ISPON HSE Level 2 key terms

The discipline concerned with protecting the health, safety and welfare of people at work by identifying workplace hazards and putting controls in place to prevent injury, illness and damage to property or the environment.

Any source, situation or act with the potential to cause harm, such as injury, ill health, property damage or environmental harm. A hazard exists whether or not anyone is exposed to it, and is not the same as the risk it creates.

The combination of the likelihood that a hazardous event will occur and the severity of harm it would cause. Risk is often scored as likelihood multiplied by consequence and can be lowered by adding controls.

A structured process of identifying hazards, deciding who or what could be harmed and how, judging the likelihood and severity of that harm, and deciding whether existing controls are adequate or more are needed.

A ranked order of risk-reduction measures: eliminate the hazard, substitute something safer, use engineering controls, apply administrative controls, then rely on personal protective equipment. Measures higher up are generally more reliable and should be considered first.

Short for 'as low as reasonably practicable'. It describes a level of risk where the cost, time and trouble of further control would be grossly disproportionate to the extra safety benefit gained.

A grid that combines likelihood and severity ratings so risks can be compared and ranked, usually into bands such as low, medium, high and critical, which then set how quickly action must be taken.

An unplanned event that has already caused injury, ill health, property damage or environmental harm. It differs from a near miss only in that harm or loss actually occurred.

An unplanned event that did not cause injury or damage but could have done so. Near misses are worth reporting because they expose failures in controls before someone is actually hurt.

A work-related injury that keeps the injured person away from work for at least one full shift or scheduled working day after the day of the incident. LTIs feed lost time injury frequency and severity rates.

A systematic method, such as the five whys or a fishbone diagram, used after an incident to look past the immediate cause to the underlying management, design, training or behavioural failures that allowed it to happen.

Equipment worn or held by a worker to protect against one or more hazards, such as helmets, gloves, goggles, respirators and safety boots. It is the last line of defence and depends on correct selection, fit and maintenance.

A formal written authorisation for high-risk work such as hot work, confined space entry or work on live equipment. It shows hazards were assessed, controls are in place, and named people have authorised and accepted the job.

A procedure for isolating energy sources such as electricity, pressure or stored mechanical energy and then locking and tagging the isolation point so equipment cannot be restarted while people are working on it.

A method of breaking a task into steps, identifying the hazards in each step and stating the controls needed before work starts. It is usually recorded on a form and discussed with the crew.

An enclosed or partly enclosed space with restricted entry and exit, not designed for continuous occupancy, that may hold a hazardous atmosphere, engulfment risk or other serious danger. Entry normally needs a permit and a standby person.

A short safety briefing at the workplace, usually before or during a shift, on a specific hazard, task or lesson learned. It is two-way and invites workers to raise concerns about the job.

An approach that observes how people actually work, gives constructive feedback and reinforces safe behaviour, on the belief that many injuries follow habitual unsafe acts that can be changed through coaching and positive reinforcement.

The shared values, attitudes and behaviours of an organisation towards safety, seen in how people act when nobody is watching and in how openly hazards, errors and near misses are reported.

The set of policies, procedures, responsibilities and processes an organisation uses to manage health, safety and environmental risk and to keep improving performance, commonly built around a plan-do-check-act cycle.

A written statement from top management of the organisation's commitment to health, safety and the environment, the principles it will follow and who is accountable. It should be signed, communicated and reviewed.

The science of anticipating, recognising, evaluating and controlling workplace exposures such as dust, fumes, noise, heat and chemicals that can damage workers' health, usually by measuring exposure against recognised limits.

A concentration of a hazardous substance in workplace air, or a level of physical exposure such as noise, that is considered acceptable for most workers over a stated period, commonly an eight-hour shift.

An illness caused or made worse by work-related exposure and usually developing over months or years, for example silicosis from silica dust, occupational asthma or noise-induced hearing loss.

Permanent hearing damage caused by prolonged or repeated exposure to loud noise. It develops gradually, is painless at first and cannot be reversed, so prevention through engineering controls and hearing protection is essential.

A document supplied with a hazardous chemical that describes its hazards, safe handling and storage, first aid, firefighting and spill measures and exposure controls. It is used in risk assessment and emergency planning.

The three things needed for combustion: fuel, oxygen and a source of ignition. Taking away any one of them, or interrupting the chemical chain reaction, will put the fire out.

A way of grouping fires by the fuel involved, such as class A solids, class B flammable liquids, class C gases, class D metals and fires involving live electrical equipment, so the correct extinguisher is chosen.

A pre-arranged safe place away from a building or site where people gather after an evacuation so they can be counted and accounted for during an emergency.

Immediate help given to an injured or suddenly ill person before professional medical care arrives, aimed at preserving life, preventing the condition getting worse and helping recovery, for example CPR or bleeding control.

Separating waste where it is produced into defined streams such as general, recyclable, hazardous and medical waste, so each stream can be stored, treated, transported and disposed of safely and legally.

A formal study done before a major project starts to predict its likely effects on air, water, land, wildlife and local communities, and to set out how those effects will be avoided, reduced or managed.

The release of substances, noise, heat or light into the environment in amounts that harm or degrade air, water, land or living things. Preventing the release at source is preferred to cleaning up afterwards.

Nigerian law (Cap F1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004) requiring factories and similar workplaces to be registered and setting minimum standards for machinery guarding, ventilation, lighting, welfare facilities and first aid.

A Nigerian law that provides compensation for employees or their dependants when death, injury or occupational disease arises out of work, and which established the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund to run the scheme.

The National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, a Nigerian agency that enforces environmental standards and regulations and controls discharges, waste handling and pollution from most sectors.

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency, a Nigerian agency that coordinates oil spill preparedness, detection and response and enforces clean-up and remediation obligations in the petroleum industry.

The Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria, the professional body that sets standards for HSE practice in Nigeria and administers professional safety certifications, including the HSE levels covered by this examination.