- TRIR (Total Recordable Incident Rate)
- Recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time workers: (recordable cases × 200,000) ÷ total hours worked. The 200,000 base equals 100 workers × 2,000 hours/year.
- DART rate
- Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred rate: (DART cases × 200,000) ÷ total hours worked. Counts only cases serious enough to cause time away, restriction, or job transfer.
- Severity rate
- Lost workdays per 100 workers: (total lost workdays × 200,000) ÷ total hours worked. Measures how many days injuries cost, not how often they occur.
- LTIFR (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate)
- Lost-time injuries per one million hours worked: (lost-time injuries × 1,000,000) ÷ total hours worked. Uses a 1,000,000-hour base, unlike OSHA's 200,000.
- The 200,000-hour base
- The standardizing factor in OSHA incidence rates, equal to 100 full-time workers each working 2,000 hours per year. It lets facilities of different sizes be compared on a per-100-worker basis.
- Noise dose (OSHA)
- Sum of (actual time ÷ permissible time) for each exposure level, × 100. A dose over 100% exceeds the OSHA permissible exposure limit (PEL).
- OSHA 5-dB exchange rate
- OSHA halves the permissible exposure time for every 5-dB increase in sound level (90 dBA → 8 h, 95 dBA → 4 h, 100 dBA → 2 h). ACGIH/NIOSH use a 3-dB exchange rate.
- 8-hour TWA from noise dose
- TWA = 16.61 × log₁₀(D ÷ 100) + 90, where D is the percent dose. A 100% dose = 90 dBA TWA; a 200% dose = 95 dBA TWA.
- Inverse-square law (illuminance)
- Illuminance from a point source varies as 1 ÷ distance². Doubling the distance from a lamp reduces illuminance to one-quarter (e.g., 800 lux at 2 m → 200 lux at 4 m).
- pH scale
- A logarithmic measure of hydrogen-ion concentration. Each one-unit drop in pH multiplies [H⁺] by 10; a drop from pH 7 to pH 5 increases [H⁺] 100-fold.
- Resultant of perpendicular forces
- When two forces act at right angles, the resultant magnitude is the Pythagorean combination √(F₁² + F₂²). Two 50 N forces at 90° give about 70 N.
- Parallel resistance
- For resistors in parallel, 1/R(eq) = 1/R₁ + 1/R₂ + … The equivalent resistance is always less than the smallest resistor (6 Ω ∥ 3 Ω = 2 Ω).
- Half-life
- The time for a quantity to decay to half its value. After n half-lives, a fraction (½)ⁿ remains (160 g after three 8-hour half-lives = 20 g).
- Period and frequency
- Period T is the inverse of frequency f: T = 1 ÷ f. An oscillation at 2 Hz has a period of 0.5 seconds.
- Binomial variance
- For a binomial distribution, variance = n × p × (1 − p), where n is the number of trials and p the probability of success.
- Dilution ventilation relationship
- For a constant contaminant generation rate, steady-state concentration is proportional to G ÷ Q (generation ÷ airflow). Doubling clean make-up airflow roughly halves the concentration.
- RPN (Risk Priority Number)
- In FMEA, RPN = Severity × Occurrence × Detection. Higher RPNs flag failure modes to address first.
- Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)
- The continuous-improvement cycle at the heart of a safety management system: Plan objectives and controls, Do/implement them, Check results against targets, Act to correct and improve.
- Safety management system (SMS)
- A structured, organization-wide framework of policy, planning, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement for managing safety risk (e.g., ANSI/ASSP Z10, ISO 45001).
- ISO 45001
- The international consensus standard for occupational health and safety management systems, built on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle and risk-based thinking.
- ANSI/ASSP Z10
- The U.S. consensus standard for occupational health and safety management systems, emphasizing management leadership, employee participation, and continual improvement.
- Hierarchy of controls
- Controls ranked most to least effective: Elimination → Substitution → Engineering controls → Administrative controls → Personal protective equipment (PPE).
- Elimination
- The most effective control: physically removing the hazard from the workplace entirely. It is preferred over all other levels of the hierarchy of controls.
- Substitution
- Replacing a hazard with a less hazardous alternative (e.g., a water-based solvent for a flammable one). Second only to elimination in the hierarchy of controls.
- Engineering controls
- Controls that isolate people from a hazard through design — machine guards, ventilation, enclosures, interlocks. They work without relying on worker behavior.
