Health and Safety Glossary
Get to know some of the most common terms of the industry with our ABCs of health and safety. Click a letter in the bar below to jump to that section.
Asbestos has been historically used in all kinds of buildings and construction work throughout the best part of the 20th century.
ASTM International develops and publishes standards for a variety of different industries, with the overarching aim of improving performance and safety.
Acute exposure refers to excessive contact with a substance. Depending on a person’s own weight and health, exposure to different dosages may be harmful.
The CE marking, also known as the Conformitè Europëenne Mark (which translates to European Conformity) is a mandatory conformity marking required in the European Union for regulating the sale of goods throughout the European Economic Area.
The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 were introduced by the Health and Safety Executive and focus on the management of health, safety and the general welfare of individuals who work on construction projects.
A confined space is any space that offers limited entry and exit points, and is generally not designed to accommodate humans.
All construction projects require a Construction Phase Plan (CPP) before work begins. It's an important document for managing the project safely.
The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) is a British company that offers training and qualification verification schemes that are commonly used throughout the construction industry in Britain.
Chemical identity is the concept that each chemical or substance has a distinct property that separates it from other chemicals.
“Corrosive” refers to materials which can destroy other materials they come into contact with. Most corrosives are bases, oxidizers, or acids.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are generally a mixture of chemicals that are commonly used as a refrigerant.
Ergonomics is a holistic term that refers to the process of arranging a workplace in a way that makes it easy for people to use it.
An ergonomic hazard refers to any physical condition or factor found in the workplace that can cause injury or health concerns, both in the short and long term.
The ecological footprint is a method that determines how dependent humans are on natural resources.
A health and safety audit is an assessment of a company’s systems, procedures, and policies related to employee health and safety to ensure compliance with current regulations. Such audits are carried out by independent, certified consultants.
A health hazard can mean many things, but when it comes to occupational health and safety, a health hazard simply refers to any substance or a chemical that might prove to be dangerous if exposed to individuals.
Heat exhaustion is a serious condition or illness that often manifests after an individual is exposed to extremely high temperatures. In most cases, heat exhaustion also often results in dehydration.
Hazardous waste is defined as waste that is hazardous to human health, mainly because it contains toxic chemicals or substances
The Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response, also known as HAZPOWER, is a comprehensive series of guidelines that are regularly maintained by OSHA.
A hazardous event is described as any situation that leads to the creation of a hazard or exacerbates the impact of existing hazards.
Hydrofluoric acid is different from other types of acids because of the fluoride ion, which easily penetrates the skin and starts damaging body tissue.
An incident is described as a situation or an occurrence during the course of work that could result in an injury, illness, affliction, or prove to be fatal. Investigating such incidents and accurately reporting them is critically important.
Inhalation is the process by which other gases or air enter your lungs. Inhalation is a vital process in breathing that is critical for sustaining life.
The material safety data sheet provides handlers and employees with relevant information about the materials and what they can be exposed to.
Maintenance, repair, and operations, or MRO, includes all the activities performed by the facility to ensure that all equipment remains in good condition.
A near miss is defined by the HSE as any event that doesn’t lead to harm but does have the potential to cause illness or injury.
A person’s ability to hear is one of five major senses. Hearing loss therefore, even minimal, can have a major impact on a person’s quality of life.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor.
Occupational health and safety (OHS) is an area of public medicine that primarily focuses on the safety, health, and welfare of employees at work.
An occupational illness is defined as a chronic illness or disease that is caused primarily due to exposure to a workplace hazard.
Occupational health (OH) primarily focuses on maintaining the physical, mental, and the social health of employees in different occupations.
Permit to Work systems are commonly used in the Health and Safety industry and are designed to mitigate the risks of safety in high-risk tasks. In the following article, we discuss what a Permit to Work system is, why it’s important, and how it helps mitigate risk in the workplace.
Portable appliance testing (PAT) is a common term that refers to the inspection and examination of electrical machinery and equipment to determine if they are operating at maximum effectiveness and if they are safe to use.
A personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) is a dedicated plan for an individual who may require assistance or support to evacuate from the premises in case an emergency arises.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is a term that defines any piece of clothing or equipment that’s worn by employees to minimize exposure to biological, chemical, or any physical hazards on the worksite.
Preventive maintenance (PM) is the routine maintenance of different assets, equipment and machinery to ensure smooth operations and reduce any unplanned equipment failures.
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs for short, are a category of synthetic organic chemicals that contain hydrogen, chlorine, and carbon atoms.
RIDDOR, or the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013, is health and safety law in the UK. It requires companies and all those deemed ‘responsible persons’ to both report and maintain records of any workplace accidents or work-related injury.
Risk-based inspection is a business process that’s used to examine equipment, ranging from pressure vessels to the pipes used in industrial plants.
In terms of Health & Safety, risk management refers to identifying workplace hazards and outlining the steps to be taken to eliminate or mitigate them.
REACH, which is an acronym for Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction of Chemicals, is a regulation of the European Union from 2007.
Safety Analysis Risk Assessment (SARA) is a powerful tool for reducing risk in the workplace. Safety is widely regarded as a joint responsibility of the employees and the management.
A safety instrumented system (SIS) is a system that contains control elements, sensors, and logic solvers to monitor parameters and values of processes within a plant and ensure that they remain within defined limits.
A safety management system (SMS) is the framework or management approach taken by an organization to mitigate and control safety risk in the workplace.
Mitigating safety risks in the workplace is the employer’s responsibility. Whether you own a business or are the manager of a plant in a company, it’s important to take proper actions to mitigate safety risks.
Safety compliance is defined as an ongoing process of complying with the health and safety standards established by regulatory legislators and bodies.
Severity is the degree of hardness of a specific thing. Severity indicates just how serious or harsh the effects of an incident can be.
A scissor lift is a commonly used piece of equipment often found on construction sites: An aerial platform with a lifting mechanism attached to it.
A solvent is any substance, usually liquid, which is capable of dissolving one or several substances, thus creating a solution.
A safety audit is a process through which businesses collect information about the company’s overall safety culture and protocols.