ASP Domain 2: Safety Programs and Concepts
BCSP's ASP11 Examination Blueprint, V.2024.04.24 (effective Sept 1, 2025) weights Safety Programs and Concepts at 25% of the ASP, a 5-hour exam. It is one of the two heaviest domains, so it deserves a large share of your study time.
Blueprint tasks we cover in this domain
Task numbers follow the BCSP blueprint. Tasks with no public-domain source (for example ISO standards or management theory) are thin or missing in our bank, and we say so rather than invent content.
- 1.12 Probability of failure
- 2.1 Safety management systems
- 2.2 Hierarchy of controls (design order of precedence)
- 2.2 Risk assessment (severity x probability)
- 2.3 Hazard and risk analysis methods (FMEA, fault tree)
- 2.4 Risk matrix methodology
- 2.5 Implement GHS
- 2.6 Implement hazardous energy control programs
- 2.8.a Trenching and excavations
- 2.8.b Working at heights
- 2.8.c Slips, trips, and falls
- 2.8.d Machine guarding
- 2.8.e Powered industrial trucks
- 2.8.g Scaffolding
- 2.8.h Process safety
- 2.8.i Confined spaces
- 2.8.k PPE
- 2.8.l Compressed gasses/pressure vessels
- 2.10 Management of change
- 2.11 Leading and lagging indicators
Topics
Regulations this domain's questions cite most
- 29 CFR 1910.1200: Hazard communication (12)
- 29 CFR 1910.146: Permit-required confined spaces (11)
- 29 CFR 1926.451: General requirements (10)
- 29 CFR 1926.502: Fall protection systems criteria and practices (10)
- 29 CFR 1910.147: The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout) (10)
- 29 CFR 1910.212: General requirements for all machines (9)
- 29 CFR 1910.178: Powered industrial trucks (9)
- 29 CFR 1910.119: Process safety management of highly hazardous chemicals (9)
- 29 CFR 1910.28: Duty to have fall protection and falling object protection (8)
- 29 CFR 1926.652: Requirements for protective systems (7)
Free Domain 2 practice questions
A crew is tying rebar on the vertical face of a foundation wall form. The working position is 8 feet above the lower level. Which set of fall protection options does the standard allow for this employee?
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Answer: D. Personal fall arrest systems, safety net systems, or positioning device systems
Employees on the face of formwork or reinforcing steel exposed to a fall of 6 feet or more must be protected by personal fall arrest, safety net, or positioning device systems. Guardrails are not listed for this condition.
“Each employee on the face of formwork or reinforcing steel shall be protected from falling 6 feet (1.8 m) or more to lower levels by personal fall arrest systems, safety net systems, or positioning device systems.”
A crew uses a 24-foot non-self-supporting portable ladder, leaning it against a wall at a point where the working length (foot to top support) is 20 feet. The supervisor wants the ladder set at the correct angle. Approximately how far from the wall, measured horizontally, should the foot of the ladder be placed?
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Answer: A. 5 feet
The horizontal distance from the top support to the foot should be approximately one-quarter of the working length; one-quarter of 20 feet is 5 feet. One-eighth (2.5 feet) applies only to wood job-made ladders with spliced side rails.
“Non-self-supporting ladders shall be used at an angle such that the horizontal distance from the top support to the foot of the ladder is approximately one-quarter of the working length of the ladder (the distance along the ladder between the foot and the top support).”
A plant plans to declassify a tank by relying on a portable blower that keeps the atmosphere within safe limits while employees work inside. The safety coordinator says that this counts as eliminating the atmospheric hazard, so the tank can be treated as a non-permit space under the declassification provisions. How should this be evaluated?
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Answer: D. Incorrect, because controlling atmospheric hazards through forced air ventilation does not constitute elimination of the hazards
The standard says that control of atmospheric hazards through forced air ventilation does not constitute elimination of the hazards. Entry relying on ventilation alone is handled under paragraph (c)(5), not by declassification. The 15-minute figure is not in the standard.
“Control of atmospheric hazards through forced air ventilation does not constitute elimination of the hazards.”
The free 25-question ASP diagnostic is weighted like the blueprint and scores each domain, so you know where to spend your remaining days.
Take the free ASP diagnosticOther ASP domains
- Domain 1: Mathematical Calculations (10%)
- Domain 3: Ergonomics (8%)
- Domain 4: Fire Prevention and Protection (12%)
- Domain 5: Emergency Preparedness and Response (10%)
- Domain 6: Industrial Hygiene and Occupational Health (12%)
- Domain 7: Environmental Management (7%)
- Domain 8: Training, Education, and Communication (11%)
- Domain 9: Legal (5%)
Domain names and weights from BCSP's public blueprint. Original practice questions, not real exam items. PassCited is not affiliated with or endorsed by BCSP.