ASP Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: A

1. Available distance below the anchorage: 5 ft (anchorage to working surface) + 15 ft (working surface to lower level) = 20 ft.
2. Required clearance: C = 6 + 3.5 + 5 + 1 + 2 = 17.5 ft.
3. Margin = 20 − 17.5 = 2.5 ft, so the system is acceptable as rigged.

2.5 ft: Correct. Available = 5 + 15 = 20 ft; required = 6 + 3.5 + 5 + 1 + 2 = 17.5 ft; margin = 2.5 ft.

3.5 ft: Leaves out the 1-ft harness stretch.

4.5 ft: Leaves out the 2-ft safety factor.

6.0 ft: Leaves out the 3.5-ft deceleration distance of the shock absorber.

Measure clearance from the anchorage: lanyard + deceleration distance + D-ring-to-feet height + harness stretch + safety factor. Free fall here is 6 ft and deceleration 3.5 ft, within 1926.502(d)(16) limits.

Answer: C

1. 10^(88/10) = 10^8.8 = 6.31 × 10⁸.
2. 10^(92/10) = 10^9.2 = 1.585 × 10⁹.
3. Sum = 2.216 × 10⁹.
4. L = 10 × log(2.216 × 10⁹) = 10 × 9.346 = 93.5 dBA. TI-30XS: 10 × LOG( 10^8.8 + 10^9.2 ).

90.0 dBA: Averages the two levels; decibels are logarithmic and combine above the louder source.

92.0 dBA: Assumes the quieter machine adds nothing; a source only 4 dB lower still adds about 1.5 dB.

93.5 dBA: Correct. 10^8.8 + 10^9.2 = 6.31 × 10⁸ + 1.58 × 10⁹ = 2.22 × 10⁹; 10 log(2.22 × 10⁹) = 93.5 dBA.

96.2 dBA: Uses 20 log and Lᵢ/20 (the sound-pressure form) instead of the intensity form given.

Sound levels add logarithmically: convert each to 10^(L/10), add, then take 10 log of the sum. Two equal sources add 3 dB; unequal sources add less.

Answer: D

Enter immediately to pull the entrant toward the opening: Unplanned attendant entry causes many confined-space deaths. The atmosphere that dropped the entrant can kill the would-be rescuer.

Find the entry supervisor so the permit can be cancelled: Cancelling the permit does not help the entrant. The attendant's first duty is to summon rescue.

Retest the atmosphere at the opening before deciding what to do: Testing delays the rescue call. The collapse already signals a prohibited condition.

Summon rescue and use non-entry retrieval from outside: Correct. Under 29 CFR 1910.146(i), the attendant stays outside the space, summons rescue and uses non-entry retrieval where it is available. The attendant may enter only if trained and equipped for rescue and relieved by another attendant.

Confined-space attendants never enter to rescue unless trained, equipped and relieved. They summon rescue and use non-entry retrieval.

Answer: D

1. Ohm's law: I = V / R.
2. Use the wet-skin resistance: I = 120 V / 1,000 Ω.
3. I = 0.12 A.
4. Convert: 0.12 A × 1,000 mA/A = 120 mA.

0.12 mA: This leaves the answer in amperes (0.12 A) but labels it milliamperes. 0.12 A equals 120 mA.

1.2 mA: This uses the dry-skin resistance (120 ÷ 100,000 = 0.0012 A), but the stem says the hands are wet with sweat.

8.3 mA: This inverts Ohm's law (R ÷ V = 1,000 ÷ 120 = 8.3) instead of I = V ÷ R.

120 mA: Correct. I = V/R = 120 V ÷ 1,000 Ω = 0.12 A = 120 mA. This is well above the level that can cause ventricular fibrillation.

I = V/R. Wet skin greatly lowers body resistance, so the same voltage drives a much larger, potentially fatal current.

Answer: A

Block the ram and bleed the accumulator pressure: Correct. Under 29 CFR 1910.147(d), once lockout devices are applied, all stored or residual energy must be relieved, restrained or otherwise made safe. Here that means gravity on the raised ram and hydraulic pressure in the accumulator. Only then is isolation verified.

Begin removing the die bolts while a second worker watches the controls: Work cannot start until stored energy is controlled and isolation is verified. A watcher is not an energy-control device.

