Studying for the PHR Exam-Week 10

Welcome to week number ten of my twelve week PHR study series. As always, the links to my other articles in the series can be found here.

Wow. I thought I would never get here! This week, I finished with the Risk Management chapter of the PHR / SPHR Professional in Human Resources Study Guide that I have been using as a study resource for each week of the past ten. This week I studied Risk Management, which includes issues like emergency action plans, safety and health topics, and other related human resources functions.

A New Resource

I will not add anything new to this section, because I have some good ideas for the final two weeks of studying, and I really didn't have time to find new resources during the last week. However, I will say that using the outside resources has helped me with retaining the different things that I have read during my PHR studies. Some human resources concepts like employment law, employee selection procedures, performance management techniques, etc. are difficult to grasp at first glance. When I take the time to go to an outside resource and read more into the topic, I am able to more fully understand and retain the knowledge being presented. The more times I read something, the better I understand it. Whether the topic is found in Risk Management, Strategic Planning, or some other area of human resources, it always helps to solidify and certify the knowledge with multiple sources.

Just the Facts, Ma'am

This week I studied Risk Management. Risk Management makes up about 7% of the total PHR exam weight. In the HRCI practice test, I scored a 67% on this section.

According to the PHR study guide, the Risk Management section tests the human resources professional's knowledge of:

Federal, state, and local workplace laws regarding health/safety/security/privacy (OSHA, ADA, HIPAA, etc.)

Occupational injury and illness prevention and compensation programs

Workplace safety/security risks (theft, sabotage, espionage, etc.)

Emergency action and disaster recovery plans

My Take on the Material

The reading this week was fairly dry, because it mostly revolved around the founding of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) and how it currently regulates workplace safety. Because Risk Management only makes up approximately 7% of the entire PHR exam, the chapter was very short, so thankfully I didn't have to spend a lot of time on this topic.

The most interesting portion of the PHR study material involved the case Automobile Workers v. Johnson Controls, Inc. The basic summary of the case is that the company manufactures batteries with a high lead content. Lead has been shown to be a hazard for pregnant mothers and their children, so Johnson Controls decided to move the pregnant women to other, lead-free places in the company. They sued Johnson Controls for discriminatory practices and won the case. The bottom line: companies cannot remove a pregnant woman from a hazardous position simply because they want to. The company can provide information to the woman, but the final decision to move is left up to the employee.

Looking Forward

With the final "structured" week of PHR study behind me, I am now trying to decide exactly what would be the best way to study in the coming weeks. I now have less than two weeks until the PHR exam drops on me, and I don't know if I should feel excited or terrified (at the moment, I have a little bit of both). I have been going over the pass/fail numbers from the PHR, and according to the Human Resources Certification Institute, approximately 40% of PHR takers failed from 2005 to 2008. That should put a little hitch in anyone's step!

I plan to take the final exam I purchased from the Human Resources Certification Institute in the coming week, so that for the final seven days I can study the specific topics that I feel were missed most often. I have several hundred practice questions (excluding the HRCI practice exam) for my perusal, so I shall be sure to take full advantage of them.