Accident
An unplanned, unwanted, and unexpected event which, because of an unsafe act or unsafe condition, results in property damage, injury, or death.

Accident Cause
The last occurrence in a sequence of events which directly contributed to or produced an accident or incident.

Accident Costs
The monetary losses associated with an accident or incident.  These costs include direct and indirect costs.

Accident Investigation
A detailed, defined, and recorded review of an occurrence, done to uncover and record the factors and causes and their relationships which led up to and caused an accident or incident.

Accident Prevention
The application of measures designed to reduce accidents or accident potential within a system, organization or activity.  An accident prevention program is one which aims to avoid injury to personnel an/or damage to property.

Accident Records
Recorded information in the form of reports and records detailing what accidents or incidents have occurred in a company or industry and what losses and injuries resulted.

Accident Report
A document containing the information and facts about an individual accident or incident, put in chronological order to province a complete picture as to what happened.  Also a tool to help establish the ROOT cause.

Audit (Safety)
A management tool used to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of a safety program and company operations which provides an accurate picture of the safety and health of an organization.

Authorized
Given the authority to act in the referenced manner by the responsible management.

Biological Hazard
A hazard that pertains to life organisms, including such things as viruses and toxic materials that living things produce. Eg: animals and bacteria in drinking water.

Chemical Hazard
A nonliving hazard that results from substances, including solids, liquids or vapors, that could potentially interact. Some chemicals can damage the human body if people inhale, ingest or absorb them. Eg: chemicals are lead, alcohol and hydrocarbons.

Company Rules
An internally developed set of standards regarding company policies and requirements for safety and general conduct.

Confined Space
A confined space is any space with restricted access or egress where (because of the construction, locations, contents or nature of the work done inside) hazardous, gases vapors, dusts, or fumes may accumulate, or where oxygen may be deficient.

Consultant
A professional individual or firm hired by X solely to give professional advice with respect to the planning of specified tasks.

Contractor
A company, partnership, or unincorporated proprietorship hired by X to perform a specified task or job or any companies, partner, or person working on or around  equipment. May be one person or many and include all contractors and sub-contractors.

Could, Would, Should
Directive type of words that can be taken as a suggestion only. Use with caution.

Disaster
Any real or anticipated occurrence which endangers the lies, safety, welfare and well-being of some or all of the people and cannot be brought under control by the use of all regular Municipal Government services and resources.

Due Diligence
Due diligence is the level of judgment, care, prudence, determination, and activity that a person would reasonably be expected to do under particular circumstances.

Emergency
An abnormal situation, which to limit damage to persons, property or the environment requires prompt action beyond normal procedures.

Emergency Planning
The act of putting together an overall plan and developing it for response to emergency situations involving workers and equipment (eg: logical sequence of events)

Follow-Up
The term used to indicate an action (usually corrective action) that is supposed to take place after some kind of occurrence and based on an accident or incident report.

Guideline (Limited Definition)
A recommended method that may be modified to meet the intent of policies and standards, Eg: deviations don't have to be documented or approved.

Hazard Control Audit (Assessment)
A safety audit done to measure the effectiveness of existing hazard controls and document them in order to prioritize them and determine if they need updating, revising, etc..

Hazard Recognition
The act of recognizing or becoming aware of a dangerous or hazardous situation or condition.

Hot Work
Use of open flames, other heat sources and/or spark producing devices in areas where combustible materials may be or do exist. Where there is potential for explosion or fire.

Incident/Near Miss
A specific unplanned event or sequence of events that has an unwanted and unintended consequence on the safety or health of people, property or the environment, or on legal or regulatory compliance.

Indirect Cause
A factor or occurrence which has taken place and contributes to an accident but is not a direct cause..

Lock Out
A positive method for disconnecting power or making something inoperative by using a physical lock to eliminate movement or operation.

Lock Out Procedure
Written procedure dictating the manner in which the positive locking out of equipment or machinery is to be done.

Loss Control
A system or program designed to minimize accidents and reduce financial losses.

Loss Prevention
A before-the-loss program designed to identify and correct potential causes of accidents before they result in actual injuries or financial loss.

Man Hours
An industrial time unit relating to the number of hours worked per employee and often multiplied by the number of employees to establish the amount of time spent on a task or used in projections of costs.

Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)
A bulletin detailing technical and hazard during the handling, storage and use, protective measures for workers and emergency procedures.

Physical Hazard
A hazard that is neither biological nor chemical but that exists around us, or because of the things we do. Eg.: weather and personal work habits.

PPM (Parts Per Million)
Parts Per Million, a term often used to describe the intensity of a contaminant in an area.

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
Protective wearing apparel, when used properly, designed to reduce or eliminate injuries to a worker.

Potential Incident
A condition (such as an unidentified hazard), or an event (such as a near miss), or sequence of events that does not have actual consequences, but that could, under slightly different circumstances, have unwanted consequences.

Risk
The possibility of injury, loss or environment incident created by a hazard. The significance of the risk is determined by the probability of an unwanted incident, and the severity of its consequences.

Risk Assessment Matrix
A tool (part of a Risk Assessment Framework) used to compare assessed risk, based on the probability and consequences of a potential incident.

Safe Work Agreement
A tool that helps workers understand the specific work to be done and the hazards they might encounter on the job. It's also an agreement on how hazards will be managed, who'll manage them and what personal-protective equipment will be required.

Safe Work Practices
Procedure for carrying out specific tasks, which, when followed, will ensure that workers' exposure to hazardous situations, substances, and physical agents is controlled by the manner in which the work is carried out.

Safety Committee
A group comprised of employees which has been formed to address safety and health issues at a worksite or multiple worksites.

Safety Inspection
The act of examining both worksites and equipment, and comparing them against previously established standards specifically to determine if safety legislation and the company safety policies are being followed (looking for unsafe acts and conditions).

Senior Management
Personal in a company or organization who directly control the overall operation of that entire group or specific parts of it and are in a position to make decisions for the entire company or organization.

Significant Potential Incident
An incident without actual consequences where the coordinates of probability and potential consequence meet in the higher or medium risk area of the Risk Assessment Matrix.

Subcontractor
Any person, firm or corporation, contracting with the contractor, to perform part of the work and includes partners and associates in a joint venture so contracting with the contractor.

Tag Out
A method of identifying and alerting persons to the fact that specific circuits or equipment have been de-energized or put out of service and should not be touched or have their positions changed.

Unsafe Act
The actions of a person in a manner which vary from the accepted or legislated safe practice and create a hazard to either themselves, another person, or equipment.

Unsafe Condition
A condition in which something exists that varies from a normal accepted safe condition and, if not corrected, could cause injury, death, or property damage.

Will, Shall, Must
To be understood as a mandatory condition.

Worker
Means any person engaged in an occupation at the worksite.

Work Site
Means any location where a worker is engaged in any occupation and includes any vehicles or mobile equipment used by the worker in an occupation.