Parts Technician Red Seal safety, tools, work planning and communication practice questions (240P).

Five free practice questions on safety, tools, work planning and communication: block A of the Red Seal 240P Parts Technician exam, about 19 of its 120 questions. They are in the exam's format: four options, one correct answer. Answer each one before opening the explanation. No account, no email.

01The questions

1. Procedural · Maintains safe work environment

   A receiver has left a pallet of brake drums in the main aisle, blocking the marked route to an emergency exit, and gone to lunch. A pallet jack is free nearby. What does the parts technician do?

   1. Put hazard tape around the pallet and report it to the supervisor.
   2. Leave a note on the pallet asking the receiver to move it after lunch.
   3. Move the pallet clear of the exit route and report the blockage.
   4. Record the blockage on the hazard log for the next safety meeting.
   Show the answer

   C. Correct. A blocked exit route is a hazard to act on now: with a pallet jack free, moving the pallet restores the exit, and reporting it lets the supervisor deal with why it was left there. Hazardous conditions are both corrected and reported.

   Why not the others

   A. Taping and reporting warns people and gets the supervisor involved, but the exit route stays blocked until someone moves the pallet. Taping off is for a hazard that cannot be removed at once; this one can be moved now with the free pallet jack.

   B. A note leaves the exit blocked for the whole lunch break, and an evacuation could happen in that time. Clear the route first, then report the blockage.

   D. Recording is half the job, but the exit stays blocked until the meeting. Clear the route now and report the blockage at once.

2. Procedural · Uses catalogs and price lists

   A supplier's price list shows a hydraulic pump at a list price of $318.00 with discount code D. The supplier's discount sheet says code D is list less 45 % less 8 %. What is the store's cost for one pump?

   1. $149.46
   2. $160.91
   3. $174.90
   4. $292.56
   Show the answer

   B. Correct. Chained discounts are taken one after the other on the reduced price: $318.00 × 0.55 = $174.90, then $174.90 × 0.92 = $160.91 to the cent. Together they leave 0.55 × 0.92 = 0.506 of list, a 49.4 % total discount, not 53 %.

   Why not the others

   A. This adds the two discounts to 53 % and takes them off list in one step: $318.00 × 0.47 = $149.46. Chained discounts multiply: $318.00 × 0.55 × 0.92 = $160.91.

   C. This takes only the first discount, $318.00 × 0.55 = $174.90, and stops. Code D also takes 8 % off that figure: $174.90 × 0.92 = $160.91.

   D. This takes only the 8 % discount, $318.00 × 0.92 = $292.56, and misses the 45 %. Both apply in turn: $318.00 × 0.55 × 0.92 = $160.91.

3. Critical · Uses measuring and testing tools and equipment

   A customer brings in an unmarked ball bearing. The parts technician's caliper, set to inches, reads bore 1.181 in., outside diameter 2.835 in. and width 0.748 in. The supplier's catalogue lists metric sizes only. Which listing matches?

   1. Bore 35 mm, OD 72 mm, width 17 mm.
   2. Bore 30 mm, OD 72 mm, width 27 mm.
   3. Bore 30 mm, OD 62 mm, width 19 mm.
   4. Bore 30 mm, OD 72 mm, width 19 mm.
   Show the answer

   D. Correct. 1 in. = 25.4 mm exactly: 1.181 × 25.4 = 30.0 mm, 2.835 × 25.4 = 72.0 mm and 0.748 × 25.4 = 19.0 mm. All three dimensions match the old bearing, so this is the listing to sell.

   Why not the others

   A. Only the OD matches: 1.181 in. × 25.4 = 30.0 mm bore, not 35 mm, and 0.748 in. × 25.4 = 19.0 mm wide, not 17 mm.

   B. Bore and OD match, but 0.748 in. × 25.4 = 19.0 mm, not 27 mm. Matching only two dimensions is the usual mistake; a wider bearing is a different part. All three must match.