- Administrative controls
- Controls that change how people work — procedures, training, job rotation, scheduling, signage. They depend on human behavior and so are weaker than engineering controls.
- PPE (personal protective equipment)
- The last line of defense — gloves, respirators, hearing protection, fall harnesses. It does not remove the hazard and sits at the bottom of the hierarchy of controls.
- Leading indicators
- Proactive, predictive safety metrics measured before incidents occur — inspections completed, near-misses reported, training delivered, observations performed.
- Lagging indicators
- Reactive safety metrics measured after incidents — TRIR, DART, fatalities, lost workdays. They show outcomes but not why they happened.
- Job Safety Analysis (JSA)
- Also called a Job Hazard Analysis. A technique that breaks a task into steps, identifies the hazard of each step, and specifies controls to prevent harm.
- Behavior-Based Safety (BBS)
- A program that improves safety by observing, measuring, and reinforcing safe behaviors and reducing at-risk ones, using peer feedback and positive reinforcement.
- Safety culture
- The shared values, attitudes, and behaviors around safety in an organization — how people act when no one is watching. A strong culture treats safety as a core value, not a priority that can be displaced.
- Risk assessment
- The systematic process of identifying hazards and evaluating the risk (severity × likelihood) they pose, so controls can be prioritized.
- Risk assessment matrix
- A grid that plots severity against probability to assign a risk level (e.g., low/medium/high), helping prioritize which hazards to control first.
- Heinrich's domino theory
- H.W. Heinrich's model in which an injury is the last of five falling dominoes; removing the central domino — the unsafe act or unsafe condition — stops the sequence and prevents injury.
- Heinrich's accident ratio
- Heinrich's proposed ratio of 1 major injury : 29 minor injuries : 300 no-injury accidents (near misses), suggesting that reducing minor events reduces major ones.
- Heinrich safety triangle (accident pyramid)
- A pyramid illustrating that for every serious injury there are many minor injuries and far more near misses — used to argue that near-miss reporting prevents future serious harm.
- Swiss cheese model
- James Reason's model: accidents happen when holes in multiple layers of defense (each layer a slice of cheese) momentarily line up, letting a hazard pass through to cause harm.
- Unsafe act vs. unsafe condition
- An unsafe act is a behavior that departs from safe practice (bypassing a guard); an unsafe condition is a physical or environmental hazard (a frayed cord). Most incidents involve both.
- Root cause analysis (RCA)
- A structured, retrospective investigation to find the underlying system causes of an incident — not just the immediate cause — so corrective actions prevent recurrence.
- 5 Whys
- A root-cause technique that repeatedly asks 'why' to move from a symptom to the underlying system cause of an incident.
- Incident investigation
- The fact-finding process after an incident or near miss to determine what happened and why, focused on fixing systems rather than assigning blame.
- Stop-work authority
- The right and responsibility of any worker to halt a task they believe is unsafe, without fear of reprisal, until the hazard is resolved.
- Lockout/Tagout (LOTO)
- The 29 CFR 1910.147 procedure that isolates and de-energizes hazardous energy during servicing, locks and tags the energy-isolating device, and verifies zero energy before work.
- LOTO verification step
- Attempting to operate the equipment after lockout to confirm it cannot start — the step that proves the machine is truly de-energized (zero-energy state) before maintenance begins.
- Permit-required confined space
- A confined space (29 CFR 1910.146) with a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment risk, entrapment configuration, or other serious hazard, requiring a written permit and atmospheric testing before entry.
- Confined-space atmospheric testing order
- Test in sequence: oxygen first, then flammable gases and vapors, then toxic contaminants — because oxygen level affects the readings of the other instruments.
- Safety Data Sheet (SDS)
- A standardized 16-section document (OSHA Hazard Communication Standard) giving the hazards, handling, exposure controls, and emergency measures for a chemical.
- Hazard Communication Standard (HazCom)
- OSHA 29 CFR 1910.1200, aligned with the GHS, requiring labels, Safety Data Sheets, a written program, and worker training on hazardous chemicals.
- OSHA recordable injury or illness
- A work-related case involving death, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, or a significant diagnosis.
- First aid vs. medical treatment
- First aid (e.g., a butterfly bandage, a tetanus shot, non-prescription medicine) does not make a case recordable; medical treatment beyond first aid does.
- Safety audit
- A systematic, documented evaluation of how well safety programs and management systems conform to requirements, identifying gaps for corrective action.
