SHEQ Management Glossary
Safety, Health, Environment & Quality - Based on ISO 9001, ISO 14001 & ISO 45001
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Definitions
General SHEQ Terms
SHEQ Management System
Integrated management system that combines Safety, Health, Environment, and Quality management into a unified framework for organizational effectiveness.
Accountability
State of being responsible and answerable for decisions, actions, and their consequences within the SHEQ framework.
Competence
Ability to apply knowledge and skills to achieve intended results in SHEQ management.
Continual Improvement
Recurring activity to enhance performance and effectiveness of the SHEQ management system.
Document Management
Systematic control of SHEQ documents to ensure accessibility, compliance, and currency across the organization.
Due Diligence
Investigation or exercise of care that a reasonable business or person is expected to take before entering into an agreement or a course of action.
Interested Party
Anyone with a stake in — or influence over — what the organisation decides or does. Covers both real impact and perceived impact.
Legal Register
Comprehensive record of all applicable legal and regulatory requirements relevant to the organization's SHEQ obligations.
Management System
The connected set of policies, objectives and processes an organisation uses to deliver against its goals — designed to work as a whole, not as parts.
Performance
Measurable result related to the effectiveness and efficiency of the SHEQ management system.
Policy
A formal, top-management statement of where the organisation intends to go and how it intends to get there.
Procedure
Specified way to carry out an activity or a process in the SHEQ management system.
Quality Management Terms (ISO 9001)
Conformity
Meeting a requirement — in full, not approximately.
Customer Satisfaction
How well the customer feels their requirements were met. The measure sits with the customer, not the supplier.
Defect
A failure to meet a requirement that ties to the intended or specified use of the product or service.
Effectiveness
Whether planned activities actually happened and produced the planned results.
Efficiency
The ratio between the result delivered and the resources consumed to deliver it.
Nonconformity
A requirement that has not been met.
Process
A connected set of activities that takes inputs and turns them into a defined output.
Product
An output of the organisation that can be produced without any direct customer interaction during its creation.
Quality
The extent to which the inherent characteristics of something meet the requirements set for it.
Quality Assurance
The part of quality management aimed at giving stakeholders confidence that quality requirements will be met — proactive, not reactive.
Quality Control
The part of quality management focused on actually meeting the quality requirements at the point of execution.
Quality Manual
The defining specification for an organisation's quality management system.
Service
An output of the organisation that involves at least one activity carried out with the customer in the loop.
Traceability
The ability to follow the history, application or location of an item — back through the chain or forward through the system.
Environmental Management Terms (ISO 14001)
Environmental Aspect
Any part of the organisation's activities, products or services that touches — or could touch — the environment.
Environmental Impact
A change in the environment, positive or negative, that flows wholly or partly from one of the organisation's environmental aspects.
Environmental Management System (EMS)
Part of the management system used to manage environmental aspects, fulfill compliance obligations, and address risks and opportunities.
Environmental Objective
A specific environmental target that aligns with the organisation's environmental policy.
Environmental Performance
Measurable results that show how well the organisation is managing its environmental aspects.
Environmental Policy
A formal top-management statement of how the organisation intends to address environmental performance.
Life Cycle
The full set of linked stages a product or service moves through — from raw materials taken from nature, through use, to end-of-life disposal.
Pollution Prevention
Any approach — process, technique, substitution or design — that stops pollutants and waste from being created in the first place, rather than cleaning them up afterwards.
Significant Environmental Aspect
An environmental aspect that has — or could have — a material environmental impact.
Spill
An unintended release of hazardous material into the environment with the potential to cause damage.
Waste
Material or objects the holder is discarding, intends to discard, or is legally required to discard.
Safety & Health Terms (ISO 45001)
Hazard
A source — an object, condition or activity — that has the potential to cause injury or ill health.
Incident
A work-related event that did, or could have, caused injury or ill health.
Injury and Ill Health
A negative effect on a person's physical, mental or cognitive state.
Legal Appointment
Formal designation of individuals to specific roles with defined responsibilities under occupational health and safety laws.
Near Miss
A work-related event where injury or ill health didn't occur this time but realistically could have. Treated as a free warning, not a non-event.
Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S)
Discipline concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment.
OH&S Management System
The management system — whole or part — used to deliver against the organisation's OH&S policy.
OH&S Objective
A specific OH&S target the organisation has set for itself, lined up with its OH&S policy.
OH&S Performance
Measurable results showing how effective the OH&S management system actually is in practice.
OH&S Risk
Likelihood multiplied by consequence — how probable a work-related hazardous event is, combined with how badly someone could be hurt by it.
Safe Work Procedure
Documented step-by-step process that shows workers how to complete tasks safely and efficiently.
Workplace
Any location under the organisation's control where someone has to be — or has to go — for work.
Worker
Anyone carrying out work or work-related activities under the organisation's control — employees and contractors alike.
Risk & Compliance Terms
Baseline Risk Assessment (BRA)
Comprehensive, initial evaluation of all potential risks associated with an operation, facility, or project, conducted before activities begin.
Compliance Obligation
All the requirements the organisation has to meet — legal ones it cannot avoid, plus voluntary commitments it has signed up to.
Corrective Action
Action that targets the cause of a non-conformity so the same problem doesn't reappear — distinct from simply correcting the symptom.
Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA)
Focused, ongoing process that identifies specific hazards and assesses their risks in the context of day-to-day tasks or specific activities.
Internal Audit
A structured, independent and documented review that gathers evidence and evaluates it objectively against defined audit criteria.
Management Review
A formal top-management review of how the management system is performing relative to its policies and objectives — and whether it is still fit for purpose.
Risk
The way uncertainty affects objectives — both the upside and the downside.
Risk Assessment
The end-to-end process: identifying risks, analysing them, then evaluating which need treatment.
Risk Management
The coordinated set of activities used to steer and control the organisation around risk.
Training Management
Systematic approach to ensuring employees receive appropriate SHE training and competency assessment for their roles.
Common SHEQ Abbreviations
General SHEQ
- SHE: Safety, Health & Environment
- SHEQ: Safety, Health, Environment & Quality
- ISO: International Organization for Standardization
- KPI: Key Performance Indicator
- SOP: Standard Operating Procedure
- EMS: Environmental Management System
- QMS: Quality Management System
Safety & Health
- OH&S: Occupational Health & Safety
- OHSMS: OH&S Management System
- OSHA: Occupational Safety & Health Administration
- PPE: Personal Protective Equipment
- JSA: Job Safety Analysis
- LOTO: Lockout/Tagout
- MSDS: Material Safety Data Sheet
- SDS: Safety Data Sheet
Risk & Assessment
- BRA: Baseline Risk Assessment
- HIRA: Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment
- RA: Risk Assessment
- HAZOP: Hazard & Operability Study
- FMEA: Failure Mode & Effects Analysis
- ALARP: As Low As Reasonably Practicable
- RCA: Root Cause Analysis
Quality & Standards
- QA: Quality Assurance
- QC: Quality Control
- CAR: Corrective Action Request
- CAPA: Corrective & Preventive Action
- NC: Nonconformity
- TQM: Total Quality Management
- CRM: Customer Relationship Management
Performance Measures
- LTIFR: Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate
- TRIFR: Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate
- MTBF: Mean Time Between Failures
- MTTR: Mean Time To Repair
- OEE: Overall Equipment Effectiveness
- DPMO: Defects Per Million Opportunities
- RTV: Right The First Time
Environmental
- EPA: Environmental Protection Agency
- GHG: Greenhouse Gas
- LCA: Life Cycle Assessment
- EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment
- NEPA: National Environmental Policy Act
- VOC: Volatile Organic Compound
- CO2e: Carbon Dioxide Equivalent
Performance Measures & Calculations
Safety Performance Measures
Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (LTIFR)
Number of lost time injuries per million hours worked.
LTIFR = (Number of Lost Time Injuries × 1,000,000) / Total Hours Worked
Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR)
Total number of recordable injuries per million hours worked.
TRIFR = (Total Recordable Injuries × 1,000,000) / Total Hours Worked
Severity Rate
Total days lost due to injuries per million hours worked.
Severity Rate = (Total Days Lost × 1,000,000) / Total Hours Worked
Near Miss Frequency Rate
Number of near miss incidents per million hours worked.
Near Miss Rate = (Number of Near Misses × 1,000,000) / Total Hours Worked
Training Completion Rate
Percentage of employees who have completed required safety training.
Training Completion Rate = (Employees Trained / Total Employees) × 100%
Safety Observation Rate
Number of safety observations conducted per period.
Safety Observation Rate = Safety Observations / Total Work Days
Quality Performance Measures
Defect Rate
Percentage of products or services that fail to meet quality standards.
Defect Rate = (Number of Defects / Total Units Produced) × 100%
First Pass Yield
Percentage of products that pass quality inspection on first attempt.
First Pass Yield = (Units Passing First Time / Total Units Processed) × 100%
Customer Satisfaction Score
Average rating from customer satisfaction surveys.
Customer Satisfaction = (Sum of All Ratings / Number of Responses)
Cost of Quality
Total cost of ensuring quality including prevention, appraisal, and failure costs.
Cost of Quality = Prevention Costs + Appraisal Costs + Internal Failure Costs + External Failure Costs
Supplier Quality Rating
Percentage of supplies received that meet quality specifications.
Supplier Quality = (Acceptable Deliveries / Total Deliveries) × 100%
Audit Conformance Rate
Percentage of audit requirements that are in conformance.
Audit Conformance = (Conforming Items / Total Items Audited) × 100%
Environmental Performance Measures
Energy Intensity
Energy consumption per unit of production output.
Energy Intensity = Total Energy Consumed / Total Production Output
Water Usage Efficiency
Water consumption per unit of production output.
Water Efficiency = Total Water Used / Total Production Output
Waste Diversion Rate
Percentage of waste diverted from landfill through recycling or reuse.
Waste Diversion = (Waste Recycled + Waste Reused) / Total Waste Generated × 100%
Carbon Footprint
Total greenhouse gas emissions expressed as CO2 equivalent.
Carbon Footprint = Σ (Activity Data × Emission Factor)
Environmental Incident Rate
Number of environmental incidents per million hours worked.
Environmental Incident Rate = (Environmental Incidents × 1,000,000) / Total Hours Worked
Compliance Rate
Percentage of environmental compliance obligations met.
Compliance Rate = (Requirements Met / Total Requirements) × 100%
Spill Frequency Rate
Number of environmental spills per million hours worked.
Spill Frequency = (Number of Spills × 1,000,000) / Total Hours Worked