Avoiding Common Mistakes in Screening Level Risk Assessments (Ohio Timed & Monitored)

In Avoiding Common Mistakes in Screening Level Risk Assessments, you'll learn ...

• Select applicable health-based standards and regulatory criteria
• Exposure assumptions and limitations of standards
• Recognize quality limitations of some standards
• Adapt standards to fit existing or likely future exposure at your site

Overview

To meet the Ohio Board's intent that online courses be "paced" by the provider, a timer will be used to record your study time. You will be unable to access the quiz until the required study time of 100 minutes has been met.

Credit: 2 PDH

Length: 19 pages

Screening level risk assessments are widely used by engineers and others when initially trying to scope the magnitude of a newly confronted chemical contamination problem. Such assessments are done by comparing the concentrations of chemicals in soil, sediment, water or air to existing standards or regulatory criteria to determine if the level of contamination is going to require further assessment or actions. This seemingly simple comparison process belies the underlying complexity and potential for error. This course applies practical experience gained from over 25 years of consulting experience as a toxicologist and risk assessment specialist to present in accessible terms the most commonly observed errors in conducting screening level risk assessments. These errors can lead projects to needlessly spend tens of thousands of dollars on more detailed risk assessments that provide little additional value, or they can lead to costly but unwarranted remediation or permitting costs.

This course is intended for engineers and other technical professionals who do not claim expertise in risk assessment and must sometimes make decisions about how to proceed on a project when confronted with initial information about contamination issues.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Select applicable health-based standards and regulatory criteria.
• Explain the exposure assumptions and limitations associated with those standards.
• Identify quality limitations in applicable standards.
• Adapt standards to existing or likely future exposure conditions at a site.
• Compare contaminant concentrations with natural background concentrations.
• Determine appropriate exposure concentrations.
• Evaluate inadequate or poor-quality data for use in a screening-level risk assessment.
• Represent the magnitude and distribution of contaminant concentrations.
• Interpret risk-screening results correctly.
• Communicate risk-assessment results effectively to support decision-making.

Certificate of Completion

You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 10 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.