Glossary of Terms used for Safety Management in a Steel Plant
Glossary of Terms used for Safety Management in a Steel Plant
The glossary of terms normally used for safety management in a steel plant is given below.
Abnormal operation – It is that operation which is not the normal operation.
Accident – Accident is an unplanned event which results in harm to the people, damage to the property or loss to the process. It is an unintended event which includes operating errors, equipment failures and other mishaps, the consequences or potential consequences of which are not negligible from the point of view of protection and safety.
Accident conditions – These conditions are deviations from normal operation which are less frequent and more severe than anticipated operational occurrences. Accident conditions comprise design basis accidents and design extension conditions.
Accident causation – It consists of several factors which act together to cause accidents. These include (i) personal factors, (ii) job factors, and (iii) factors related to lack of management control.
Accident triangle – It indicates statistical relationship and severity of accident. Fig 1 shows accident triangle.
Fig 1 Accident triangle
Accident investigation – It is the process of systematically gathering and analyzing information about an accident.
Accident management – It is taking of a set of actions during the evolution of a beyond design basis accident. It consists of (i) to prevent the escalation of the event into a severe accident, (ii) to mitigate the consequences of a severe accident, and (iii) to achieve a long term safe stable state. The second aspect of accident management (to mitigate the consequences of a severe accident) is also termed severe accident management.
Anticipated operational occurrence – It is a deviation of an operational process from normal operation which is expected to occur at least once during the operating life-time of a facility but which, in view of appropriate design provisions, does not cause any significant damage to items important to safety or lead to accident conditions. Examples of anticipated operational occurrences are loss of normal electrical power and faults such as a turbine trip, malfunction of individual items of a normally running plant, failure to function of individual items of control equipment, and loss of power to the main coolant pump.
Accident prevention – It is the systematic application of recognized principles to reduce incidents, accidents, or the accident potential of a system or organization.
ACOP – It is ‘Approved Code of Practice’.
ALARP: It is ‘As Low as Reasonably Practicable’. (See SFAIRP). The two terms mean essentially the same thing and at their core is the concept of ‘reasonably practicable’. This involves weighing a risk against the trouble, time and money needed to control it. Thus, ALARP describes the level to which workplace risk is controlled.
Audit – It is a systematic and documented process for obtaining evidence from inspections, interviews, and document review and evaluating it objectively to determine the extent to which the relevant criteria are fulfilled.
Authorized person – Authorized person is a person who is approved or assigned to perform a specific type of duty or duties or to be at a specific location or locations at the jobsite.
Backfit – The imposition of a new or proposed safety requirement which dictates the modification of, or addition to (i) systems, structures and components of a facility, (ii) the existing or approved design of a facility, or (iii) the procedures or organization needed to design, construct, or operate a facility.
Beyond design basis accident – It is postulated accident with accident conditions more severe than those of a design basis accident.
Casual factor – It is an event or condition in the accident sequence necessary and sufficient to produce or contribute to the unwanted result. Causal factors fall into three categories namely (i) direct cause, (ii) contribution cause, and (iii) root cause.
Cause – It is a thing which contributes to an accident or incident. In an investigation, the use of the word ‘cause’ as a singular term is to be avoided. It is preferable to use it in the plural sense, such as ‘causal factors’, rather than identifying ‘the cause’.
Code of practice –It is a body of rules for practical guidance only and not having the force of law although failure to comply can be used in evidence in legal proceedings.
COMAH – It is ‘Control of Major Accident Hazard Regulations’.
Common cause of failure (CCF) – It is a dependent failure (quod vide, q.v.) of two or more (redundant) system elements due to a single cause, for example a fire or a flood.
Common mode of failure (CMF) – It is a dependent failure (q.v.) where two or more system elements fail in the same manner, for example by having the same incorrect maintenance action performed on all the elements.
Competent persons – Competent persons are practical and reasonable persons with sufficient documented training and experience, who know what to look for, how to recognize it when they see it, and how to deal with it to make it safe. They also know and work within the limits of their competence.
Confined space – It is an area which is not designed for continuous human occupancy and has limited opening for entry, exit, and ventilation.
