OSHA 511 key terms

Section 5(a)(1) of the OSH Act requires employers to furnish a workplace free of recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm, even when no specific standard covers the condition.

A workplace condition or practice that could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm immediately, or before the hazard could be removed through normal enforcement procedures.

A state-run safety and health program approved by OSHA as at least as effective as the federal program; it covers private employers and may also cover state and local government workers.

A violation the employer commits intentionally, with knowledge of the requirement or plain indifference to it; it carries the highest per-violation penalties and may support a criminal referral.

The OSH Act protects employees from discharge or discrimination for filing complaints, participating in inspections, or reporting injuries; complaints must generally be filed with OSHA within 30 days.

A work-related injury or illness involving medical treatment beyond first aid, loss of consciousness, days away from work, restricted work or transfer, or diagnosis by a licensed health care professional.

Treatment such as cleaning and bandaging wounds, applying nonprescription medication, or removing debris from the eye; when first aid is the only care given, the case is not recordable.

The Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses; employers enter each recordable case within seven calendar days, recording the employee, job title, date, and a description of what happened.

The Injury and Illness Incident Report, completed within seven calendar days of learning about a recordable case, describing how the injury or exposure occurred.

The annual summary of injury and illness counts taken from the Form 300, signed by a company executive and posted in the workplace from February 1 through April 30.

A measure of cases involving days away from work, restricted work, or job transfer, calculated by multiplying those cases by 200,000 and dividing by total hours worked.

Employers must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours, and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours.

Any surface where an employee stands or walks, including floors, roofs, stairs, ladders, and scaffolds; Subpart D requires them to be kept clean, dry, orderly, and free of known hazards.

General industry employers must protect employees exposed to falls of four feet or more to a lower level, or into hazardous equipment, using guardrails, safety nets, or personal fall arrest systems.

A barrier with top rail, midrail, and posts, with the top rail about 42 inches above the surface and able to withstand a 200-pound force, used to prevent falls at unprotected edges.

An arrangement of anchor, connectors, and full body harness that stops a fall; it must be rigged so the employee falls no more than six feet and does not contact a lower level.

A floor hole is less than 12 inches in its least dimension and must be covered or guarded; a floor opening is 12 inches or more and could be entered by a person.

A person who can identify existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions and is authorized to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.

A device that senses small current leaks to ground and shuts off the circuit within a fraction of a second; it is required for temporary receptacles and other high-risk or wet locations.

An alternative to ground-fault protection in which the employer tests and documents the continuity of the grounding conductor in cord sets and equipment at set intervals.

A worker trained and knowledgeable about electrical equipment and its construction enough to identify and avoid the hazards involved, and permitted to work near exposed energized parts.

The distance from energized equipment where an arc flash could expose a person to incident energy of 1.2 calories per square centimeter, the level requiring arc-rated clothing.

A lock, clamp, or similar mechanism that holds an energy-isolating device in the safe position, using a key or combination so only the person who applied it can remove it.

A written procedure for shutting down, isolating, blocking, and securing energy sources, releasing stored energy, and verifying de-energization before servicing or maintenance work begins.

A worker who operates or works near equipment that will be locked or tagged out, and who must be notified of the shutdown and warned not to restart it.

A worker trained and authorized to apply lockout or tagout devices and to perform the servicing or maintenance that requires control of hazardous energy.

The part of a machine where work is performed on the material, such as cutting, punching, or bending, and where guarding is needed to keep hands out.

A barrier, gate, or sensing device that prevents hands, arms, and clothing from contacting moving parts, belts, pulleys, or the point of operation while the machine runs.

A 16-section document from the chemical manufacturer or supplier describing a hazardous chemical's identity, hazards, safe handling, and emergency measures; employers keep one for each chemical on site.

A written program covering a chemical inventory, container labels and warnings, safety data sheets, and training so employees understand the hazards of chemicals they work with.

The internationally harmonized system OSHA adopted for classifying chemicals and standardizing labels and safety data sheets, including pictograms, signal words, and hazard and precautionary statements.

A documented workplace review the employer performs to decide what protective equipment is needed, followed by selecting equipment, training employees, and requiring its use.

The maximum airborne concentration of a hazardous substance that an employee may be exposed to over a stated period, usually an eight-hour time-weighted average set by OSHA.

A confined space containing a hazard such as a toxic atmosphere, engulfment potential, or an internal configuration that could trap an entrant; entry requires a permit, testing, an attendant, and rescue provisions.

A trained person stationed outside a permit space who keeps an accurate count of entrants, monitors conditions, communicates with them, and summons rescue without entering the space.

The person who authorizes permit space entry, signs the permit, verifies that hazard controls and rescue services are in place, and terminates entry when conditions change.

Motorized material-handling equipment such as a forklift; operators must be trained and evaluated, and the truck must be examined before each shift of use.

A continuous, unobstructed path from any point in the workplace to a public way, consisting of exit access, the exit, and exit discharge, kept clear of obstructions at all times.