OH&S Management Glossary

Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)

The set of conditions and factors that influence — or could influence — the physical and mental wellbeing of anyone present in the workplace: own employees, contractors, temporary staff, learners and visitors.

Note: OH&S exposure can come from the work itself, the equipment or materials used, or the products and services the organisation produces.

Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OH&S Management System)

A defined system — or component of a wider management system — that delivers the OH&S policy and controls OH&S risk.

Note: The system is judged on its outcomes — fewer injuries, less occupational ill health, and workplaces that meet the safety and health standard the organisation has committed to.

Worker

Anyone performing work — or work-related activity — under the organisation's control. ISO 45001 uses "worker" deliberately broadly; it is not limited to permanent employees.

Examples of workers:

• Permanent, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees
• Managers, executives and supervisors
• Contractor staff and labour broker employees
• Agency workers and home-based workers
• Apprentices, learners and students on placement
• Volunteers carrying out work for the organisation

Note: The test is control — over what is done, how it is done, and the conditions under which it is done. Where the organisation has that control, the worker is in scope.

Workplace

Any location under the organisation's control where work is carried out — fixed sites, project sites, vehicles, remote field locations.

Note: OH&S responsibility scales with the degree of control. The greater the control, the more the organisation owns under the management system.

Hazard

Anything with the inherent capacity to cause injury or ill health — a substance, a piece of equipment, a working condition, a way of working.

Examples include:

• Physical hazards (noise, vibration, radiation, temperature extremes)
• Chemical hazards (toxic substances, corrosives, carcinogens)
• Biological hazards (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites)
• Mechanical hazards (moving machinery, sharp edges, pinch points)
• Ergonomic hazards (repetitive motions, awkward postures, manual handling)
• Psychosocial hazards (work stress, bullying, violence, fatigue)
• Electrical hazards (live conductors, static electricity)
• Working at heights, confined spaces, isolation

Note: A hazard exists whether or not anyone is currently exposed. Risk is what you get when exposure to the hazard becomes possible.

Risk

The effect of uncertainty on objectives — the way a future event could push the outcome away from what was planned.

Note 1: The deviation can run either way — risk includes upside as well as downside.
Note 2: Risk is usually expressed as a combination of potential events, their consequences and how likely they are.

OH&S Risk

The product of two factors — how likely a work-related exposure or event is, and how badly it could injure or harm someone if it happened.

Risk Assessment considers:

• Likelihood: How probable is it that harm will occur?
• Severity: How serious would the harm be if it occurred?
• Exposure: How often and for how long are workers exposed?
• Number of workers: How many people could be affected?

OH&S Opportunity

A situation that can be turned into improved OH&S performance — typically a planned change, a new technology, or an emerging way of doing the work that lets the organisation eliminate hazard or reduce risk.

Examples include:

• Adapting work to workers rather than forcing workers to adapt to work
• Eliminating hazards through process redesign
• Implementing new technologies that improve safety
• Improving worker participation in OH&S decisions

Incident

An event linked to the work that either caused or could have caused injury or ill health.

Note 1: When an incident produces actual harm it's often called an "accident" in everyday usage.
Note 2: When the same event happens but nobody is hurt — usually because of a fortunate variable — it's a near miss (also called a near hit or close call). Both belong in the same reporting system.

Injury and Ill Health

Any negative effect on a person's physical, mental or cognitive state arising from the work.

Examples include:

• Acute injuries: Cuts, fractures, burns, sprains from sudden events
• Chronic conditions: Hearing loss, respiratory disease, musculoskeletal disorders from prolonged exposure
• Occupational diseases: Silicosis, asbestosis, dermatitis, work-related stress
• Mental health: Work-related stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD

Note: The term covers disease and illness as well as physical injury, and includes mental harm — work-related stress, anxiety and trauma sit inside this scope.

Nonconformity

Any case where a requirement isn't met — whether that requirement comes from the law, the standard, or the organisation's own procedures.

OH&S Nonconformities include:

• Failure to comply with legal requirements
• Failure to meet ISO 45001 requirements
• Failure to follow organizational OH&S procedures
• Ineffective controls or processes

Corrective Action

Action that goes beyond the immediate fix and removes the underlying cause so the same nonconformity or incident cannot recur.

