for Build-Rite Construction Company removed the pressure gauge and
warning sticker from an air compressor. The pressure gauge automatically shuts off the
compressor when the pressure gets too high. The sticker warned that an explosion
could result if the pressure was too high. Without the pressure gauge in place, the air
compressor exploded. The explosion killed one worker and severely injured another. If
Build-Rite performs a root cause analysis (RCA) of this fatal accident, which one of the
following might be determined to be a root cause? - Answers - Inadequate training
Using fault tree analysis, an "and" gate is connecting the events in rectangles C, D, and
E to the event in rectangle A. If the probabilities of events in rectangles C, D, and E of
the fault tree are .10, .20, and .30, respectively, what is the probability that the event in
rectangle A will occur? - Answers - .006 ----- (p(C) X p(D) X p(E); .10 X .20 X .30 = .006
A phase in the life of a system when the basic purpose and preliminary design of the
system are formulated is the - Answers - Conceptual phase
Within a system safety context, the engineering phase of a system's life cycle is that
phase in which - Answers - The system's design is constructed and prototypes are
tested.
One form of root cause analysis utilizes a fishbone diagram. Under this technique, a
team of investigators brainstorms the causes of a risk event, sorts them into categories,
and traces them to their origin. This type of analysis relies heavily on a - Answers - "5
Whys" analysis.
The second step in the root cause analysis (RCA) process is charting the agents that
directly result in one event triggering another event. In RCA, these agents are called -
Answers - Causal factors
Harris Company is analyzing its workers compensation loss exposure. Harris Company
retains most of the exposure and purchases excess insurance to cap its liability on any
individual claim. Because Harris Company has a large work force, it can predict its
workers compensation cost with some level of accuracy. For next year, the risk
manager estimates that there is a 70% chance that workers compensation costs will be
$6 million or less, a 25% chance workers compensation costs will be between $6 million
,and $8 million, and a 5% chance workers compensation costs will exceed $8 million.
The type of analysis the risk manager performed is called - Answers - Quantitative
analysis
Vicki has been hired to investigate industrial accidents for a biotech company that
produces a number of drugs. In most cases, she will be asked to look at a particular
system failure and trace the events leading to the failure backwards. Which system
safety analysis technique would be most appropriate for this application? - Answers -
Fault tree analysis
An approach to accident causation, which looks at an organization as a whole to identify
potential sources of losses is - Answers - System safety analysis
Air-Freight Company wants to use failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to analyze
its systems, subsystems, components, sub-assemblies, and parts. Level 1 is the overall
system for shipping freight. Level 2 is the system segments, with the prime items (air
freight hubs, schedulers, and logistics) designated as Level 3. Level 4 is the
subsystems (local freight handlers, package sorters, etc.). Level 5 is the hardware and
parts (forklifts, conveyor belts, planes, and delivery vans, etc.). In FMEA, these various
systems and subsystems are called - Answers - Indenture levels
After a metal pressing machine crushed an employee's arm, the risk manager of Metal
Fab Company called a meeting. Those present at the meeting included the company's
safety manager, the plant foreman, the part-time mechanic in charge of maintenance of
the machine, the co-worker who taught the injured worker to use the machine, and the
plant manager who purchased the machine two years ago. After completely describing
the injury, the risk manager led a discussion on what caused the injury. Each time the
group agreed on a cause, the risk manager asked what the reason for the cause was.
After several rounds of this process, it was determined that the machine crushed the
employee's arm because of failure to perform regular maintenance on the machine due
to under-staffing. The type of root cause analysis conducted by the risk manager is
called - Answers - 5 Whys
Tom works as a safety engineer at Cold Rolled Steep Corporation. During a system
safety analysis, he identified the important components of the production process and
has ranked the severity of losing each component into four failure categories. This is an
attempt to establish priorities of the hazards and controls. Which one of the following
analyses is Tom using? - Answers - Criticality analysis
An organization has had a high percentage of repetitive stress injuries to workers in a
particular phase of their production process. The risk manager has been asked to
analyze these injuries from a system safety analysis perspective. Which one of the
following techniques should the risk manager use to investigate these accidents? -
Answers - Job safety analysis
, The purpose of fault tree analysis is to - Answers - Identify the various ways of
interrupting the sequence of events leading to system failure so that the failure itself can
be prevented.