Contract employee (Contractor) – An individual supplied by an external organization (contractor, sub contractor, consultant, or vendor) on a full or part time basis and who is providing a service (production, maintenance, or administrative support) to the organization. The contract worker safety, health and well being are primarily supervised by the external contractor’s supervisor or manager who is paid by the external organization directly.
Controlled risk – It is a portion of the risk which can be managed with existing controls
Controlled state – it is the plant state, following an anticipated operational occurrence or accident conditions, in which fulfillment of the main safety functions can be ensured and which can be maintained for a time sufficient to implement provisions to reach a safe state.
Controls – These are measures designed to eliminate or reduce hazards or hazardous exposures. Examples include engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment. Hazards can be controlled at the source, along the path to the worker, or at the worker.
Danger – It is a state or condition in which personal injury and / or asset damage is reasonably foreseeable. It is the presence of a hazard.
Dangerous occurrence – It is a near miss with serious injury potential.
Dependent failures – These are failures of two or more elements of a system where these failures cannot be considered independent (q.v.). Common cause and common mode failures are dependent failures.
Design basis –The set of requirements which bound the design of systems, structures, and components within the facility. These design requirements include consideration of safety, plant availability, efficiency, reliability, and maintainability. Some aspects of the design basis are important for safety, although others are not.
Design basis accident – It is a postulated accident leading to accident conditions for which a facility is designed in accordance with established design criteria and conservative methodology.
Electric hazard – A dangerous condition such that contact or equipment failure can result in electric shock, arc flash burn, thermal burn, or blast.
Electrical safety – It is the needed process to avoid electrical incidents through correct use of electrical equipment.
Emergency – It is a non-routine situation which necessitates prompt action, primarily to mitigate a hazard or adverse consequences for human life and health, property, and the environment.
Emergency plan – It is detailed procedures for responding to an emergency such as fire, explosion, chemical spill, or an uncontrolled release of gas or energy. Emergency plan is a description of the objectives, policy, and concept of operations for the response to an emergency and of the structure, authorities and responsibilities for a systematic, coordinated and effective response. Emergency plan minimizes the effects of a disaster.
Emergency preparedness – It is the capability to take actions which effectively mitigate the consequences of an emergency for human life and health, property, and the environment.
Emergency procedures – These are a set of instructions describing in detail the actions to be taken by emergency workers in an emergency.
Employee – Employee is a person who is on the payroll of the organization. The employee has an employee number which identifies the person as an employee of the organization and who is directly supervised by a representative of the organization. Temporary or agency workers hired directly by the organization are to be considered as employees if the organization has primary responsibility for supervising their activities.
Employer – Employer is a person or organization with recognized responsibilities, commitments and duties towards a worker in the employment of the person or organization by virtue of a mutually agreed relationship.
Engineering controls – A category of hazard control which uses physical / engineering methods to eliminate or minimize the hazard. Examples of engineering controls include ventilation, isolation, elimination, enclosure, substitution and design of the workplace or equipment.
Enterprise – A company, business, firm, institution or organization designed to provide goods and / or services to the consumers. It can imply for-profit business, not-for-profit organizations, agencies, or self employed individuals.
Error – It is a mistake or error of judgement leading to action resulting in an accident and its subsequent effects.
Error rate prediction – It is a forecast of the possibility of error based on statistical data.
ETA – It is ‘Event Tree Analysis’, a graphical method of exploring how an initiating (hazardous) event can lead to an accident through a set of further events. The method allows the exploration of barriers to escalation of the hazard (mitigations) and the calculation of the relative likelihoods of various outcomes.
Event – An event is an occurrence unintended by the operator, including operating error, equipment failure, or other mishap, and deliberate action on the part of others, the consequences or potential consequences of which are not negligible from the point of view of protection and safety.
Facility – It consists of land, buildings, and other structures, their functional systems and equipment, and other fixed systems and equipment installed therein, including site development features outside the plant, such as landscaping, roads, walks, and parking areas, outside lighting and communication systems, central utility plants, utilities supply and distribution systems, and other physical plant features. Facility consists of the equipment, structure, system, process, or activity which fulfills a specific purpose.