Notify affected employees that the press is being shut down: Notification comes before shutdown in the sequence, not after locks are applied.

Press the start button to verify the press will not cycle: Verification is the step after stored energy is controlled. Testing now still leaves the raised ram and charged accumulator able to move.

Lockout sequence (1910.147(d)): prepare, shut down, isolate, apply locks/tags, control stored energy, verify isolation.

Answer: B

1. Score each hazard: L × S.
2. Forklift 3 × 4 = 12; wet floor 4 × 2 = 8; ammonia 2 × 5 = 10; rack 4 × 4 = 16.
3. Highest score = rack overload (16, High). Address it first.

Ammonia line rupture in the engine room: 2 × 5 = 10. A catastrophic severity does not by itself outrank a much higher combined score in this matrix.

Overloaded pallet rack beams in aisle 7: Correct. 4 × 4 = 16, the highest score in the register and well above the next hazard (12). It ranks first.

Wet floor at the cooler entrance: 4 × 2 = 8, Medium. The high likelihood alone does not make it the top priority.

Forklift–pedestrian contact at dock doors: 3 × 4 = 12. It is High, but the rack hazard has the same severity and a higher likelihood, so the rack ranks first.

In a risk matrix, rank by the combined likelihood × severity score, not by either factor alone.

Answer: A

Carpal tunnel syndrome: Correct. Compression of the median nerve at the wrist causes numbness and tingling in the thumb, index and middle fingers, often worse at night; flexed-wrist, forceful tool use is a risk factor.

De Quervain's tenosynovitis: This causes pain at the thumb side of the wrist with thumb and wrist movement, not numbness in three fingers.

Lateral epicondylitis: This causes pain at the outer elbow with gripping and wrist extension, not finger numbness.

Cubital tunnel syndrome: Ulnar nerve compression at the elbow affects the ring and little fingers, not the thumb, index and middle fingers.

Match the symptom distribution to the nerve: median nerve (carpal tunnel) = thumb, index, middle fingers; ulnar nerve = ring and little fingers.

Answer: C

Explosion vents sized for the building walls: Venting limits pressure damage after ignition; it does not remove the fuel that made the secondary explosion possible.

Higher-efficiency filter bags in the dust collector: Better filters capture more dust inside the collector but do nothing about layers already on beams and ducts.

Removing dust accumulations from overhead and hidden surfaces: Correct. The building-wide event was a secondary explosion fueled by accumulated dust lofted by the primary event. Controlling fugitive dust accumulations removes its fuel.

More frequent compressed-air blowdown of beams and overhead ducts: Blowing down with compressed air creates dust clouds and redistributes dust; vacuum or other non-dispersing methods are preferred.

The dust explosion pentagon adds dispersion and confinement to the fire triangle; secondary explosions are prevented by keeping fugitive dust from accumulating.

Answer: B

1. Write the rule: LEL_mix = 100 / Σ(P_i / LEL_i).
2. Methane: 50 / 5.0 = 10.00; propane: 30 / 2.1 = 14.29; butane: 20 / 1.8 = 11.11.
3. Sum: 10.00 + 14.29 + 11.11 = 35.40.
4. LEL_mix = 100 / 35.40 = 2.83% by volume (TI-30XS: 100 ÷ (50÷5+30÷2.1+20÷1.8)).

1.80%: Assumes the component with the lowest LEL governs the whole blend; Le Chatelier weights every component.

2.83%: Correct. Σ(P/LEL) = 50/5.0 + 30/2.1 + 20/1.8 = 10.00 + 14.29 + 11.11 = 35.40; LEL = 100 / 35.40 = 2.83% by volume.

2.97%: Simple average of the three LELs, (5.0 + 2.1 + 1.8)/3, which ignores the blend percentages.

3.49%: Weighted arithmetic average (0.5×5.0 + 0.3×2.1 + 0.2×1.8); the rule is a harmonic mean, not a linear average.

Le Chatelier's rule is a harmonic (reciprocal) mean: the blend LEL falls between the component LELs and is pulled toward the components with low LELs.

Answer: B

A company cell phone and instructions to call 911 if anything happens: Coverage is unreliable, and an incapacitated worker cannot place a call.

