Safety, Health, and Environment
This area covers protecting people and the environment from engineering hazards, drawing heavily on OSHA standards and industrial-hygiene practice. Expect factual questions on exposure limits, atmospheric hazards, fire, hazard communication, and energy control — items you either know or you don't, so the payoff for memorizing the key thresholds is high.
Industrial hygiene and exposure limits
Industrial hygiene anticipates, evaluates, and controls workplace hazards. Airborne exposure is capped by limits such as the OSHA Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) and the ACGIH Threshold Limit Value (TLV), usually expressed as an 8-hour time-weighted average (TWA). Toxicology weighs dose, duration, and route of exposure — 'the dose makes the poison.' The hierarchy of controls ranks solutions from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and finally personal protective equipment (PPE) as the last line of defense.
Radiation and half-life
Radioactive decay is exponential: N/N₀ = (1/2)^(t/T_half), where T_half is the half-life. After three half-lives, (1/2)³ = 1/8 = 12.5% of the original activity remains. Radiation protection rests on three levers — time, distance, and shielding: minimize exposure time, maximize distance (intensity falls with the inverse square of distance), and interpose shielding matched to the radiation type. Dose is tracked in units such as the rem or sievert. The recurring test is applying the (1/2)ⁿ rule for a whole number of half-lives.
Confined spaces and atmospheric hazards
Normal air is 20.9% oxygen. OSHA classifies an atmosphere as oxygen-deficient below 19.5% and oxygen-enriched above 23.5% — both are confined-space hazards, the first causing asphyxiation and the second dramatically increasing fire risk. Before entry, confined spaces must be tested in order for oxygen, then flammable gases, then toxics, and ventilated as needed. A flammable vapor is too lean to ignite below its Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) and too rich above its Upper Explosive Limit (UEL); the dangerous range lies between them.
Fire safety
Combustion needs three ingredients — fuel, heat, and an oxidizer (oxygen) — the classic fire triangle; the fire tetrahedron adds the sustaining chemical chain reaction as the fourth element, which is why some agents fight fire by interrupting that reaction. Extinguishers are classed by fuel: Class A for ordinary combustibles (wood, paper), Class B for flammable liquids and gases, Class C for energized electrical equipment, Class D for combustible metals, and Class K for cooking oils. Removing any one leg of the triangle or tetrahedron extinguishes the fire.
Hazard communication and the GHS
The OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, aligned with the Globally Harmonized System (GHS), governs how chemical hazards are communicated. Every hazardous chemical carries a Safety Data Sheet (SDS) with a standardized 16 sections, from identification and hazards through handling, exposure controls, and disposal. Container labels use standardized signal words ('Danger' or 'Warning'), pictograms, and hazard statements. Workers must be trained to read this information. Knowing the SDS has 16 sections and that labeling follows GHS pictograms is a common factual test point.
Energy control and noise
Lockout/tagout (LOTO) prevents the unexpected release of hazardous energy — electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal — during service and maintenance by physically isolating and locking energy sources so machinery cannot start. It protects workers from equipment energizing while they are exposed. Occupational noise is limited to a 90 dBA 8-hour TWA under OSHA, with a 5-dBA exchange rate that halves the permitted exposure time for each 5-dBA increase; a hearing-conservation program is required at an 85 dBA action level. Engineering controls precede hearing PPE.
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