Fatal injury – It is industrial accident resulting in a fatal injury to either the organization’s employees, contractor’s employee undertaking work for the organization or other persons where these result from an industrial accident arising from the organization’s activities. Death is to be certified by a medical professional. Fatality does not include fatalities involving voluntary social activities even if they are sponsored by the organization.
Fatal occupational injury – It is the occupational accident or injury leading to the death of a worker.
Fatality – It is the death resulting from an accident.
Fatality frequency rate (FFR) – It is calculated on the number of fatalities per million man hours.
Fire fighting – Fire is one of the major hazards present in a steel plant. A well planned fire fighting system is necessary for combating the fires.
Fire hazard analysis – It is an assessment of the risks from fire within an individual fire area in a facility analyzing the relationship to existing or proposed fire protection. This includes an assessment of the consequences of fire on safety systems and the capability to safely operate a facility during and after a fire.
Fire loss – It is the monetary cost of restoring damaged property to its pre-fire condition. When determining the loss, the estimated damage to the facility and contents is to include replacement cost, less salvage value.
Fire prevention – It is the concept of preventing outbreaks of fire, of reducing the risk of fire spreading and of avoiding danger to persons and property from fire.
Fire protection – It is a broad term which encompasses all aspects of fire safety, including building construction and fixed building fire features, fire suppression and detection systems, fire water systems, emergency process safety control systems, emergency fire fighting organizations (fire departments, fire brigades, etc.), fire protection engineering, and fire prevention. Fire protection is concerned with preventing or minimizing the direct and indirect consequences of the fire.
Fire protection system – It is the system designed to detect and contain or extinguish a fire, as well as limit the extent of fire damage and enhance life safety.
Fire safety – It is a risk-based approach to fire safety.
First aid – It is the skilled application of accepted principles of treatment on the occurrence of an accident or in the case of sudden illness, using facilities or materials available at the time. It is the immediate care given to a person who is injured.
FMEA – It is ‘Failure Modes and Effects Analysis’ which is a ‘bottom up’ hazard identification technique. It considers the individual elements of a system, determines how each element can fail, and explores the effects of each such element failure on the operation of the system as a whole. FMEA can also be used to quantify the failure rate of the total system by counting the contribution of each individual element.
Frequency rate – Data on injuries (lost time and / or the total number) is frequently presented in terms of frequencies by relating the absolute numbers to the total number of hours worked. Frequency rate is the number of injuries in the period multiplied by 100,000 total hours worked during the period.
FTA: – it is ‘Fault Tree Analysis’ which is a graphical method for analyzing how a top event (normally a hazardous event) can be caused by lower level events combined by logical operators (most frequently ‘AND’ and ‘OR’ gates). The method is useful for identifying single points of failure or limited redundancy in complex systems, and can be used for system reliability and availability calculations.
Functional safety – Functional safety is the property of an engineered system of ensuring safety by virtue of the functions which the system performs and which normally fall into two categories namely (i) control functions to ensure that a piece of equipment remains in a safe state, and (ii) protection functions which put another system into a safe or relative safe state.
Guarding – It is use of any device or combination of devices designed to keep any part of a worker’s body out of danger zone of a machine during its operating cycle.
HAZAN – It is ‘hazard analysis’ and covers a range of techniques which are used to analyze hazards. HAZAN includes analyzing the consequences of hazards and the safeguards for hazard prevention / or mitigation.
Hazard – It is a source of danger (i.e., material, energy source, or operation) with the potential to cause illness, injury, or death to a person or damage to a facility or to the environment (without regard to the likelihood or credibility of accident scenarios or consequence mitigation).
Hazard analysis – It is the determination of material, system, process, and plant characteristics which can produce undesirable consequences, followed by the assessment of hazardous situations associated with a process or activity. Largely qualitative techniques are used to pinpoint weaknesses in design or operation of the facility which can lead to accidents. The hazards analysis examines the complete spectrum of potential accidents which can expose members of the public, onsite workers, facility workers, and the environment to hazardous materials.
Hazards controls – These are the measures to eliminate, limit, or mitigate hazards to workers, the public, or the environment, including (i) physical, design, structural, and engineering features, (ii) safety structures, systems, and components, (iii) safety management programmes, (iv) technical safety requirements, and (iv) other controls necessary to provide adequate protection from hazards.