- Compliance audit vs. management-system audit
- A compliance audit checks conformance to specific regulations or standards; a management-system audit evaluates whether the overall system is effective and improving.
- Near miss
- An unplanned event that could have caused injury or damage but did not, by chance or timely intervention. Reporting near misses is a key proactive (leading) safety practice.
- Prevention through Design (PtD)
- Designing out hazards in the earliest stages of a facility, process, or product, when changes are cheapest and most effective — an upstream application of the hierarchy of controls.
- Ergonomics
- The science of fitting the task, tool, and workplace to the worker's capabilities to reduce fatigue, error, and musculoskeletal disorders.
- Neutral posture
- A body position in which joints are naturally aligned and muscles and tendons are at their resting length, minimizing strain. Designing for neutral posture is a core ergonomic goal.
- Musculoskeletal disorder (MSD)
- An injury or disorder of muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, or discs (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis), often caused by repetition, force, awkward posture, or vibration.
- Ergonomic risk factors
- Conditions that raise MSD risk: high force, repetition, awkward or static postures, contact stress, vibration, and cold. Risk grows when several combine.
- Revised NIOSH Lifting Equation
- A method that computes a Recommended Weight Limit (RWL) for two-handed lifting from a Load Constant (51 lb) multiplied by six task multipliers (horizontal, vertical, distance, asymmetry, frequency, coupling).
- Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)
- The maximum load a healthy worker can lift under given task conditions without elevated low-back risk: RWL = LC × HM × VM × DM × AM × FM × CM.
- Load Constant (LC)
- In the NIOSH Lifting Equation, the reference maximum load of 51 lb (23 kg) lifted under ideal conditions, before any task multipliers reduce it.
- Lifting Index (LI)
- The actual load weight divided by the RWL. LI ≤ 1.0 means most healthy workers can lift safely; LI > 1.0 indicates increasing low-back injury risk and a need to redesign the task.
- Horizontal Multiplier (HM)
- The NIOSH factor that penalizes loads held far from the body. Keeping the load close to the body raises HM and the RWL — the single biggest lever in most lifts.
- RULA / REBA
- Postural assessment tools: RULA (Rapid Upper Limb Assessment) scores upper-body strain; REBA (Rapid Entire Body Assessment) scores the whole body. Higher scores mean more urgent change.
- Cognitive ergonomics
- The branch of ergonomics dealing with mental workload, attention, memory, and decision-making — designing displays, alarms, and tasks to reduce error.
- Hand-arm vibration syndrome
- The primary concern with vibrating power tools: prolonged vibration damages blood vessels and nerves in the hands (vibration white finger), causing numbness and reduced grip.
- Anthropometry
- The study of human body measurements (reach, height, strength ranges) used to design workstations that accommodate the range of users, often the 5th to 95th percentile.
- Monitor placement
- An ergonomic guideline: the top of the screen at or just below eye level, about an arm's length away, to keep the neck neutral and reduce eye and neck strain.
- Class A fire
- Ordinary combustibles — wood, paper, cloth, most plastics. Best extinguished by water or multipurpose dry chemical (cooling).
- Class B fire
- Flammable and combustible liquids and gases — gasoline, oil, solvents. Extinguished by smothering or interrupting the chemical reaction (foam, CO₂, dry chemical).
- Class C fire
- Fires involving energized electrical equipment. Use a non-conductive agent such as CO₂ or dry chemical; de-energizing reclassifies the fire to A or B.
- Class D fire
- Combustible metals — magnesium, titanium, sodium, lithium. Requires a special dry-powder agent; water can react violently.
- Class K fire
- Cooking oils and fats in commercial kitchens. Extinguished with a wet-chemical agent that saponifies the oil and cools it to prevent reignition.
- Fire triangle
- The three elements needed for combustion: fuel, oxygen (oxidizer), and heat. Remove any one and the fire goes out.
- Fire tetrahedron
- Extends the fire triangle by adding a fourth element — the uninhibited chemical chain reaction. Agents like dry chemical and halon work by interrupting this reaction.
- Flash point
- The lowest temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapor to form an ignitable mixture near its surface (a momentary flash). A lower flash point means greater fire hazard.
- Fire point
- The temperature, slightly above the flash point, at which a liquid produces enough vapor to sustain continuous burning rather than a momentary flash.
- Autoignition temperature
- The lowest temperature at which a substance ignites spontaneously in air without an external spark or flame.
