Free Practice Questions for HRPA CHRP-KE Exam

Within the Health, Wellness, and Safe Workplace domain of the HRPA Professional Competency Framework, Competency C144 outlines that HR professionals are expected to “contribute to the evaluation of organizational health and safety programs and policies to ensure compliance and effectiveness.” One of the key tools used to evaluate and verify the effectiveness of workplace safety programs is auditing.

Auditing involves a systematic review of workplace operations, policies, and hazard control mechanisms to:

Identify new or emerging safety hazards,

Evaluate whether existing hazard controls are working effectively, and

Ensure compliance with occupational health and safety legislation, including the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

Audits are proactive in nature and serve as a critical part of continuous improvement within a workplace’s health and safety management system. Through internal or external safety audits, organizations can determine whether control measures such as personal protective equipment (PPE), training programs, or engineering controls are adequately mitigating risks.

By contrast:

Re-engineering (Option A) refers to redesigning processes or work environments and may reduce hazards but does not primarily evaluate hazard controls.

Training (Option C) helps workers understand hazards and procedures but is not an evaluation tool for existing controls.

Substitution (Option D) is a hazard control strategy where a less hazardous material or process replaces a more dangerous one; again, it’s a control measure, not an evaluative process.

Relevant Framework Reference:

HRPA Professional Competency Framework – Competency C144 (Health, Wellness, and Safe Workplace)

Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act – Due Diligence and Program Evaluation Requirements

HRPA Study Guide – Health and Safety Program Evaluation and Auditing Content

Auditing aligns with the due diligence requirement under OHSA and ensures that the employer is continuously monitoring and improving its safety systems to prevent incidents and legal liability.

HRPA’s metrics and analytics guidance defines employee turnover rate for a period as:

(Number of separations during the period ÷ Average number of employees during the period) × 100.

Applying the formula: 20 ÷ 500 = 0.04; 0.04 × 100 = 4%.

References (HRPA Framework/Study Guide):

HRPA Professional Competency Framework – Reporting and Financial Management (selection and calculation of HR metrics).

HRPA Study Guide – HR Metrics and Analytics (turnover rate definition and calculation).

HRPA’s Learning and Development process model sets out an integrated sequence: self-assessment → reality check → goal-setting → action planning. In action planning, the employee and organization specify the concrete steps, supports, and resources (e.g., courses, coaching, stretch assignments, time, budget) required to achieve agreed development goals, along with timelines and accountabilities.

Self-assessment identifies interests/strengths.

Reality check confirms organizational opportunities/constraints.

Goal-setting defines targets; it does not operationalize resources.

References (HRPA Framework/Study Guide):

HRPA Professional Competency Framework – Learning and Development (planning and evaluation of development activities).

HRPA Study Guide – Career Development Planning (four-step model and the purpose of action planning).

HRPA identifies work scheduling stressors—including hours, shift patterns, and work–family conflict—as a core category of psychosocial hazards. Difficulties balancing work time demands with family responsibilities are classic scheduling-related stressors, distinct from role ambiguity/conflict (A), task autonomy and workload design (C), or concerns about job continuity and career prospects (D).

References (HRPA): Professional Competency Framework—Health, Wellness, and Safe Workplace (psychosocial hazard identification); HRPA Study Guide—categories of workplace stressors and interventions (work–family conflict within scheduling stressors).

Organizational Development (OD) is defined in HRPA materials as a long-term, planned, systemic effort, grounded in behavioural science, aimed at improving organizational effectiveness and the well-being of its members. While OD may use structural adjustments (A) or process changes (B) as interventions, its primary aim is broader: culture, processes, and human systems are developed through planned change to enhance both organizational results and people outcomes. Option D captures responsiveness but not the developmental, system-wide, and people-centred focus central to OD.

Relevant HRPA references (no external links): HRPA Study Guide – Organizational Effectiveness: OD definitions and objectives; HRPA Competency Framework – Leading planned change and culture development.

In HRPA’s Health, Wellness, and Safe Workplace content on occupational stress, strain reactions are grouped as psychological (e.g., anxiety, depression), physical/physiological (e.g., headaches, hypertension), and behavioural (e.g., increased smoking, alcohol/drug use, absenteeism). Substance use as a coping response is expressly identified as a behavioural strain indicator.

Relevant HRPA references (no external links):

HRPA Study Guide – Occupational Stress and Strain: behavioural, psychological, and physiological strain categories.

HRPA Competency Framework – Health, Safety & Wellness: “identify and address factors contributing to stress and unhealthy coping behaviours.”

Within HRPA’s Reporting and Financial Management competencies, HR is expected to track and report cost-focused metrics that link people expenses to organizational results. Average employee earnings as a percentage of revenue is a classic compensation cost indicator (also referred to as compensation-to-revenue or payroll-to-revenue ratio). By contrast, turnover (B) is a talent/retention indicator, absenteeism (C) is a attendance/health metric, and errors/on-time delivery (D) are operational quality/timeliness indicators.

Relevant Framework Reference: HRPA Professional Competency Framework — Reporting & Financial Management (develop and interpret cost metrics, including compensation cost ratios); HRPA Study Guide — HR Metrics and Analytics (cost efficiency indicators such as payroll-to-revenue).

HRPA’s Total Rewards guidance explains that in a defined contribution (DC) plan, the employer’s obligation is limited to a specified contribution, and investment/return risk rests with the member, which minimizes the organization’s financial risk and makes administration comparatively simpler than a defined benefit plan. A DB plan (C) places funding and longevity/investment risk on the employer. RRSPs (A) are savings vehicles (often offered as group RRSPs) but are not registered pension plans; CPP (D) is a public statutory plan, not an employer private pension plan.

Relevant Framework Reference: HRPA Professional Competency Framework — Total Rewards (design and governance of retirement programs; risk and cost implications of DC vs. DB); HRPA Study Guide — Retirement and Savings Plans (employer risk profiles and administrative simplicity of DC plans).

The HRPA framework highlights HR’s role in building effective teams, strengthening trust, and fostering open communication and psychological safety. Regular team-building exercises develop interpersonal trust, clarify norms, and improve collaboration—key conditions for idea sharing. Reducing meetings (A) can further limit dialogue; emphasizing bonuses (C) may intensify competition rather than collaboration; shifting to individual tasks (D) reduces opportunities for joint problem-solving. Team-building directly targets the climate that supports voice and knowledge sharing, consistent with HRPA’s Organizational Effectiveness competencies on group dynamics and team performance.

HRPA guidance on HR audits and analytics outlines a logical audit workflow: define scope and objectives → identify metrics and criteria → collect data → analyze findings → report results → develop and prioritize recommendations → implement improvements and monitor. Once metrics (what will be measured) are established, the immediate next step is to collect the relevant data so analysis can be performed against those metrics.

Recommendations (A) and implementation (D) occur after analysis. Securing senior management approval (B) is part of initiating/scope definition at the front end of the audit process, not after metrics are already identified.

References (HRPA Framework/Study Guide):

HRPA Professional Competency Framework – Reporting and Financial Management (metrics, data collection, analysis, and reporting).

HRPA Study Guide – HR Audits and Analytics (audit steps from scoping through recommendations and follow-up).