Health and Safety Technician key terms

The ranked order of hazard remedies from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment. Safety technicians use it to choose the strongest feasible safeguard before relying on worker behavior or gear.

A step-by-step method that breaks a task into its component actions and identifies the hazards and controls at each step. Also called job safety analysis; it is typically performed before work begins and reviewed when conditions change.

The systematic process of recognizing conditions, activities, or materials with the potential to cause harm. It draws on walkthroughs, incident records, employee reports, and inspection data, and it precedes any risk assessment or control selection.

The evaluation of identified hazards by estimating the likelihood and severity of harm to determine priorities. Results drive control decisions and residual risk judgments, and the assessment is repeated when processes, equipment, or staffing change.

The level of risk that remains after controls have been applied. It is documented so workers and managers understand remaining exposure, and it must be acceptable before work proceeds under the chosen control set.

Physical changes to equipment, processes, or the workplace that reduce hazard exposure at the source, such as ventilation, machine guarding, interlocks, or noise enclosures. They rank above administrative controls and PPE because they do not depend on continuous worker compliance.

Work practices and policies that reduce exposure by changing how or when work is done, including rotation, training, permits, housekeeping, and scheduling. They depend on human behavior and supervision, so they rank below engineering controls in the hierarchy.

Equipment worn or used by an individual to reduce exposure, such as hard hats, gloves, respirators, and fall arrest harnesses. It is the last line of defense and requires hazard-based selection, fitting, training, inspection, and maintenance.

The OSHA rule requiring chemical manufacturers to classify hazards and communicate them through labels and safety data sheets, and requiring employers to train exposed workers. It aligns with the global harmonized system for classifying and labeling chemicals.

A standardized document with 16 sections describing a chemical's hazards, composition, first-aid measures, firefighting guidance, handling, exposure controls, and disposal. Workers must be able to access it during their shift, and it supports hazard assessment and training.

An international framework for classifying chemicals and communicating hazards through standardized pictograms, signal words, hazard statements, and SDS formatting. In the United States it is implemented through the Hazard Communication Standard.

A label applied when a hazardous chemical is transferred out of its original container into a workplace container. It must identify the contents and convey the hazards, unless the material is used immediately by the person who transferred it.

The legal airborne concentration limit for a substance over a specified time period, enforceable by OSHA. Many PELs are outdated relative to current science, so employers may also apply stricter consensus limits such as ACGIH threshold limit values.

A consensus-based occupational exposure limit published by ACGIH, typically more protective and current than many legal limits. It represents conditions under which most workers may be repeatedly exposed without adverse health effects, but it is not a legal standard.

An exposure metric averaging airborne concentration over a defined work period, commonly eight hours. It accounts for varying exposure levels across a shift so results can be compared against occupational limits.

A maximum average concentration permitted for a brief period, usually 15 minutes, that must not be exceeded at any time during the workday. It protects against acute effects from peaks that an eight-hour average could hide.

An exposure concentration that must never be exceeded at any moment, regardless of duration. It applies to substances with fast-acting acute effects and is checked with direct-reading instruments or short-interval sampling.

An engineering control that captures contaminants at or near their source and removes them before they enter the breathing zone. Effectiveness depends on hood design, capture velocity, duct transport velocity, and routine inspection and maintenance.

A PPE program that selects respirators by hazard and assigned protection factor, then requires medical evaluation, fit testing, training, cartridge change schedules, and storage and maintenance rules. It is used only when higher-level controls cannot adequately reduce exposure.

A test confirming that a tight-fitting respirator seals to the wearer's face. Qualitative methods rely on taste or odor; quantitative methods measure leakage. It is required before first use, annually, and when facial changes affect the seal.

A confined space with one or more serious hazards such as hazardous atmosphere, engulfment, or entrapment that requires a written entry permit. Entry demands pre-entry testing, ventilation, an attendant, rescue provisions, and documented authorization.

Measuring oxygen content, flammables, and toxic gases before and during confined space entry, in that order. Results determine acceptability, ventilation needs, and whether entry may proceed, and readings are recorded on the permit.

The minimum fuel concentration in air that will support combustion. Instruments read flammable gas as a percentage of the LEL, and confined space entry generally requires readings well below that threshold before work begins.

The person stationed outside a permit space who tracks entrants, maintains communication, monitors conditions, and summons rescue without entering. The attendant can order evacuation and must not leave the entry point unattended.

The practice of isolating hazardous energy sources, applying locks and tags, and verifying zero energy before servicing equipment. It requires written procedures, employee training, and periodic inspections to prevent unexpected startup or release of stored energy.

Energy held in springs, capacitors, hydraulics, pneumatics, gravity, or thermal systems that can release after a main source is shut off. Effective lockout verifies and dissipates it before work begins.

Physical barriers, interlocks, light curtains, or two-hand controls that keep workers away from points of operation, nip points, rotating parts, and flying debris. Guards must be secure, not bypassed, and designed so they do not create new hazards.

Systems and practices that prevent or arrest falls from heights, including guardrails, personal fall arrest, positioning, and warning lines. Selection depends on task and height, and arrest systems require anchor strength, body support, and prompt rescue planning.

A system of anchor, connector, and body harness that stops a fall and limits arrest forces. It requires adequate anchor strength, deployment distance planning, self-locking connectors, and protection against swing-fall and post-fall suspension hazards.

A medical emergency caused by prolonged immobility in a harness after a fall, impairing blood flow and causing loss of consciousness. Rescue must be prompt, and a rescue plan must exist before fall arrest work begins.

A person designated by the employer who can identify existing and predictable hazards and has authority to take prompt corrective action. Many standards require competent-person inspections, such as scaffolding and excavation work.

A method of preventing cave-ins, such as sloping, benching, shoring, or shielding, selected by soil type and depth. Protective systems are required at five feet unless rock or a competent person determines otherwise.

A person who, by possession of recognized degree, certificate, or professional standing, or by extensive knowledge and experience, has demonstrated the ability to solve or resolve problems relating to a specific subject. Design of certain protective systems requires one.

A written sequence for shutting down, isolating, locking, tagging, releasing stored energy, and verifying de-energization for specific equipment. It must be reviewed periodically and updated when equipment or processes change.

A written, task-specific instruction describing safe steps, required controls, and responsibilities for routine work. SOPs support training and consistency, but they are administrative controls and must reflect actual field conditions.

An unplanned event that did not cause injury or damage but had the potential to do so. Reporting near misses reveals failure patterns and lets employers correct hazards before a serious incident occurs.

A structured review of what happened, why it happened, and what must change after an injury, near miss, or property damage event. It focuses on systemic causes rather than blame and produces corrective actions with owners and deadlines.

A method for tracing an incident back to underlying management, design, or process failures rather than stopping at the immediate act or condition. Tools include five whys, fishbone diagrams, and causal trees.

A work-related injury or illness meeting OSHA recording criteria, such as death, days away, restricted work, medical treatment beyond first aid, or loss of consciousness. Recording requirements are separate from workers' compensation reporting.

A written plan covering evacuation routes, reporting procedures, alarm systems, accounting for occupants, and rescue or medical duties. It requires training, drills, and review whenever the workplace layout or operations change.