PrepTest 152, Section 1, Question 6

What we’re looking for

Working the answers

• A

  Working fewer hours gives a worker less time each day to be injured on the job. It could also mean less fatigue. Someone working a very long shift may become less alert and make a dangerous mistake; shorter shifts could reduce that risk. This helps explain the lower percentage, so eliminate it.

• B

  Less pressure to meet quotas and deadlines could mean less rushing. Workers who aren't hurrying as much may make fewer dangerous mistakes. We do need that reasonable connection between pressure and risk, but we don't need to assume that every deadline disappears or every accident is prevented. B offers a way work could become safer.

• C

  This fits the change in the mix of jobs. If especially dangerous industries lose a large share of their workers, fewer of the remaining workers hold those high-risk jobs. The overall injury rate can then fall even if each individual job is just as dangerous as before. This is a strong explanation, which makes it wrong for the EXCEPT task.

• D
  Correct

  Devoting fewer resources to safety doesn't explain why a smaller percentage of workers gets hurt. If anything, we'd worry that reducing safety resources would make injuries more likely. D doesn't prove that the injury rate must rise, but it supplies no helpful explanation for the decline we need to explain.

• E

  Experienced workers may know how to avoid hazards that a newcomer hasn't learned to recognize. Knowing when to stay clear of a moving crane, for example, could prevent an injury. If inexperienced workers lose their jobs at a higher rate, the remaining workforce contains a greater share of people with that experience. That can lower the injury rate without requiring every inexperienced worker to be laid off.