Occupational Noise questions for the CSP
CSP11 Domain 6: Occupational Health and Applied Science (6.1 Noise). 3 free questions below. Every answer quotes and links the regulation paragraph it rests on.
Regulations covered
- 29 CFR 1910.95 Occupational noise exposure.How this section is tested
Text pulled from the eCFR, current as of 2026-10-14.
Question 1
A plant's maintenance technicians move between several buildings during a shift, and their noise levels vary widely from task to task. The safety manager must decide how to conduct exposure monitoring. Which approach does the standard require unless area sampling can be shown to give equivalent results?
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Answer: D. Representative personal sampling
When high worker mobility or significant variations in sound level make area monitoring generally inappropriate, the standard requires representative personal sampling unless the employer can show area sampling produces equivalent results. The other approaches are not the method the standard prescribes.
Answer D rests on
29 CFR 1910.95(d)(1)(ii)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“Where circumstances such as high worker mobility, significant variations in sound level, or a significant component of impulse noise make area monitoring generally inappropriate, the employer shall use representative personal sampling to comply with the monitoring requirements of this paragraph unless the employer can show that area sampling produces equivalent results.”
Question 2
An audiologist reviews a worker's annual audiogram against the baseline. The worker's left ear shows changes of 5, 10, and 15 dB at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz, respectively. The right ear shows no change. Using the standard's definition, how should the result be classified?
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Answer: C. Standard threshold shift, because the average change at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz in the left ear is 10 dB
A standard threshold shift is an average change of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz in either ear. The left-ear average is (5+10+15)/3 = 10 dB, so it qualifies. A single frequency below 10 dB does not matter, since the average is what counts.
Answer C rests on
29 CFR 1910.95(g)(10)(i)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“As used in this section, a standard threshold shift is a change in hearing threshold relative to the baseline audiogram of an average of 10 dB or more at 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz in either ear.”
Question 3
A hearing conservation contractor's client, a metal stamping plant, is closing its business and a different company is taking over the site and workforce. The plant's files include noise exposure measurement records from 14 months ago and audiometric test records for several employees who will continue working at the site under the new owner. The outgoing safety manager asks what must be done with these records. Which action is required?
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Answer: A. Transfer all of the records to the successor employer, who must retain them for the remainder of the retention periods that apply to each record type
The standard requires an employer that ceases business to transfer all records required by the section to the successor, who keeps them only for the remainder of the prescribed period. Discarding the noise records is wrong because they are still within their two-year retention period. Restarting the clock is wrong because the successor retains them only for the remaining time.
Answer A rests on
29 CFR 1910.95(m)(5)(opens ecfr.gov in a new tab)“If the employer ceases to do business, the employer shall transfer to the successor employer all records required to be maintained by this section, and the successor employer shall retain them for the remainder of the period prescribed in paragraph (m)(3) of this section.”
4 more occupational noise questions in the full CSP bank
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Original practice questions, not real exam items. PassCited is not affiliated with or endorsed by BCSP.