NEBOSH National Diploma flashcards

33 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Reasonably practicable

A legal test weighing the risk against the time, trouble and cost of further control. Cost must be grossly disproportionate to the risk reduction benefit before further action can be refused.

ALARP principle

Risk must be reduced as low as reasonably practicable. The higher the hazard severity, the more effort and cost is expected before stopping further risk reduction measures.

Hierarchy of control

Legal order: eliminate, substitute, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE. Higher options are preferred because they reduce risk at source and depend less on human behaviour.

Residual risk

The risk remaining after existing controls are applied. It must be judged against a tolerable threshold and communicated to affected people, not assumed to be zero.

Suitable and sufficient assessment

A risk assessment that identifies hazards, ignores trivial risks, considers all affected persons including non-employees, and is proportionate to the risk and the complexity of the activity.

Active monitoring

Proactive checks that controls are in place and working before harm occurs, such as inspections, audits and safety sampling. It measures compliance rather than failure.

Reactive monitoring

Measurement of failures after the event, such as accidents, near misses, ill-health absence and enforcement notices. It indicates where controls have broken down.

POPMAR framework

Health and safety management system elements: policy, organising, planning and implementing, measuring performance, audit, and review. It provides a structure for managing risk systematically.

Root cause

The underlying management system failure that allowed an incident, such as absent procedures, poor supervision or inadequate training. Addressing it prevents recurrence.

Immediate cause

The unsafe act or unsafe condition present at the time of an incident, such as a missing guard or a person bypassing a procedure. It is the starting point, not the end, of investigation.

Swiss-cheese model

An accident model where harm occurs when weaknesses in several defensive layers align. Layers include engineering controls, procedures, supervision and human behaviour.

Competence

Sufficient training, experience and knowledge to perform a task safely. It determines the level of supervision required and must be evidenced, not assumed.

WEL long-term limit

Workplace exposure limit for an 8-hour time-weighted average, controlling chronic exposure. It is not a short-term ceiling and must not be used to justify brief high exposures.

Noise upper action value

85 dB(A) daily or weekly exposure. Hearing protection zones, mandatory hearing protection and health surveillance become required at or above this level.

Noise exposure limit value

87 dB(A) daily or weekly exposure, allowing for hearing protection. This limit must not be exceeded even where PPE is worn, so exposure must be reduced at source.

HAV action value

2.5 m/s² A(8) hand-arm vibration exposure. Health surveillance and control measures are required at or above this level; the limit value is 5 m/s² A(8).

COSHH assessment

Assessment required before work with hazardous substances, covering hazard, exposure, controls and monitoring. Elimination and substitution are considered before engineering controls and PPE.

Human error - slip

An attention or skill-based failure where a correct intention is carried out incorrectly, such as misreading a gauge. Controls include checklists and improved interface design.

Human error - mistake

A rule-based or knowledge-based error where the intention itself is wrong, such as applying the wrong procedure. Controls include better training and clearer procedures.

Violation

Deliberate deviation from a rule or procedure. It may be routine, situational or exceptional, and requires attention to culture, supervision and perceived practicality of the rule.

Improvement notice

A notice requiring remedy of a legal contravention within a stated period. Failure to comply is an offence and can lead to prosecution.

Prohibition notice

A notice stopping an activity involving a risk of serious personal injury. It may take immediate effect or be deferred, and applies to the activity rather than the whole premises.

RIDDOR

Reporting regulations requiring employers to report deaths, specified injuries, over-7-day injuries, dangerous occurrences and certain occupational diseases to the enforcing authority.

Corporate manslaughter

An offence where an organisation's gross breach of a relevant duty of care causes death, and the breach is attributable to its senior management's organisation and management of activities.

Vicarious liability

An employer can be held civilly liable for the acts of employees carried out in the course of employment. It operates alongside the employer's own duty of care.

DSE assessment

Assessment of display screen equipment workstations covering equipment, environment, task and individual needs. Users are entitled to eye tests and breaks from screen work.

Management Standards

HSE approach to work-related stress covering demands, control, support, relationships, role and change. Assessment against these six areas identifies where interventions are needed.

Audit

A systematic, independent and documented evaluation of a management system against defined criteria. It differs from inspection, which checks physical conditions and behaviour.

Accident incidence rate

Calculated as number of accidents multiplied by 1,000 and divided by the average number of workers. It allows comparison between sites and over time.

Accident frequency rate

Calculated as number of accidents multiplied by 1,000,000 and divided by hours worked. Consistent accident definitions are essential for valid comparison.

Safety culture maturity

Progression from pathological and reactive through calculative to proactive and generative. Maturity is indicated by reporting rates and visible management commitment.

PDCA cycle

Plan, Do, Check, Act applied to health and safety management. Review findings feed back into policy, objectives and risk assessment to drive continual improvement.

Emergency plan

Arrangements for foreseeable emergencies covering alarm, evacuation, competent persons, drills and review. Plans must be practised and updated after exercises or incidents.