CIH Exam Blueprint: 3 Domains, 9 Tasks Explained
BGC's official CIH Exam Blueprint, based on their 2021 Job Analysis (effective April 1, 2022): 3 performance domains, 9 tasks within them, and the exact knowledge areas each task draws on.
The CIH exam is 180 multiple-choice questions (150 scored + 30 pilot) over 5.0 hours, split into two 2.5-hour sections. It tests 3 domains: Exposure Assessment (50%), Control Selection & Validation (35%), and Risk Management (15%) — so half the exam, by weight, is exposure assessment alone.
CIH exam format at a glance
| Questions | 180 total (150 scored + 30 unscored pilot) |
| Time limit | 5.0 hours (two 2.5-hour sections, optional 30-min break) |
| Format | Multiple-choice, computer-based |
| Delivered by | Pearson VUE test centres |
| Exam fee | $350 USD (separate from the application/eligibility fee) |
| Exam windows | Twice yearly — April–May and October–November |
The 3 CIH exam domains
Each domain breaks down into tasks — specific activities a practicing CIH performs — and each task lists the knowledge areas BGC expects you to draw on to perform it. The knowledge lists below are condensed from BGC's full blueprint; some overlap heavily between tasks within the same domain, since real IH work draws on the same core science repeatedly.
I. Exposure Assessment Principles and Practice
50%Half the exam by itself. Covers the full lifecycle of identifying a hazard, deciding whether it's actually a problem, measuring it properly, and drawing sound conclusions from the data.
II. Control Selection, Recommendation/Implementation, and Validation
35%Once a hazard is confirmed, this domain covers picking the right control, actually putting it in place, and proving it worked. This is where ventilation, noise abatement, radiation shielding, and PPE selection live.
III. Risk Management
15%The smallest domain, but a real one — it tests program-level thinking: building and maintaining an IH program, not just solving one exposure problem at a time.
Domain I alone (50%) outweighs Domains II and III combined for anyone who splits study time evenly across "three domains." The exposure-assessment domain isn't just the biggest — it's the one every other domain assumes you've already mastered, since you can't select or validate a control for an exposure you never correctly assessed in the first place.
Studying the Domains This Blueprint Describes
The CIH Exam Journal follows real chapter-by-chapter prep against exactly these domains — toxicology, radiation, ventilation, noise, and more — plus the Equation Master for every calculation-heavy topic in Domain I and II.
Read the CIH Exam Journal →Or explore the full CIH Exam Prep Hub
CIH Exam Blueprint — Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the CIH exam?
180 multiple-choice questions total: 150 scored questions plus 30 unscored pilot questions used to test future exam content. You won't know which questions are pilot questions while taking the exam.
How long is the CIH exam?
5.0 hours, split into two 2.5-hour sections with an optional 30-minute break in the middle. The second section begins after 30 minutes whether or not you've returned from break.
What are the three CIH exam domains?
Domain I: Exposure Assessment Principles and Practice (50% of the exam), Domain II: Control Selection, Recommendation/Implementation, and Validation (35%), and Domain III: Risk Management (15%). These come directly from BGC's published Job Analysis and Exam Blueprint.
Which CIH domain should I study most?
Domain I (Exposure Assessment) at 50% is half the exam by itself — recognizing hazards, assessing exposure-health relationships, designing assessment strategies, and drawing conclusions from data. Domain II (Controls) at 35% is the next largest. Domain III (Risk Management) is the smallest at 15%, covering program-level development and evaluation rather than technical exposure work.
How much does the CIH exam cost?
$350 USD for the exam itself, paid after your application is approved, on top of the separate application/eligibility fee. Exams are delivered through Pearson VUE test centres.
