DOSHS Safety Committee Exam key terms

Kenya's primary statute requiring employers to protect workers' safety, health and welfare, and establishing duties, inspections, and enforcement through the Directorate of Occupational Safety and Health Services.

The government directorate under the Ministry of Labour that administers workplace safety law, registers workplaces, approves safety committees, and deploys occupational safety and health officers to inspect premises.

An authorised DOSHS inspector empowered to enter workplaces, examine conditions, require improvements, issue prohibition or improvement notices, and take enforcement action for breaches of safety and health law.

A written enforcement direction stopping an activity or use of equipment that presents an imminent risk of serious personal injury, remaining in force until the danger is remedied to the inspector's satisfaction.

A written direction requiring an employer to remedy a specified contravention of safety and health law within a stated period, distinct from a prohibition notice because it addresses non-imminent risks.

A joint employer-worker body established at a workplace to promote cooperation on safety and health, review risks and incidents, and advise management on preventive measures and worker welfare.

A worker elected by fellow employees to represent their safety and health interests on the committee, raise concerns, and accompany inspectors during workplace examinations.

The member who leads committee meetings, sets the agenda with the secretary, ensures decisions are recorded and followed up, and often serves as the link to senior management.

The member responsible for convening meetings, circulating notices and agendas, recording minutes and decisions, and maintaining the committee's records and correspondence.

The minimum number of committee members whose presence is required before a meeting can validly transact business and pass decisions binding on the workplace.

A written statement defining a committee's purpose, authority, membership, meeting frequency, reporting lines and scope of activity, so members understand their mandate.

Any source, situation or act with the potential to cause harm to people, property or the environment, such as an unguarded machine, a chemical, or a slippery floor.

The combination of the likelihood that a hazardous event occurs and the severity of harm it could cause, used to rank hazards and decide which controls are needed.

A systematic process of identifying hazards, evaluating the likelihood and severity of harm, and deciding on controls, with results recorded and reviewed when circumstances change.

The ranked order for managing risk: eliminate the hazard, substitute something safer, apply engineering controls, then administrative controls, and finally personal protective equipment as the last resort.

A grid that rates risk by combining likelihood and severity scores, producing categories such as low, medium or high that guide priority and urgency of corrective action.

The level of risk that remains after existing or planned controls have been applied, which must be judged tolerable before work proceeds.

Clothing or equipment worn to reduce exposure to hazards, such as helmets, gloves, respirators or ear defenders, provided free and maintained by the employer.

A planned, systematic walk-through of work areas by committee members or inspectors to check compliance, identify new hazards, and verify that previous corrective actions were completed.

A structured list of items to verify during a workplace inspection, ensuring consistent coverage of areas, equipment and practices and providing a record of findings.

A measure taken to eliminate the cause of a detected nonconformity or hazard and prevent recurrence, assigned to a named person with a completion date.

A structured inquiry into an accident or near miss to establish what happened, determine root and contributing causes, and recommend controls that prevent recurrence.

An unplanned event that did not result in injury or damage but had the potential to do so, reported and investigated because it reveals failures in controls.

A technique such as the five-whys or cause-and-effect diagram used to trace an incident beyond immediate actions to underlying management, design or training failures.

A statutory record in which the employer enters details of workplace accidents, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases, open to inspection by authorised officers.

The practice of anticipating, recognising, evaluating and controlling workplace exposures such as dust, noise, chemicals and heat that can harm worker health over time.

A benchmark concentration of a workplace contaminant in air, usually averaged over a reference period, that should not be exceeded to protect most workers' health.

An illness caused or aggravated by work conditions or exposures, such as silicosis, occupational asthma or noise-induced hearing loss, which is reportable to the authorities.

Amenities the employer must provide at the workplace, including drinking water, sanitary conveniences, washing facilities, rest areas, first aid and suitable lighting and ventilation.

Planning and arrangements that enable an organisation to respond effectively to fires, chemical releases, medical crises or other emergencies, including alarms, evacuation and drills.

A rehearsed exercise in which occupants practice alarm response, escape routes and assembly, timed and reviewed afterwards to identify weaknesses in the emergency plan.

A designated safe location outside the building where evacuees gather after leaving, allowing roll call and headcount so responders know who may still be inside.

The three elements needed for combustion: fuel, oxygen and a heat source; fire prevention removes one element and firefighting interrupts the combination.

Groupings of fires by fuel type, such as solids, flammable liquids, gases and electrical equipment, which determine the correct extinguishing medium and its safe use.

The employer's provision of trained first aiders, stocked kits, and clear procedures so injured or ill workers receive prompt care and referral for medical treatment.

Safety and health instruction given to new or transferred workers before they start work, covering workplace hazards, rules, emergency procedures and use of controls.

A short, focused safety briefing delivered at the work area, often by a supervisor, addressing a specific hazard, recent incident or task before work begins.

A process of comparing the skills required for each task with workers' current competence to decide who needs what training and when it must be refreshed.

The demonstrated combination of knowledge, skill and experience that enables a worker to perform a task safely and respond correctly to abnormal situations.

The official written record of attendance, agenda items, discussion, decisions and action owners from a committee meeting, retained as evidence of consultation.

The two-way sharing of safety and health information through meetings, notice boards, briefings and reports so workers know hazards and management hears concerns.

A periodic, documented review of the safety management system against defined criteria, checking that policies, risk controls, training and records remain effective.