This glossary provides a quick reference to common Health & Safety terms used throughout the Six Step Guide to Health & Safety.
An unexpected event or an unintended outcome that results in harm to people and/or damage to or loss of property
A serious personal injury that places life in jeopardy, produced unconsciousness, serious loss of blood, fracture of a leg or arm, amputation of a leg, arm, hand or foot, burns to most of the body, or loss of sight in one or both eyes
Steps taken to eliminate or reduce hazards or exposure to them. Hazards can be controlled at the source, along the path and at the personal level
Refers to the design of equipment, machinery and workstations to suit people
Includes repetition, force, posture and duration of activities that go beyond a person's physical abilities
A condition, practice or substance with the potential for accidental loss or harm to life, health or property
Short for Joint Health & Safety Representative
An accident causing property damage or loss and with the potential to cause personal injury
Short for Joint Health & Safety Committee
A means of physically disabling and flagging unsafe machines, equipment, tools and electrical devices to prevent them from being used
Short for Ministry of Labour
Short form for Material Safety Data Sheets. These contain detailed information about the health hazards, safe handling and storage, and medical treatment of hazardous materials
An ill health condition caused by exposure to a health hazard in the workplace. May also be called industrial disease
Short for Occupational Health & Safety
Short for Ontario Service Safety Alliance - a not-for-profit Health & Safety organization designated as a Safe Workplace Association to Ontario's service based industries: Retail and Wholesale Distribution, Restaurant and Foodservice, Vehicle Sales and Services, Tourism and Hospitality, and Office and Related Services
Short for Personal Protective Equipment. Includes gloves, eye and face shields, breathing and filtering masks, aprons, body covering and safety footwear that must be worn when handling hazardous materials and chemicals. See MSDS, see WHMIS
The likelihood that a hazard will cause an accident, injury, illness, damage or loss
A hazard with a known history or identified high potential of causing accident, injury, illness, damage or loss
Short for Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
Short for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board
While the minimum age for workers is 15 in a factory, the minimum age requirement for employment behind a counter (in a store, for example) is 14 years of age.