- Flammable liquid (NFPA 30)
- A liquid with a flash point below 100 °F (37.8 °C). Combustible liquids have flash points at or above 100 °F. Lower flash point = higher hazard.
- Lower explosive limit (LEL)
- The minimum vapor concentration in air that can propagate flame. Below the LEL the mixture is too lean (too little fuel) to ignite.
- Upper explosive limit (UEL)
- The maximum vapor concentration in air that can propagate flame. Above the UEL the mixture is too rich (too little oxygen) to ignite.
- Flashover
- The near-simultaneous ignition of all combustible surfaces in a compartment when accumulated heat and gases reach ignition temperature — a sudden, deadly transition to a fully involved fire.
- Compartmentalization
- Dividing a building with fire-rated walls, floors, and doors to contain fire and smoke to the area of origin, limiting spread and protecting egress.
- Fire door
- A rated assembly that resists fire spread; it must be self-closing and self-latching to perform — a fire door propped open provides no protection.
- Sprinkler system
- An automatic fire-suppression system; wet-pipe systems hold water in the piping for fast response, while individual heads open only over the fire (not all at once).
- Clean agent suppression
- A gaseous, residue-free agent (e.g., FM-200, inert gas) used where water would damage equipment — ideal for data centers, control rooms, and archives.
- NFPA
- The National Fire Protection Association, which publishes consensus fire-safety codes and standards (e.g., NFPA 30 flammable liquids, NFPA 70 electrical, NFPA 101 Life Safety Code).
- Portable extinguisher travel distance
- Extinguishers must be placed so workers do not travel more than a set maximum distance to reach one (e.g., up to 75 ft for ordinary Class A hazards under OSHA 1910.157).
- Incident Command System (ICS)
- A standardized, scalable command structure for managing the command, control, and coordination of emergency response across agencies — a core component of NIMS.
- National Incident Management System (NIMS)
- FEMA's nationwide framework that enables agencies at all levels to work together using common terminology, structures (ICS), and processes during emergencies.
- Incident Commander
- The single person with overall authority and responsibility for managing an incident, establishing objectives, and directing all response operations under ICS.
- Unified Command
- An ICS structure used when multiple agencies share jurisdiction over an incident, allowing them to set common objectives and strategies without surrendering their own authority.
- Span of control
- The ICS principle that one supervisor should manage roughly three to seven subordinates (optimal of five) to keep an emergency response effective.
- ICS Planning Section
- The section that collects and evaluates incident information and prepares the Incident Action Plan; the Operations Section carries it out.
- Emergency Action Plan (EAP)
- Required by OSHA 29 CFR 1910.38, a written plan (oral allowed for ≤10 employees) covering evacuation procedures, alarm systems, emergency reporting, and employee accountability.
- Public Information Officer (PIO)
- The ICS Command Staff member responsible for communicating accurate, timely information to the public and media during an incident.
- Mutual aid agreement
- A prearranged agreement between organizations or jurisdictions to share resources and assistance during emergencies that exceed one party's capacity.
- Decontamination
- The process of removing or neutralizing hazardous contaminants from people, equipment, and the environment to prevent the spread of harm during emergency response.
- HAZWOPER
- Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response — OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120, governing cleanup operations, treatment/storage/disposal facilities, and emergency response to hazardous-substance releases.
- First Responder Awareness Level
- The lowest HAZWOPER training tier (1910.120(q)): personnel who may witness or discover a release and are trained only to recognize it, notify authorities, and secure the area — not to act.
- HAZWOPER work zones
- Three control zones around a release: the Exclusion (hot) zone of contamination, the Contamination Reduction (warm) zone for decon, and the Support (cold) zone that is clean.
- Tabletop exercise
- A discussion-based drill in which response teams talk through their roles in a simulated emergency scenario, validating the plan without deploying resources.
- Assembly area / muster point
- A designated safe location to which evacuees report so the organization can account for all personnel after an evacuation.
- Business continuity plan
- A plan to keep critical operations running and recover quickly after a disruptive event, complementing the emergency response and evacuation plans.
- Industrial hygiene
- The science of anticipating, recognizing, evaluating, and controlling workplace conditions (chemical, physical, biological, ergonomic) that may cause worker illness or injury.
- Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL)
- OSHA's legally enforceable maximum exposure to a substance, usually an 8-hour time-weighted average, sometimes a ceiling or short-term limit.
- Threshold Limit Value (TLV)
- ACGIH's recommended (not legally enforceable) airborne concentration to which nearly all workers may be repeatedly exposed day after day without adverse health effects.