Hazardous event – It is the occurrence of a hazard, normally used in the context of the failure of a safety related system.
Hazardous material – It is that substance which can produce adverse health and / or safety effects to people or the environment.
HAZID – It is ‘Hazard Identification’.
HAZOP– HAZOP is ‘Hazard and Operability’ study. It is a structured and systematic examination of a planned or existing process or operation in order to identify and evaluate problems which can represent risks to personnel or equipment, or prevent efficient operation. A systematic method of identifying hazards using a team-based approach and applying a set of standard guide phrases to the elements of a design is to determine how these can deviate from the intent of the designers and what the results can be. The method originated in the chemical process industry where it was applied to plant and instrumentation diagrams, but has been adopted more widely and applied to a number of different design descriptions.
Health and safety program – It is a systematic combination of activities, procedures, and facilities designed to ensure and maintain a safe and healthy workplace.
Health and safety representative – A health and safety representative is a person who is selected following mostly national legal prescriptions which are present in several countries. A health and safety representative has prescribed responsibilities and powers.
Hours worked – For the organization employees, it is the total number of hours worked including overtime and training during the period. For contractor employees, it is the total number of hours worked on organization premises during the period.
Housekeeping – It is a way of controlling hazards along the path between the source and the worker. Good housekeeping means having no unnecessary items in the workplace and keeping all necessary items in their proper places.
Human error – It is the term used today to include not just worker’s error, but also engineering deficiency and lack of adequate organizational control which together account for a accident.
Human factors – They are those biomedical, psycho-social, workplace environment, and engineering considerations pertaining to people in a human-machine system. Some of these considerations are allocation of functions, task analysis, human reliability, training requirements, job performance aiding, personnel qualification and selection, staffing requirements, procedures, organizational effectiveness, and workplace environmental conditions.
Incidence rate – Incidence rate is the total number of accidents multiplied by 1,000 and divided by the number of persons employed during the period
Incident – It is an unintended event, including operating errors, equipment failures, initiating events, accident precursors, near misses or other mishaps, or unauthorized act, malicious or non-malicious, the consequences or potential consequences of which are not negligible from the point of view of protection and safety. It is an unwanted event which, in different circumstances, can have resulted in harm to people, damage to property or loss to a process.
Incident investigation – It is the process of systematically gathering and analyzing information about an incident. This is done for the purposes of identifying causes and making recommendations to prevent the incident from happening again.
Industrial accident –An unintended event due to an unsafe act or unsafe condition or a combination of both, which may or may not result in property damage, personal injury, work interruption, product damage or a combination of these.
Industrial injury – An injury arising from an industrial accident which occurs whilst a person is working for the organization or on the organization’s premises for purposes in connection with or arising out of and in the course of his work, but which may not necessarily result in absence from work.
Injury analysis – It is the process of systematically evaluating injury statistics to identify trends.
Irritant – It is a substance which, in sufficient quantities, can inflame or irritate the eyes, other mucosa, skin or respiratory system (lungs, etc.). Symptoms include pain and reddening.
Joint health and safety committee – The joint health and safety committee is a committee in workplace. The responsibilities and powers of joint committee can include obtaining information on workplace hazards, identifying workplace hazards, and recommending how to make the workplace safer and healthier.
Legal requirement – Anything which is demanded of a person or organization by statute, regulation, common law, or by-law.
Limit – It is the value of a quantity used in certain specified activities or circumstances which is not to be exceeded.
Limited approach boundary – It is an approach limit at a distance from an exposed live part within which a shock hazard exists.
Limiting condition for operation – It is the lowest functional capability or performance level of safety-related structures, systems, and components and their support systems needed for normal, safe operation of a facility.
Limiting control setting – It is the settings on safety systems which control process variables to prevent exceeding a safety limit.
Loss time injury – It is an industrial injury causing loss of time from the job on which the injured person in normally employed beyond the day or shift on which the injury occurred. In addition, cases where loss of time does not immediately follow the injury, but where there is a direct relation between absence and injury, are regarded as lost time injuries.