Risk manager Christine is analyzing the risks faced by her company, Clear Sky
Technology. She assigns a rating based on the significance of the consequences of the
various risks. Her four ratings are: Low, Medium-Low, Medium-High, and High. The
ratings that Christine assigns are a - Answers - Qualitative assessment.
Which one of the following statements about root cause analysis (RCA) is true? -
Answers - A root cause must produce effective recommendations for prevention of
future accidents
Which one of the following system safety techniques is best suited to analyze repetitive
human tasks performed in a sufficiently stable environment where most hazards are
foreseen? - Answers - Job safety analysis
In failure mode and effects analysis, a failure mode's effect on a process requires
identifying the effect's location in the system being analyzed. A failure mode with an
effect on the same level that is being analyzed produces - Answers - A local effect.
An empirical probability is based on - Answers - Historical data.
Which one of the following is a benefit of the conditional value at risk (CVaR) method? -
Answers - It takes into account the extremely large losses that may occur.
Which one of the following statements about event tree analysis is true? - Answers -
Event trees analyze the consequences of accidental events.
Widget Manufacturing Company has noticed that its loss frequency and severity has
increased in the past two years as its production has increased. In order to better
forecast loss frequency and severity, Widget Manufacturing Company should consider
using - Answers - Trend analysis.
Which one of the following statements concerning Monte Carlo Simulation is true? -
Answers - Monte Carlo Simulation can consider multiple variables and provides a range
of possible outcomes.
TimberCompany has sold lumber +wooden poles for many years. The company is
considering expanding into plywood production by building a plywood manufacturing
facility. As this is a major decision, the company gathereddata on the following
variables: labor costs,cost of raw materials (wood, glue, etc.),energy costs, sales price
(dollars per square foot),and estimated sales volume. A probability distribution for each
of these variables was created. Then a computer was programmed to select a value
from each probability distribution and to calculate the net income before taxes. The
computer was programmed to repeat the calculation 250,000 times,and to create a
Which one of the following types of risk analysis uses historical data to assign specific
values to consequences and their probabilities to reach a numeric indication of the level
of risk? - Answers - Quantitative analysis
From a system safety perspective, change analysis is an analysis - Answers - That
projects the effects a given system change is likely to have on an existing system
A worker for Build-Rite Construction Company removed the pressure gauge and
warning sticker from an air compressor. The pressure gauge automatically shuts off the
compressor when the pressure gets too high. The sticker warned that an explosion
could result if the pressure was too high. Without the pressure gauge in place, the air
compressor exploded. The explosion killed one worker and severely injured another. If
Build-Rite performs a root cause analysis (RCA) of this fatal accident, which one of the
following might be determined to be a root cause? - Answers - Inadequate training
Using fault tree analysis, an "and" gate is connecting the events in rectangles C, D, and
E to the event in rectangle A. If the probabilities of events in rectangles C, D, and E of
the fault tree are .10, .20, and .30, respectively, what is the probability that the event in
rectangle A will occur? - Answers - .006 ----- (p(C) X p(D) X p(E); .10 X .20 X .30 = .006
A phase in the life of a system when the basic purpose and preliminary design of the
system are formulated is the - Answers - Conceptual phase
Within a system safety context, the engineering phase of a system's life cycle is that
phase in which - Answers - The system's design is constructed and prototypes are
tested.
One form of root cause analysis utilizes a fishbone diagram. Under this technique, a
team of investigators brainstorms the causes of a risk event, sorts them into categories,
and traces them to their origin. This type of analysis relies heavily on a - Answers - "5
Whys" analysis.
The second step in the root cause analysis (RCA) process is charting the agents that
directly result in one event triggering another event. In RCA, these agents are called -
Answers - Causal factors
Harris Company is analyzing its workers compensation loss exposure. Harris Company
retains most of the exposure and purchases excess insurance to cap its liability on any
individual claim. Because Harris Company has a large work force, it can predict its
workers compensation cost with some level of accuracy. For next year, the risk
manager estimates that there is a 70% chance that workers compensation costs will be
$6 million or less, a 25% chance workers compensation costs will be between $6 million
,and $8 million, and a 5% chance workers compensation costs will exceed $8 million.