- TLV-TWA
- The time-weighted-average TLV: the average airborne concentration for a normal 8-hour workday and 40-hour week.
- TLV-STEL
- Threshold Limit Value – Short-Term Exposure Limit: a 15-minute time-weighted average that should not be exceeded, even if the 8-hour TWA is within limits.
- Ceiling limit (TLV-C)
- A concentration that must not be exceeded at any instant during the exposure — an absolute cap, unlike a TWA averaged over time.
- Time-weighted average (TWA)
- An average exposure concentration over a defined period (usually 8 hours), weighting each level by the time spent at it.
- Action level
- An exposure threshold (often half the PEL) that triggers required activities — exposure monitoring, medical surveillance, or training — before the PEL is reached.
- OSHA noise standard (1910.95)
- Sets a 90-dBA 8-hour PEL, a 5-dB exchange rate, and a hearing conservation program triggered at an 85-dBA action level (audiometric testing, training, hearing protection).
- Noise dosimetry
- Measuring a worker's actual noise exposure over a shift with a body-worn dosimeter to compute the dose and TWA and compare against the PEL.
- Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT)
- A heat-stress index combining dry-bulb, natural wet-bulb, and globe (radiant) temperatures into one value used to set work/rest schedules in hot environments.
- Vapor pressure
- A measure of a liquid's tendency to evaporate; higher vapor pressure means more vapor in the air and a greater inhalation exposure hazard.
- Synergistic effect
- When two substances together produce a combined health effect greater than the sum of their individual effects (2 + 2 = 5), increasing risk beyond either alone.
- Routes of exposure
- The pathways by which a contaminant enters the body: inhalation (most common at work), skin/eye absorption, ingestion, and injection.
- Bioaerosol
- Airborne particles of biological origin — bacteria, fungi/mold spores, viruses, pollen — that can cause infection, allergy, or respiratory illness.
- Gas chromatography
- An analytical method that separates and quantifies volatile chemical compounds in an air sample, widely used in industrial-hygiene laboratories.
- IDLH
- Immediately Dangerous to Life or Health: an atmosphere posing an immediate threat to life, permanent health damage, or escape impairment, requiring the highest-level respiratory protection.
- Respiratory Protection Standard (1910.134)
- OSHA's standard requiring a written program, hazard assessment, medical evaluation, fit testing, and training before workers use respirators; fit testing is required at least annually.
- Local exhaust ventilation
- Capturing a contaminant at its source (a hood near the process) before it spreads, the preferred engineering control over general dilution ventilation for toxic agents.
- Environmental impact assessment (EIA)
- A systematic evaluation of the likely environmental effects of a proposed project before it proceeds, so impacts can be avoided, reduced, or mitigated.
- RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act)
- The U.S. law governing hazardous and solid waste from generation to disposal, commonly described as 'cradle-to-grave' regulation administered by the EPA.
- Cradle-to-grave
- The principle that a hazardous waste is tracked and regulated through its entire life — generation, transport, treatment, storage, and disposal — central to RCRA.
- Characteristic hazardous waste
- Under 40 CFR Part 261, a solid waste is hazardous if it exhibits ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity (the four characteristics).
- Hazardous waste generator categories
- EPA classifies generators by monthly quantity: Very Small Quantity Generator (VSQG), Small Quantity Generator (SQG), and Large Quantity Generator (LQG), each with different requirements.
- Hazardous waste manifest
- The shipping document that tracks hazardous waste from the generator through transporters to the permitted disposal facility, completing the cradle-to-grave chain.
- Brownfield
- A property whose redevelopment is complicated by the presence (or perceived presence) of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.
- Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
- A records, site, and interview review to identify potential or existing environmental contamination on a property — no sampling. Phase II adds sampling if Phase I finds concerns.
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
- A 'cradle-to-grave' analysis of a product's environmental impacts across its entire life — raw materials, manufacture, use, and disposal.
- ISO 14001
- The international standard for environmental management systems, built on the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, helping organizations manage and reduce environmental impacts.
- Clean Air Act / Clean Water Act
- U.S. federal laws administered by the EPA that regulate air emissions and discharges to surface waters, respectively, with permitting and reporting requirements.
- Green chemistry
- Designing chemical products and processes to reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances — preventing pollution at the source.
- Sustainable development
- Development that meets present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs, balancing economic, social, and environmental goals.
