Combustible Dust Hazards questions for the ASP
ASP Domain 4: Fire Prevention and Protection (4.5 Identify combustible dust hazards (conflagration, sources of ignition)). 2 free questions below. Every answer quotes and links the source document it comes from.
Sources covered
- OSHA 3371-08, Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts (2009) Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts
Guidance documents are quoted from the published edition linked above; they are recommendations, not regulations.
Question 1
A 30-employee cabinet shop has fine wood dust on beams and ductwork. The owner requests a state consultation visit. The consultant finds dust accumulations that could feed a secondary explosion and lists them in a written report. What is the effect of these findings under the consultation service?
Show answer and source
Answer: C. No penalties are proposed and no citations are issued for the hazards the consultant identified
OSHA's guidance on consultation says no penalties are proposed and no citations are issued for hazards the consultant identifies. The reduced-penalty citation is wrong because no citation is issued at all. The fee is wrong because the service is largely OSHA-funded and free to the employer. Automatic referral to enforcement is wrong because information is not routinely reported.
On the job
The owner of a small furniture finishing shop worries about dust on the rafters but fears citations. The EHS manager at a trade association explains that a state consultant who visits on request and lists hazards in a written report does not trigger enforcement. No penalties are proposed and no citations are issued for what the consultant identifies. The owner then books the visit and starts planning the cleanup.
Study aid, not site-specific safety advice. The official rule controls.
Answer C comes from
OSHA 3371-08, Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts (2009), PDF p. 11(opens osha.gov in a new tab)“No penalties are proposed or citations issued for hazards identified by the consultant.”
Question 2
A grain-handling company opens a facility in a state that runs its own OSHA-approved safety and health plan covering private employers. The safety manager is reviewing how the state's rules for combustible dust relate to the Federal OSHA standards. Which statement correctly describes the state's requirements?
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Answer: C. The state must adopt standards identical to, or at least as effective as, the Federal OSHA standards
OSHA's guidance says states with approved plans must adopt standards identical to, or at least as effective as, Federal standards. Weaker standards are not allowed, whatever the state's incident rates. Word-for-word copying is not required, because 'at least as effective' permits other approaches. An approved plan does not let the state disregard the federal standards.
On the job
A safety manager at a feed mill is told that the mill's state runs an OSHA-approved plan covering private employers. When reviewing the state's dust housekeeping and ignition-control rules, she does not assume they can be looser than the federal standards or that they must match them verbatim. She checks that each state requirement is identical to, or at least as effective as, the federal one, and builds the mill's dust program on the state text.
Study aid, not site-specific safety advice. The official rule controls.
Answer C comes from
OSHA 3371-08, Hazard Communication Guidance for Combustible Dusts (2009), PDF p. 11(opens osha.gov in a new tab)“States and territories with their own OSHA-approved occupational safety and health plans must adopt standards identical to, or at least as effective as, the Federal OSHA standards.”