Certification examinations measure an individual's mastery of the body of knowledge appropriate for safety professionals. Most accrediting organizations use exclusively four option multiple-choice items in certification examinations because they:

1. are flexible and adaptable.
2. are more reliable than other formats
3. can measure skills, knowledge and abilities (SKA's)
4. provide good sampling
5. have low chance scores
6. can be machine scored

Multiple-choice items consist of three parts:

1. Stem - The stem states the problem or question to be answered.
2. Correct Answer - The correct answer is one of four potential options which represents the only correct response or the best correct response.
3. Distractors - Three distractors serve as incorrect responses. They are plausible, yet wrong, or not the best possible option.

The following is an example of the parts of a multiple-choice item:

Items used on most certification examinations are developed by qualified safety professionals. The process of item development, item review and validation and examination review ensures that items are clear, grammatically correct and technically accurate.