- Adult learning (andragogy)
- Malcolm Knowles' principles: adults are self-directed, draw on experience, are problem-centered, and want relevant, immediately applicable training — so engage them actively, not by lecture alone.
- Kirkpatrick's four levels
- A model for evaluating training: Level 1 Reaction (did they like it?), Level 2 Learning (did they learn?), Level 3 Behavior (do they apply it?), Level 4 Results (did it affect outcomes?).
- Kirkpatrick Level 4 (Results)
- The highest evaluation level, measuring the training's impact on organizational outcomes — for safety training, a measurable reduction in incident or injury rates.
- Learning objective
- A specific, measurable statement of what a learner will be able to do after training, written with an action verb (e.g., 'demonstrate' confined-space entry), guiding design and assessment.
- Hands-on / demonstration training
- The most effective method for teaching psychomotor skills (donning a respirator, using an extinguisher) because learners practice the actual task with feedback.
- Toolbox talk
- A short, informal, frequent safety meeting focused on one specific hazard or task, often delivered at the worksite before a shift — ideal for timely, job-specific reinforcement.
- HazCom training timing
- Under 1910.1200, workers must be trained on hazardous chemicals at their initial assignment and whenever a new chemical hazard is introduced into their work area.
- Bloodborne Pathogens training
- Under 1910.1030, employees with occupational exposure must receive training at initial assignment and at least annually thereafter.
- Training records retention
- Documenting who was trained, on what, and when proves regulatory compliance, identifies refresher needs, and provides legal evidence of due diligence.
- Visual aids and signage
- Graphics, diagrams, and danger/warning/caution signs reinforce safety messages quickly, overcome language and literacy barriers, and aid retention.
- Feedback mechanism in training
- Built-in opportunities for learners to ask questions, practice, and be corrected, plus surveys and assessments that let trainers improve the program (a Level 1/2 evaluation input).
- Training needs assessment
- The up-front analysis of what knowledge or skill gaps exist and who needs training, so the program targets real performance needs rather than guesswork.
- Inclusive / accessible training
- Designing training for diverse learners — multiple languages, reading levels, and accommodations for disabilities — so every worker can understand the safety message.
- OSHA General Duty Clause
- Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act: employers must furnish a workplace free from recognized hazards causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm — used when no specific standard applies.
- General Duty Clause elements
- To cite under 5(a)(1), OSHA must show a hazard existed, it was recognized, it was causing or likely to cause death or serious harm, and a feasible means of abatement existed.
- 'Feasible' (in OSHA law)
- Capable of being done after considering cost, technology, and time — not merely technologically possible and not necessarily immediate.
- OSH Act of 1970
- The law that created OSHA, NIOSH, and the OSHRC, establishing the duty to provide safe and healthful working conditions for workers.
- OSHA vs. NIOSH
- OSHA (Dept. of Labor) sets and enforces workplace safety regulations; NIOSH (CDC) is the research agency that recommends exposure limits and studies workplace hazards.
- Willful violation
- An OSHA violation committed with intentional disregard for, or plain indifference to, the law — the most serious category, carrying the highest penalties.
- Negligence
- Failure to exercise the care that a reasonable person would in the circumstances, resulting in harm — a key concept in workplace-injury liability.
- Strict liability
- Liability for harm caused by a product or activity regardless of fault or intent — applied, for example, to defective products that injure users.
- Due diligence
- Taking all reasonable, demonstrable steps to identify and control hazards and comply with the law; documentation of these steps is a defense against liability.
- Workers' compensation
- A no-fault insurance system that pays medical costs and lost wages for work-related injuries in exchange for the employee generally giving up the right to sue the employer.
- Whistleblower protection
- OSHA Section 11(c) prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who report safety violations or exercise their rights under the OSH Act.
- Professional ethics (safety)
- Balancing duties to the public, employer, and profession; safety professionals must protect worker health even when it conflicts with cost or schedule pressures.
- Standard of care
- The level of caution and competence a reasonably prudent safety professional would exercise; falling below it can establish negligence.
- Consensus standard vs. regulation
- A consensus standard (NFPA, ANSI, ASTM) is voluntary unless adopted by reference into a regulation; a regulation (OSHA, EPA) is legally enforceable.
- ASP (Associate Safety Professional)
- A BCSP credential earned by passing the ASP exam, demonstrating foundational safety competency and serving as the stepping stone to the Certified Safety Professional (CSP).
