NEBOSH Construction key terms

The UK Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, which place duties on clients, designers, principal designers, principal contractors and contractors to plan and manage construction projects so that health and safety risks are reduced.

A construction project that must be reported to the enforcing authority because it involves more than 30 working days with over 20 workers on site at once, or more than 500 person-days of work.

The written notice, submitted to the relevant enforcing authority, that informs them a notifiable construction project is about to start and gives details of the site, dates and key duty holders.

The designer appointed by the client on a project with more than one contractor, with responsibility for coordinating health and safety matters during the pre-construction phase and helping the client comply with their duties.

The contractor appointed by the client on a project with more than one contractor, responsible for coordinating construction phase work, managing the site and producing and updating the construction phase plan.

A document that records how health and safety will be managed on a construction site, covering site arrangements, sequence of work, welfare provision and emergency procedures; it must be prepared before work starts.

Health and safety information about the site and project, such as surveys, drawings, asbestos records and ground conditions, that the client or principal designer provides to designers and contractors so risks can be designed out early.

The process designers use to identify hazards their design could create and to eliminate, reduce or communicate those risks through the design and through information passed to those who build and maintain it.

The combination of training, knowledge, experience and personal qualities that enables a person to carry out a task safely and to recognise and manage the risks involved in it.

A site-specific briefing given to every worker and visitor before they start work, covering hazards, site rules, traffic routes, emergency arrangements and welfare facilities, and recorded as completed.

A short, focused briefing delivered on site to a small work team, usually on a single hazard or task, used to refresh awareness and communicate changes in control measures.

A document describing how a specific task will be carried out, the sequence of work, the plant and people involved, and the control measures needed to do it safely.

A systematic process of identifying hazards, deciding who might be harmed and how, evaluating the adequacy of existing controls and recording further action needed to reduce risk to an acceptable level.

The ranked order in which risk controls should be chosen: eliminate the hazard, substitute it, use engineering controls, then administrative controls, and finally personal protective equipment as a last resort.

The level of risk that remains once the chosen control measures have been applied, and which must be judged acceptable before work is allowed to proceed.

A formal documented system that authorises a specific high-risk task under defined conditions, records the precautions taken, and confirms the area is safe before work starts and isolated after it finishes.

Making equipment or a system safe by disconnecting and locking off energy sources such as electricity, gas, steam or stored pressure, then proving that energy is absent before work begins.

A procedure using personal locks and tags so that each worker controls the isolation of the equipment they are working on and no one else can restore energy while they are exposed.

Work in any place where a person could fall a distance liable to cause personal injury, including work from ladders, scaffolds, roofs, excavations and access equipment.

A system, such as a harness and lanyard, that stops a person who has fallen and limits the distance and force of the fall; it does not prevent the fall occurring.

A material such as a roof sheet or rooflight that will not safely support the weight of a person or equipment, so work on or near it needs controlled access and fall protection.

A temporary structure providing a working platform and access for construction work at height, which must be erected by competent people and inspected at defined intervals and after alteration.

A visible tagging system fixed to a scaffold showing its inspection status, date and whether it is safe to use, incomplete, or must not be used.

Any man-made cut, cavity or trench in the ground, which creates collapse, falling, flooding and buried-service hazards and requires support, safe access and edge protection.

Shoring, battering or shielding used to prevent the sides of an excavation from collapsing onto people working inside it, selected to suit the ground conditions and depth.

Underground pipes, cables and ducts carrying electricity, gas, water or telecommunications, which must be located and marked before digging to avoid contact, explosion, flooding or injury.

An enclosed or partly enclosed space where serious injury can arise from hazardous atmosphere, fire, explosion, or engulfment, and where rescue and escape are difficult.

A portable instrument that measures oxygen level and flammable or toxic gases in a space before entry and continuously while people are inside, triggering an alarm at set thresholds.

A group of naturally occurring fibrous minerals formerly used in building materials; inhaling the fibres can cause fatal lung disease, so it must be identified and managed before refurbishment or demolition disturbs it.

A documented inspection of a building to locate and record asbestos-containing materials and their condition, so that work can be planned to avoid disturbing them.

Fine respirable dust released when cutting, grinding or drilling concrete, stone or brick, which can cause silicosis and lung cancer and requires water suppression, extraction and respiratory protection.

An assessment of the risks from hazardous substances used or produced at work, covering exposure routes, health effects and the controls needed to prevent or adequately control exposure.

Face-worn equipment such as filtering masks or powered hoods that reduces the wearer's exposure by filtering or supplying clean air; it must be face-fit tested and worn correctly.

Personal protective equipment such as helmets, boots, gloves and eye protection that protects the individual wearer; it is the last resort in the hierarchy of control and depends on correct selection, fit and use.

Planning of routes, segregation of pedestrians and vehicles, speed limits, banksmen and turning areas so that people and plant can move around the site without collision.

A marked area around a hazardous activity, such as lifting, demolition or excavation, that only authorised people may enter while the activity is in progress.

Any work using cranes or other lifting equipment to raise or lower loads, requiring a planned lift, competent operator and signaller, inspected equipment and a controlled area beneath the load.

A documented plan for a lifting operation that sets out the load, equipment, rigging, personnel, ground conditions, sequence and contingency arrangements so the lift can be carried out safely.

A thorough examination and, where required, test of equipment such as scaffolds, excavations, lifting gear and plant, carried out at legally specified intervals and recorded in a register.

The UK Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations, which require employers to report specified deaths, injuries, occupational diseases and dangerous occurrences to the enforcing authority.

A specified incident, such as a scaffold collapse, crane overturn or failure of lifting equipment, that did not necessarily cause injury but had the potential to do so and must be reported.

An unplanned event that did not cause injury or damage but had the potential to do so, which should be recorded and investigated to prevent a more serious recurrence.

A structured review of an incident to establish what happened, the immediate and underlying causes, and the actions needed to prevent recurrence, recorded and shared with the workforce.

A formal written instruction from a health and safety inspector requiring improvements or prohibiting an activity; an improvement notice sets a deadline and a prohibition notice stops work immediately.

A notice served by an inspector that stops an activity posing a risk of serious personal injury, either immediately or after a specified time, until the danger has been remedied.

An authorised officer of the enforcing authority who inspects premises, investigates incidents, gives advice and may serve notices or prosecute for breaches of health and safety law.

The shared attitudes, values and behaviours of an organisation and its workforce towards risk, which determine how seriously safety rules are followed in practice.

The measurable, current perception of safety among the workforce at a given time, often assessed by surveys and observations, reflecting how safety is actually managed day to day.