NEBOSH National Diploma key terms

Principle requiring risks to be reduced as low as reasonably practicable, weighing sacrifice of cost, time or trouble against the risk reduction achieved; grossly disproportionate cost need not be spent.

Test in UK health and safety law balancing the risk against the cost, time and trouble of averting it; if a measure is grossly disproportionate to the risk, it is not required.

Framework ranking risks as unacceptable, tolerable if ALARP, or broadly acceptable, guiding decisions on whether an activity may continue and what further controls are needed.

Ranked order of control measures: eliminate the hazard, substitute, use engineering controls, then administrative controls, with personal protective equipment as the last resort.

Combination of the likelihood of an occupational hazard occurring and the severity of harm it could cause, used to prioritise control effort and resources.

Anything with the potential to cause harm, including substances, equipment, work practices, energy sources and conditions, distinguished from the likelihood and severity of that harm.

Structured process of identifying hazards, deciding who may be harmed and how, evaluating risks and recording suitable and sufficient control measures, with arrangements for review.

Standard for risk assessments requiring identification of hazards, evaluation of significant risks, consideration of the workforce and record of the significant findings and control measures.

Continuing assessment of changing conditions and new hazards as work proceeds, allowing controls to be adjusted in real time rather than relying solely on a prior written assessment.

Unplanned, unplanned event causing injury, ill health or damage, usually involving an unintended release of energy and reported under statutory reporting duties where thresholds are met.

Unplanned event that did not cause injury or damage but had the potential to do so; investigated as a free lesson to prevent recurrence of more serious outcomes.

Systematic process of gathering evidence, establishing immediate and root causes, and recommending corrective actions after an incident to prevent recurrence.

Method such as five whys or fault tree analysis used to trace an incident beyond immediate causes to underlying management, design or organisational failings.

Model of accident causation in which failures in successive defensive layers, when their holes align, allow a hazard to pass through and cause loss.

Failure of a person to perform a task as intended, arising from slips, lapses, mistakes or violations and often shaped by design, workload and organisational factors.

Interaction of people with their work, equipment and organisation, covering physical, cognitive and organisational influences on performance, error and wellbeing.

Shared values, attitudes, behaviours and management practices determining how seriously safety is treated, ranging from pathological and reactive through calculative and proactive to generative.

Measurable, tangible expression of safety culture at a point in time, such as perceptions of management commitment, communication and priority given to safety.

Programme observing and reinforcing safe behaviours, using feedback and goal setting to reduce unsafe acts, most effective when underlying conditions and culture are addressed.

Formal documented system controlling high-risk work by recording hazards, precautions, isolations, authorisation and handover, and confirming the area is safe before and after work.

Isolation procedure applying personal locks and warning tags to energy sources so equipment cannot be re-energised while maintenance or repair work is in progress.

Physical disconnection or securing of energy sources, including electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic and stored energy, to make plant safe for work.

Assessment of risks from hazardous substances covering health effects, exposure routes, workplace exposure limits, control measures and monitoring, required before work begins.

Maximum airborne concentration of a hazardous substance averaged over a reference period, such as an eight-hour long-term or fifteen-minute short-term limit, to which workers may be exposed.

Personal device filtering or supplying clean air to protect the wearer from airborne hazards, requiring fit testing, training and face-fit checks to be effective.

Inspection of premises to locate and record asbestos-containing materials, either presumptive management survey or more intrusive refurbishment and demolition survey, before disturbance.

Systematic monitoring of workers' health, such as lung function or audiometry, to detect early signs of work-related ill health and trigger corrective action.

Daily or weekly noise exposure threshold triggering specific duties, with lower and upper action values requiring risk assessment, information, hearing protection and health surveillance.

Vibration transmitted to hands and arms from powered tools, linked to hand-arm vibration syndrome; controlled through exposure limits, tool selection and health surveillance.

Evaluation of lifting, carrying and repetitive tasks against load, posture, environment and individual capability, used to eliminate or reduce musculoskeletal injury risk.

Assessment of workstations and work patterns to reduce visual fatigue, postural problems and stress, covering equipment, environment, breaks and eye tests for regular users.

Enclosed or partially enclosed space with foreseeable risk from hazardous atmosphere, engulfment or entrapment, requiring avoidance, isolation, testing, ventilation and emergency arrangements.

Work where a person could fall and be injured, including access and egress, requiring avoidance, prevention of falls and mitigation of consequences in that order.

Regulatory regime for lifting equipment and accessories requiring thorough examination, competent planning of lifts and marking of safe working loads.

Individual with sufficient training, experience, knowledge and other qualities to undertake the assigned task safely and to recognise their own limitations.

UK reporting regime requiring employers to report specified work-related deaths, injuries, dangerous occurrences and occupational diseases to the enforcing authority.

Structured arrangements covering policy, planning, implementation, monitoring and review, such as the HSG65 model, used to manage health and safety systematically.

Systematic, independent examination of management arrangements and practices against a standard, distinct from inspection of physical conditions or accident investigation.

Measure of safety performance, either reactive such as injury rates or proactive such as training completion, used to monitor and drive improvement.

Documented arrangements for responding to foreseeable emergencies, covering detection, warning, evacuation, first aid, liaison with emergency services and periodic testing.

Provision of drinking water, washing, sanitary and rest facilities, changing and storage appropriate to the work and workforce, required to protect health and dignity.