Note: A patch on the symptom is not corrective action. Corrective action targets the system-level cause and is verified for effectiveness after a defined period.

OH&S Performance

A measure of how well the OH&S system is actually preventing injury and occupational ill health and delivering the safe, healthy workplace the policy commits to.

Measured through:

• Leading indicators (proactive measures like safety inspections, training completion)
• Lagging indicators (reactive measures like injury rates, lost time)
• Achievement of OH&S objectives
• Compliance with legal requirements
• Worker participation levels

OH&S Policy

The signed policy statement from top management that commits the organisation to preventing work-related injury and ill health and to providing safe, healthy working conditions.

The OH&S policy must include commitments to:

• Provide safe and healthy working conditions
• Fulfill legal requirements and other requirements
• Eliminate hazards and reduce OH&S risks
• Continual improvement of the OH&S management system
• Consultation and participation of workers

OH&S Objective

A specific, measurable outcome the organisation is working toward, derived from the OH&S policy and tied to identified risks and opportunities.

Objectives should be:

• Consistent with the OH&S policy
• Measurable (if practicable)
• Take into account legal requirements and risks/opportunities
• Include input from worker consultation
• Monitored and communicated
• Updated as appropriate

Continual Improvement

An ongoing, repeatable activity aimed at lifting performance over time.

Note: For OH&S, the measure is whether year-on-year fewer people get hurt, fewer near misses go unreported, and fewer corrective actions slip past their due date. The point is the trend, not a single end state.

Consultation

Asking workers for their views on a matter before management makes the decision.

Characteristics of effective consultation:

• Providing timely access to relevant, clear, understandable information
• Identifying and removing obstacles to participation
• Seeking views and opinions before decisions are made
• Considering workers' views in the decision-making process
• Providing feedback on how input was considered

Note: In consultation the worker contributes input; management still owns the final decision. That distinguishes it from participation.

Participation

Direct worker involvement in the decision itself — not just providing input that someone else weighs.

Characteristics of effective participation:

• Workers are actively involved in the decision-making process
• Workers have influence over decisions that affect them
• Mechanisms exist for workers to participate (committees, suggestion schemes)
• Time, training and resources are provided for participation
• Workers can participate without fear of reprisal

Note: Participation is the higher bar. Workers shape the decision and share ownership of the outcome — for example, a worker representative on the incident investigation team or in the risk-assessment workshop.

Worker Representative

A person formally chosen — by election or appointment under national law — to represent the workforce on OH&S matters. In South Africa this includes section 17 health and safety representatives under the OHS Act.

Examples include:

• Health and safety representatives
• Safety committee members
• Union safety representatives
• Elected worker delegates

Interested Party (Stakeholder)

Any person or organisation with a stake in what the organisation decides or does — they may influence the outcome, be affected by it, or believe themselves to be affected.

OH&S interested parties include:

• Workers and worker representatives
• Regulatory authorities
• Contractors, suppliers, customers
• Emergency services
• Insurance providers
• Local communities
• Shareholders, investors

Competence

The demonstrated ability to apply knowledge and skills to deliver the required outcome safely and consistently.

OH&S Competence includes:

• Knowledge: Understanding of hazards, risks, controls, procedures
• Skills: Practical ability to perform work safely
• Experience: Demonstrated ability from prior work
• Qualifications: Certifications, licenses where required
• Behaviors: Safety attitudes and risk awareness

Note: Competence specifically includes the ability to identify hazards in the work being performed — not just the technical task.

Awareness

The level of understanding a worker has about how their work fits into the OH&S system, what's expected of them, and what their rights are.

Workers must be aware of:

• The OH&S policy and objectives
• Their contribution to OH&S effectiveness
• Consequences of not conforming to OH&S requirements
• Incidents and investigation outcomes relevant to them
• Hazards, risks and actions relevant to them
• Their right to remove themselves from imminent danger

Hierarchy of Controls

A ranked sequence of control types — applied top-down to remove or reduce hazard exposure. Higher levels are more effective because they don't rely on consistent human behaviour to keep working.