The type of analysis the risk manager performed is called - Answers - Quantitative
analysis
Vicki has been hired to investigate industrial accidents for a biotech company that
produces a number of drugs. In most cases, she will be asked to look at a particular
system failure and trace the events leading to the failure backwards. Which system
safety analysis technique would be most appropriate for this application? - Answers -
Fault tree analysis
An approach to accident causation, which looks at an organization as a whole to identify
potential sources of losses is - Answers - System safety analysis
Air-Freight Company wants to use failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to analyze
its systems, subsystems, components, sub-assemblies, and parts. Level 1 is the overall
system for shipping freight. Level 2 is the system segments, with the prime items (air
freight hubs, schedulers, and logistics) designated as Level 3. Level 4 is the
subsystems (local freight handlers, package sorters, etc.). Level 5 is the hardware and
parts (forklifts, conveyor belts, planes, and delivery vans, etc.). In FMEA, these various
systems and subsystems are called - Answers - Indenture levels
After a metal pressing machine crushed an employee's arm, the risk manager of Metal
Fab Company called a meeting. Those present at the meeting included the company's
safety manager, the plant foreman, the part-time mechanic in charge of maintenance of
the machine, the co-worker who taught the injured worker to use the machine, and the
plant manager who purchased the machine two years ago. After completely describing
the injury, the risk manager led a discussion on what caused the injury. Each time the
group agreed on a cause, the risk manager asked what the reason for the cause was.
After several rounds of this process, it was determined that the machine crushed the
employee's arm because of failure to perform regular maintenance on the machine due
to under-staffing. The type of root cause analysis conducted by the risk manager is
called - Answers - 5 Whys
Tom works as a safety engineer at Cold Rolled Steep Corporation. During a system
safety analysis, he identified the important components of the production process and
has ranked the severity of losing each component into four failure categories. This is an
attempt to establish priorities of the hazards and controls. Which one of the following
analyses is Tom using? - Answers - Criticality analysis
An organization has had a high percentage of repetitive stress injuries to workers in a
particular phase of their production process. The risk manager has been asked to
analyze these injuries from a system safety analysis perspective. Which one of the
following techniques should the risk manager use to investigate these accidents? -
Answers - Job safety analysis
, The purpose of fault tree analysis is to - Answers - Identify the various ways of
interrupting the sequence of events leading to system failure so that the failure itself can
be prevented.
Risk manager Christine is analyzing the risks faced by her company, Clear Sky
Technology. She assigns a rating based on the significance of the consequences of the
various risks. Her four ratings are: Low, Medium-Low, Medium-High, and High. The
ratings that Christine assigns are a - Answers - Qualitative assessment.
Which one of the following statements about root cause analysis (RCA) is true? -
Answers - A root cause must produce effective recommendations for prevention of
future accidents
Which one of the following system safety techniques is best suited to analyze repetitive
human tasks performed in a sufficiently stable environment where most hazards are
foreseen? - Answers - Job safety analysis
In failure mode and effects analysis, a failure mode's effect on a process requires
identifying the effect's location in the system being analyzed. A failure mode with an
effect on the same level that is being analyzed produces - Answers - A local effect.
An empirical probability is based on - Answers - Historical data.
Which one of the following is a benefit of the conditional value at risk (CVaR) method? -
Answers - It takes into account the extremely large losses that may occur.
Which one of the following statements about event tree analysis is true? - Answers -
Event trees analyze the consequences of accidental events.
Widget Manufacturing Company has noticed that its loss frequency and severity has
increased in the past two years as its production has increased. In order to better
forecast loss frequency and severity, Widget Manufacturing Company should consider
using - Answers - Trend analysis.
Which one of the following statements concerning Monte Carlo Simulation is true? -
Answers - Monte Carlo Simulation can consider multiple variables and provides a range
of possible outcomes.
TimberCompany has sold lumber +wooden poles for many years. The company is
considering expanding into plywood production by building a plywood manufacturing
facility. As this is a major decision, the company gathereddata on the following
variables: labor costs,cost of raw materials (wood, glue, etc.),energy costs, sales price
(dollars per square foot),and estimated sales volume. A probability distribution for each
of these variables was created. Then a computer was programmed to select a value
from each probability distribution and to calculate the net income before taxes. The
computer was programmed to repeat the calculation 250,000 times,and to create a