Lost time injuries (LTI) – It is any work related injury, resulting in the organization, contractor or third party contractor employee not being able to return to work for their next scheduled work period. Returning to work with work restrictions does not constitute a lost time injury status, no matter how minimal or severe the restrictions, provided it is the employee’s next scheduled shift
Lost time injury frequency rate (LTIFR) – It is calculated as number of lost time injuries per million man hours.
Major injuries – This term is no more used internationally. The definition of the term varies widely from organization to organization. For example length of absence can range from 45 days to 90 days, (ii) hospitalization, and (iii) medical definition either by own medical staff or by legislation.
Margin of safety – It is that margin which is built into the safety analyses of the facility as set forth in the authorization basis acceptance limits.
Material safety data sheet (MSDS) – It is a form which contains detailed information about the possible safety and health hazards of a product and how to safely store, use, and handle the product. In several countries, suppliers are required to provide MSDSs for all hazardous materials as a condition of sale.
Mean duration rate – It is the total number of days lost divided by the total number of accidents during the period.
Means of escape – It is the structural means whereby a safe route is provided for persons to travel unaided from any point in a building to a place of safety.
Mitigation – Mitigation consists of factors or events which can prevent a hazard escalating to an accident, or can reduce the likelihood or severity of an accident. Mitigation can be provided by a number of means including engineered systems, procedures and providence i.e. ‘good luck’.
Minor injury – It is the injury other than a fatality or a lost time injury or MTI (minor treatment injury) which is treated by first aid or minor manipulation to provide relief for a strain or bruise. A minor injury does not need treatment by a professionally trained paramedic or physician and does not incur loss of work time other than time of shift on which it occurred. The injured person continues with his normal scheduled work.
Minor treatment injury (MTI) – It is injury other than a fatality or lost time injury, which is treated by a paramedic or a physician without loss of work time other than time of the shift on which it occurred, and the injured person continues with his normal scheduled work.
Monitoring of exposure – It is the systematic measurement of exposure to work related health hazards from, for instance, chemical substances, noise, vibration, or radiation.
MTBF – It is ‘Mean Time between Failures’.
MTTF – It is ‘Mean Time to Failure’.
MTTR – It is ‘Mean Time to Restore (or Repair)’.
Natural phenomena hazard (NPH) – It is an act of nature (for example, earthquake, wind, hurricane, tornado, flood, precipitation [rain or snow], and volcanic eruption etc.). lightning strike, or extreme cold or heat) which poses a threat or danger to workers, the public, or to the environment by potential damage to structures, systems, and components.
Near miss – it is an incident, which did not show a visible result, but had the potential to do so. .
Near miss incident – It is an incident which physically occurred but there was no personal injury to the employee, contractor or visitor bur which could have resulted in a serious injury and needs to be followed up in the same way as a lost time injury but recorded as a near miss.
Negligence – It is the omission to do something, which a reasonable person, guided upon those considerations which ordinarily regulate the conduct of human affairs would do, or something, which a prudent and reasonable person would not do
Noise – It is the sounds which can lead to so called noise-induced hearing loss, tinnitus or stress, or interfere with the ability to hear other sounds, to concentrate, to relax or to communicate.
NPH mitigation – It is an action taken to reduce the impacts of NPH. This includes natural phenomena hazard resistant design, evaluation, construction requirements, and operational procedures.
Occupational accident – It is a fatal or non-fatal occupational occurrence resulting in injury in the workplace.
Occupational health – The term is used to describe health effects because of work environment. It is used to prevent harmful health effects because of the work environment and to ensure physical, mental, and emotional well being of the employees.
Occupational injury – It is death, any personal injury, or disease resulting from an occupational accident.
Occupational safety – It is the maintenance of a work environment which is relatively free from actual or potential hazards that can injure employees.
OHSAS – It is occupational health and safety assessment series of standards for health and safety management system. OHSAS 18001 is the standard for which an organization can get certification. This standard is intended to help an organization to control occupational health and safety risks.
Operational limits and conditions – These are set of rules setting forth parameter limits, the functional capability and the performance levels of equipment and personnel approved by the regulatory body for safe operation of an authorized facility. The operational limits are needed to ensure the safe operation of a facility, including limiting control settings and limiting conditions for operation.