Scheduled check-ins on a monitored device with escalation if one is missed: Correct. Effective lone-worker programs combine reliable communication, scheduled contact and a pre-planned response when contact fails; without escalation, a missed call goes unnoticed.

A supervisor who checks the technician's timesheet at the end of each shift: An end-of-shift check could leave an injured worker unattended for hours.

A requirement to text a coworker whenever the technician arrives at a new site: Arrival texts without a schedule, monitoring or escalation do not trigger help when something goes wrong.

Lone-worker controls: assess the task, eliminate high-risk solo work where possible, and ensure reliable contact with automatic escalation.

Answer: A

Only Worker 2 exceeded a limit, the STEL: Correct. Every 8-h TWA is below 100 ppm, but Worker 2's 165 ppm 15-minute sample exceeds the 150 ppm STEL. A STEL must not be exceeded at any point in the day, even when the TWA complies.

No worker exceeded a limit, because every TWA is below 100 ppm: Ignores the STEL: short-term peaks are assessed separately from the full-shift average.

Only Worker 3 exceeded a limit, the 8-hour TWA: Misread: 98 ppm is close to but below the 100 ppm TWA, and 120 ppm is below the STEL.

Workers 1 and 2 exceeded a limit, the STEL: Worker 1's 145 ppm peak is below the 150 ppm STEL; only Worker 2 is over.

Compare each result with its own limit type: full-shift samples with the TWA, 15-minute samples with the STEL. Meeting the TWA does not excuse a STEL exceedance.

Answer: A

A standard threshold shift has occurred in the left ear only: Correct. An STS is an average shift of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz in either ear. Left: (5 + 10 + 15)/3 = 10 dB, so STS. Right: (0 + 5 + 10)/3 = 5 dB, so no STS (29 CFR 1910.95(g)(10)).

A standard threshold shift has occurred in both ears: Uses a single frequency: each ear has one 10-dB change, but the rule uses the average of the three frequencies, and the right-ear average is only 5 dB.

No standard threshold shift has occurred, because only 4000 Hz exceeds 10 dB: Misreads the criterion: the rule averages the three frequencies, and an average of exactly 10 dB meets it.

No standard threshold shift has occurred, because a shift must reach 25 dB: Confuses criteria: 25 dB above audiometric zero is the extra OSHA 300 log recording test, not the STS definition.

STS = average change of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hz in either ear, relative to baseline.

Answer: B

Distilling the spent solvent on-site for reuse: Recycling: valuable, but it ranks below eliminating the waste.

Converting to an aqueous cleaning process that uses no solvent: Correct. Source reduction, which keeps the waste from being created, ranks at the top of the hierarchy, above recycling, energy recovery and disposal (EPA waste management hierarchy).

Sending the spent solvent off-site for fuel blending: Energy recovery ranks below source reduction and recycling.

Shipping the spent solvent to a permitted incinerator: Treatment and disposal is the least preferred tier.

Hierarchy: source reduction and reuse, then recycling, then energy recovery, then treatment and disposal.

Answer: B

Retrain every operator on the mixing procedure before the next shift: Training cannot fix a gap that is not caused by lack of knowledge or skill.

Examine non-training causes such as workload, labeling, equipment and consequences: Correct. If workers can perform the task when tested, the gap is not a knowledge or skill deficiency; a needs analysis next looks at the environment, tools, workload and consequences.

Extend the initial mixing course from four hours to eight hours: Longer training still assumes a skill deficit that the observation ruled out.

Repeat the observation test until at least one operator makes an error: The test already answered the question; repeating it delays the real analysis.

Training needs analysis asks first whether the worker could do the task if required; if yes, the cause lies outside training.

Answer: C

The creating employer: The subcontractor that erected the unguarded scaffold created the hazard.

The exposing employer: The exposing employer is the one whose own workers are exposed — here the framing subcontractor.

The controlling employer: Correct. Under OSHA CPL 2-0.124, an employer with general supervisory authority over the worksite, including the power to correct or require others to correct hazards, is controlling and must exercise reasonable care to prevent and detect violations.

The correcting employer: A correcting employer is engaged to fix hazards (for example, a scaffold erector); the GC's role is supervisory authority over the site.

Multi-employer policy: creating, exposing, correcting and controlling employers can each be cited; control means authority to require correction.