   C. Bore and width match, but 2.835 in. × 25.4 = 72.0 mm, not 62 mm, so this bearing is smaller across the outside than the old one.

4. Procedural · Prioritizes tasks

   A small-engine shop's parts technician special-orders a carburetor kit and promises it to the customer for Thursday, based on the supplier's ETA of Wednesday. What follow-up does the job call for?

   1. Track it on Wednesday and call the customer if it is late.
   2. Call the customer on Thursday when the kit reaches the shelf.
   3. Leave it to the customer to call in on Thursday as agreed.
   4. Order a second kit elsewhere on Wednesday as a backup.
   Show the answer

   A. Correct. Follow-up is scheduled before the promise date: checking the tracking or the supplier's status on Wednesday leaves a day to act (expedite, find another source) and to tell the customer before Thursday if the date has moved.

   Why not the others

   B. Calling only on arrival means the customer hears nothing if the kit is late and may arrive Thursday to an empty shelf; the check belongs on Wednesday, before the promise date.

   C. The promise was the store's, so the follow-up is too; waiting for the customer means a missed date is discovered at the counter.

   D. Ordering a duplicate before knowing of any delay buys a second kit that may end up as unsold stock; check the status first and source elsewhere only if the order has slipped.

5. Procedural · Uses communication techniques

   At a recreational dealer, a parts technician is part-way through a phone order with a supplier when a walk-in customer reaches the counter. Store policy is to finish a call already in progress. What does the technician do as the customer arrives?

   1. Keep his eyes on the screen until the call ends.
   2. Put the supplier on hold and serve the customer first.
   3. Look up and signal that he will be right there.
   4. Ask the customer to come back after the call ends.
   Show the answer

   C. Correct. Acknowledging a customer as soon as he arrives, with eye contact and a brief gesture or word, tells him he has been seen and will be served next; the call is finished under the store's policy and the customer is then served.

   Why not the others

   A. Saying nothing leaves the customer unsure whether he has been noticed and may send him elsewhere; finishing the call is the policy, but a customer at the counter is acknowledged at once.

   B. The store's policy is to finish a call in progress, and walking away from a supplier mid-order invites errors in the order; the customer is acknowledged now and served as soon as the call ends.

   D. Sending a customer away for the length of a call is poor service and may lose the sale; a quick acknowledgment lets him wait knowing he will be served next.

02Answer key

03What block A covers

The skills every parts job rests on: keeping the store and warehouse safe, PPE and safety equipment, catalogues and price lists, hand, power and warehouse tools, measuring tools, business machines and computers, work documents such as warranties and service bulletins, setting priorities, and communicating with customers and coworkers, including mentoring apprentices.

The Red Seal Occupational Standard names this block “Performs common occupational skills”. It carries 15.8% of the exam, about 19 of the 120 questions, split across four tasks. The share column is each task's weight within the block, as the standard publishes it.

04What the questions turn on

Fix the hazard, then report it

A hazard that can be removed now, such as a pallet blocking an exit route, is cleared and then reported. A damaged tool or a lift truck that fails its start-of-shift check is tagged out of service, not used.

Chained discounts multiply

List less 45 % less 8 % is list times 0.55 times 0.92, not 53 % off. Each discount is taken from the price the one before it left, so the total discount is smaller than the two added together.

Measure, convert, match all three

Zero a digital caliper with clean, closed jaws before measuring. Inches convert to millimetres at exactly 25.4, and a replacement bearing has to match bore, outside diameter and width, not just two of them.

Rank work by what waiting costs

A down machine goes ahead of restocking that is not due for days, whatever the order values. When two urgent jobs compete, work out what each one's delay would cost and send first the job whose delay costs more, even when its order is the smaller one.

05The other blocks

The 240P exam has five blocks. Each has its own page of free questions:

The 240P Parts Technician practice exam page describes the full question bank. How these questions are written and checked: how our questions are made. Found a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.