Operational safety controls – These are safety limits, operating limits, surveillance requirements, safety boundaries, and management, and administrative controls which considerably contribute to protecting workers, the public, and the environment from hazards.
Operational safety requirements – These are the limits, controls, and related actions which establish the specific parameters and requisite actions for the safe operation of a facility and include, as appropriate for the work and the hazards identified in the documented safety analysis for the facility such as safety limits, operating limits, surveillance requirements, administrative and management controls, use and application provisions, and design features etc.
Permit to work – It is a formal written or verbal authority to operate a planned procedure, which is designed to protect personnel, working in hazardous areas or activities, or when performing maintenance on a safety-related system. It is authority for a safe system of work.
PFD – it is ‘Probability of Failure on Demand’ which is applied normally to a plant protection system.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) – These are devices worn by an employee to protect against hazards. Some examples are respirators, dust mask, safety helmet, gloves, ear plugs, safety goggles and safety shoes etc.
Physical work environment – It is the part of the workplace facility which can be detected by human senses or by physical, chemical, biological, or ergonomic assessment including the structure, air, machines, furniture, products, chemicals, materials and processes which are present or which occur in the workplace, and which can affect the physical or mental safety, health, and well-being of workers. If the workers perform their tasks outdoors or in a vehicle then that location is their physical work environment.
Procedure – It is a step-by-step description of how to do a task, job, or activity properly.
Psycho-social work environment – It is the content of work and work demands, the social relationships at work, the organization of work and the work culture, which each can affect the mental and physical well-being of workers including management. All these work aspects are sometimes referred to as workplace stressors, which may have cognitive, emotional or motivational effects on workers.
Pyramid of incidents – Pyramid of incidents is also known as Heinrich’s triangle or Bird’s triangle. It provides a theoretical view of the industrial accident prevention. It shows a relationship between serious accidents, minor accidents, and near misses. It is also known as iceberg of incidents. Fig 2 sows the Heinrich’s and Bird’s pyramids.
Fig 2 Heinrich’s and Bird’s pyramids.
Risk – It is the probability of a worker suffering an injury or health problem, or damage occurring to property or the environment as a result of exposure to or contact with a hazard. It can be expressed either as a frequency, such as the number of harmful effects in a certain time period, or as a probability, such as the probability of a harmful effect during or after exposure.
Risk assessment – Risk assessment is the process of quantifying the frequency or probability of a harmful effect to individuals or populations (e.g. related to exposure or activities at work) and is one of the first steps in risk management.
Risk management – It consists of all actions taken to achieve, maintain or improve work and working conditions so that harmful effects to individuals or populations related to exposure or activities at work are prevented.
Safe system of work – It a method of working which eliminates or reduces the risk of injury.
Safety – It consists of the maintenance of a work environment that is relatively free from actual or potential hazards which can injure employees.
Safety analysis – It is a documented process (i) to provide systematic identification of hazards within a given operation, (ii) to describe and analyze the adequacy of the measures taken to eliminate, control, or mitigate identified hazards, and (iii) to analyze and evaluate potential accidents and their associated risks.
Safety audits – Safety audit is a systematic and structured process of independent examination to determine the effectiveness of safety management system in the organization.
Safety and health organization – It is the organization in the steel plant which promotes safety and health in the plant and deals with all the issue related to it. The organization consists of a safety departments, safety committees, shop safety coordinators and occupational health or first aid centres.
Safety and health policy – It is a policy of statement of intent, and a commitment to plan for coordinated management action towards organization’s safety and health objectives.
Safety committee – It is a committee representative of all employees with the objective of promoting co-operation in investigating, developing, and carrying out measures to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the employees.
Safety culture – It is the assembly of characteristics and attitudes in the organization and its employees which establishes that, as an overriding priority, protection and safety issues receive the attention warranted by their significance. It can also be described as a product of the individual and group values, attitudes, competencies and patterns of behaviour which determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of the organizational health and safety programmes.
Safety deviation – It is an action which can endanger a person or people working around him or any situation judged as being such that, sooner or later, it can lead to a risk of an incident inflicting harm to one or more persons.
