Osh glosary



©IndustrialAccidentPreventionAssociation,2007.Allrightsreserved.



About the Glossary
This glossary is designed for joint health and safety committee members, health and safety representatives, and others with workplace health and safety responsibilities. It provides easy to understand definitions of common workplace health and safety terms. The glossary does not attempt toprovide strict legal or technical definitions. For definitions of more specialized health and safety terms, see For More Information, at the end of this publication, or feel free to contact us at:
IAPA Toll Free: 1-800-406-IAPA (4272) www.iapa.ca

GlossaryofOccupationalHealth&SafetyTerms

©IndustrialAccidentPreventionAssociation,2007.Allrightsreserved.



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Absorption –The entry of a substance into the body through broken or unbroken skin. Accident – An unplanned event that results in harm to people, damage to property or loss to process. Accident Causation – The many factors that act together to cause accidents. They include: personal factors, job factors, and lack of management control factors. Personal factors:  inadequate capability  lack of knowledge/skill improper motivation  stress Job factors:  inadequate leadership or supervision  inadequate engineering  inadequate purchasing  inadequate maintenance  inadequate work standards/procedures  inadequate hazard controls Lack of management control factors:  inadequate program  inadequate program standards  inadequate compliance with standards  inadequate hazard controls AccidentInvestigation – The process of systematically gathering and analyzing information about an accident. This is done for the purposes of identifying causes and making recommendations to prevent the accident from happening again. Accident Prevention – The systematic application of recognized principles to reduce incidents, accidents, or the accident potential of a system or organization. Acute Effect – Achange that occurs in the body within a relatively short time (minutes, hours, days) following exposure to a substance. Acute Exposure – A single exposure to a hazardous agent.

GlossaryofOccupationalHealth&SafetyTerms

©IndustrialAccidentPreventionAssociation,2007.Allrightsreserved.



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Additive Effects – The health effects of a mixture which are equal to the sum of theeffects of the components of the mixture. Administrative Controls – A category of hazard control that uses administrative/ management involvement in order to minimize employee exposure to the hazard. Some examples are:
    

job enrichment job rotation work/rest schedules work rates periods of adjustment

Agenda – A plan or list of items to be considered at a meeting. It is usuallycirculated to members in advance of the meeting so that they are aware of what will be discussed. Agent – Any substance, force, organism or influence that affects the body, a part of the body, or any of its functions. The effects may be beneficial or harmful. American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) – An organization of industrial hygiene professionals that develops occupationalhealth and safety programs. ACGIH develops and publishes recommended occupational exposure limits for hundreds of chemical substances and physical agents (see Threshold Limit Value). Area Sampling – Collection and analysis of representative samples of air in general work areas in order to determine the concentrations of any contaminants that are present. Asphyxiant – A vapour or gas that can eitherreduce the oxygen content in the air or interfere with the body’s ability to use oxygen. Exposure to an asphyxiant can result in unconsciousness or death due to being unable to breathe. Audiometric Testing – Tests that are conducted to determine the hearing ability of a person. These tests may be used to establish an employee’s baseline hearing, to identify any subsequent hearing loss, and to...