Glossary

• Pages: 19-20

Glossary

In these guidelines, the following terms have the meanings hereby assigned to them:

Active monitoring: The ongoing activities which check that hazard and risk preventive and protective

measures, as well as the arrangements to implement the OSH management system, conform to

defined criteria.

Audit: A systematic, independent and documented process for obtaining evidence and evaluating it

objectively to determine the extent to which defined criteria are fulfilled. This does not necessarily

mean an independent external audit (an auditor or auditors from outside the organization).

Competent institution: A government department or other body with the responsibility to establish a

national policy and develop a national framework for OSH management systems in organizations,

and to provide relevant guidance.

Competent person: A person with suitable training, and sufficient knowledge, experience and skill, for

the performance of the specific work.

Continual improvement: Iterative process of enhancing the OSH management system to achieve

improvements in overall OSH performance.

Contractor: A person or an organization providing services to an employer at the employer's worksite in

accordance with agreed specifications, terms and conditions.

Employer: Any physical or legal person that employs one or more workers.

Hazard: The inherent potential to cause injury or damage to people's health.

Hazard assessment: A systematic evaluation of hazards.

Incident: An unsafe occurrence arising out of or in the course of work where no personal injury is

caused.

Organization: A company, operation, firm, undertaking, establishment, enterprise, institution or

association, or part of it, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions

and administration. For organizations with more than one operating unit, a single operating unit

may be defined as an organization.

OSH management system: A set of interrelated or interacting elements to establish OSH policy and

objectives, and to achieve those objectives.

Reactive monitoring: Checks that failures in the hazard and risk prevention and protection control

measures, and the OSH management system, as demonstrated by the occurrence of injuries, ill

health, diseases and incidents, are identified and acted upon.

Risk: A combination of the likelihood of an occurrence of a hazardous event and the severity of injury or

damage to the health of people caused by this event.

Risk assessment: The process of evaluating the risks to safety and health arising from hazards at work.

Safety and health committee: A committee with representation of workers' safety and health

representatives and employers' representatives established and functioning at organization level

according to national laws, regulations and practice.

Surveillance of the working environment: A generic term which includes the identification and

evaluation of environmental factors that may affect workers' health. It covers assessments of

sanitary and occupational hygiene conditions, factors in the organization of work which may pose

risks to the health of workers, collective and personal protective equipment, exposure of workers to

hazardous agents, and control systems designed to eliminate and reduce them. From the standpoint

of workers' health, the surveillance of the working environment may focus on, but not be limited

to, ergonomics, accident and disease prevention, occupational hygiene in the workplace, work

organization, and psychosocial factors in the workplace.