Safety function – It is a specific purpose which is to be accomplished for safety for a facility or activity to prevent or to mitigate the unsafe consequences of normal operation, anticipated operational occurrences, and accident conditions.
Safety inspection – It is a regular and careful check of a work place in order to identify safety and health hazards and to recommend corrective actions. It is systematic assessment of safety standards for plant, place of work, working. It is carried out by a manager and not a safety adviser / engineer.
Safety inspectorate – It is the statutory authority with the task of advising and giving directions on issues concerning the protection of workers and the work environment, as well as checking that the protection is sufficient.
Safety issues – These are deviations from current safety standards or practices, or weaknesses in facility design or practices as identified by plant events, with a potential impact on safety because of their impact on defence in depth, safety margins, or safety culture.
Safety layers – These are passive systems, automatically or manually initiated safety systems, or administrative controls which are provided to ensure that the required safety functions are achieved.
Safety limits – These are limits on operational parameters within which an authorized facility has been shown to be safe. Safety limits are operational limits and conditions beyond those for normal operation.
Safety management system (SMS) – SMS is the system for the management of safety in order to promote a strong safety culture and achieve high standards of safety performance in the organization.
Safety measure – It is the action which can be taken, condition which can be applied or procedure which can be followed to fulfill the needs of the safety requirements.
Safety monitoring – It is the periodic checks on observance of corporate safety standards and procedures.
Safety policy – The safety policy is to be simple and understandable. It is the declaration of the commitment to the safety by the organization. It serves as the foundation for the organizational SMS and provides a unifying vision of the safety concerns by the entire organization. It serves as the framework for setting safety objectives and targets and for planning and action. It drives the commitment of the organization to maintain and potentially improve its safety performance. The safety policy is to be supported by the senior management and understood by all the employees.
Safety professional (or safety engineer) – Safety professional is a person whose basic job function and responsibility is to prevent accidents and other harmful exposures and the personal injury, disease or property damage which can ensue.
Safety task – It is the sensing of one or more variables indicative of a specific postulated initiating event, the signal processing, the initiation and completion of the safety actions required to prevent the limits specified in the design basis from being exceeded, and the initiation and completion of certain services of the safety system support features.
Safety training and safety education – It is structured training programs meant for the training of employees regarding various aspects of safety and occupational health.
Severity – Severity of a hazard is the degree of harm which a hazard can create if it occurs.
Severity rate – It is thousands times the total number of days lost divided by the total number of hours worked. Values for severity rates are correlated to frequency on lost time injury frequency (LTIF). For example, if the average number of lost days for all lost time injuries remains constant for a certain period then the severity rate is directly proportional to the LTIF. So, for evaluating severity rates, a person is always to consider the change in LTIF before conclusions are drawn.
SFAIRP– It is ‘So Far As Is Reasonably Practicable’ (see ALARP).
Stress at work – It is the subjective feelings and physiological responses which result from the psycho-social work environment and put an individual in a position of being unable to cope or respond appropriately to demands being made upon the person. Physiological responses which characterize stress can also arouse due to the physical environment.
Threshold limit values – It is the airborne concentrations of a biological, chemical, or physical agent to which, it is believed that nearly all workers can be exposed without experiencing any harmful effects. Because of individual susceptibility or through aggravation of a pre-existing condition, a small percentage of workers can experience discomfort or even develop an occupational or work-related disease from exposure at concentrations or levels below the threshold limit value.
Toxic substance – It is a harmful or poisonous substance which can cause acute or chronic effects to a person.
Vibration – it is an oscillatory motion occurring when alternating directional movements come into contact.
Visitor – Anyone on the organization premises other than an employee of the organization or contractor. Injuries to a visitor are to be included as an organization employee since the organization has the duty of care and direct safety supervision. Hours visited can be added to the calculation for frequency purposes.
Workplace – The workplace can be described as a place where people are at work.
Worker – A worker is a person who works, whether full time, part time or temporarily, for the organization and who has recognized rights and duties in relation to occupational health and safety protection.
Work related injury (WRI) – It is a work place injury which is the direct result of ‘work related’ activities for which management control are, or should have been in place, or those occurring during business travel.
Work related injury frequency rate (WRIFR) – It is calculated as number of injuries per million man hours.
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