Most effective first:

Note: PPE is a backstop, not a primary control. Selecting PPE before working through the higher levels signals that the control plan hasn't been thought through.

Contractor

An external party providing services under an agreed contract — typically with their own workers performing work on the organisation's premises or for the organisation's benefit.

Note: Under section 37 of the OHS Act, the principal employer carries duties for contractor work on its premises. Coordination on hazards, risks and controls is a legal as well as a system requirement.

Outsource (verb)

To arrange for an external party to take on a function or process that would otherwise be performed in-house.

Note: Outsourcing transfers the work, not the OH&S accountability. The arrangement has to specify the OH&S requirements the provider must meet and how performance against them will be checked.

Management System

The collection of policies, objectives, processes and accountabilities that together direct how the organisation pursues a defined goal.

Note: A single management system can cover one discipline (just OH&S) or several at once — quality, environment and OH&S are commonly integrated under ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001.

Top Management

The person or group at the highest level of organisational control — typically the board, CEO or executive committee.

Note: Top management can delegate work but cannot delegate accountability. They sign the policy, approve the resources and answer for the OH&S outcomes.

Effectiveness

The degree to which planned activities are actually carried out and the intended results are actually achieved.

Note: For OH&S, effectiveness is the question of whether the system is preventing harm — not whether the documentation is in order or the meetings are happening on schedule.

Process

A connected set of activities that takes inputs (information, materials, work) and produces a defined output.

OH&S processes include:

• Hazard identification and risk assessment
• Legal compliance evaluation
• Incident investigation
• Worker consultation and participation
• Internal audit
• Management review

Procedure

A defined method for carrying out an activity or running a process.

Note: Procedures may or may not be documented. In high-risk work — confined space entry, working at height, hot work — they should be. Common examples include SWPs, JSAs, permit procedures, lockout-tagout and emergency response procedures.

Documented Information

The umbrella term ISO 45001 uses for both documents and records — the information the organisation is required to control, plus whatever it's stored on (paper file, document management system, photo, video).

Two types:

• Maintain documented information: Keep current and available (documents, procedures)
• Retain documented information: Keep as evidence (records, training records, audit reports)

Note: Documented information can be in any format and media (paper, electronic, photos, videos).

Audit

A structured, independent review of evidence against defined criteria — designed to give an objective answer on whether those criteria are being met.

Internal audits assess:

• Conformity to ISO 45001 requirements
• Conformity to organization's own OH&S requirements
• Effective implementation of the OH&S management system

Monitoring

Checking the current state of a system, a process or an activity to see whether it's running as intended.

Note: For OH&S this covers planned inspections, behavioural observations, exposure monitoring, incident data review and performance indicator tracking.

Measurement

The act of producing a numerical value for something — through instrumentation, counting, sampling or surveying.

Note: In OH&S this covers injury frequency rates, exposure levels (noise, dust, gas), training completion percentages, near-miss reporting volume, audit findings closed, and similar quantified indicators.

Legal Requirements and Other Requirements

Two types of obligation that the OH&S system has to manage together — the legal duties the organisation must comply with, and the additional requirements it has either contractually agreed to or voluntarily adopted.

Legal requirements include:

• National and local OH&S laws and regulations
• Industry-specific safety standards
• Permit and license conditions
• Court orders and enforcement notices

Other requirements include:

• Corporate/group OH&S policies and standards
• Contractual OH&S requirements (customer, supplier)
• Voluntary standards and codes of practice
• Agreements with workers or unions
• Community commitments

Requirement

A need or expectation — sometimes written down, sometimes assumed by sector practice, sometimes mandated by law or contract.

Note: "Generally implied" requirements are the unwritten norms of how a sector operates. "Obligatory" requirements are those the organisation has no choice about — usually legal or contractual.

Compliance Obligation

The full set of legal and other requirements the organisation is bound to comply with — captured in a controlled register and kept current.

Note: Identification, accessibility and live understanding of every applicable obligation is the test. A compliance register that's eighteen months out of date doesn't satisfy this clause.