Glossary of EHS, occupational safety and QHSE terms

An LMRA is a few-minute assessment that the crew performs at the workplace before picking up tools. It does not duplicate the formal risk assessment; it verifies that the conditions on site match the assumptions: the area is secured, energy sources are isolated, weather and lighting allow the work, and no conflicting activity is running nearby.

A good LMRA ends with one of three decisions: start, start after adding a control, or stop. Simplicity is critical — if the form takes longer than three minutes, crews stop using it.

CAPA separates two different kinds of response. A corrective action removes the cause of a nonconformity or event that has already happened. A preventive action removes the cause of a problem that has not happened yet but has been identified as plausible — during an audit, for example, or from a trend in reports.

A mature CAPA process always has four elements: a named owner, a due date, evidence of completion, and an effectiveness review after an agreed period. Without the last one, the CAPA register becomes a list of closed tasks that says nothing about whether the problem actually went away.

5 Why means asking “why” of each successive answer until you reach a cause the organisation can actually influence. Five is a convention — sometimes three steps are enough, sometimes seven are needed. The analysis only works when each “why” addresses the work system rather than a person.

The most common mistake is stopping at “the worker was not careful”. That describes behaviour, not cause. The next question should be: why was that behaviour possible, why was it not detected, and why did the safeguard fail.

A safety data sheet is supplied by the manufacturer or distributor of a substance or mixture. It follows a fixed structure of sixteen sections: identification and hazards, emergency response, exposure controls, toxicological data and transport information.

In practice, a plant relies most on sections 2, 4, 7, 8 and 13: hazards, first aid, storage, personal protective equipment and waste handling. The sheet must be current and available to the worker at the point of use — not only in a binder in the safety office.

Management of change means that every significant change — new equipment, a different raw material, a staffing change, a modified installation — is assessed for its effect on safety, quality and environment before it is implemented. The assessment ends with a decision by an authorised person and a list of conditions to meet.

Temporary changes are a separate category because they are the ones that escape control: a provisional bypass or a substitute material can stay in the plant for years. A temporary change should therefore carry an expiry date and a review reminder.

A permit to work authorises a higher-risk task — hot work, confined space entry, work at height, or work on live or pressurised systems — once the required controls are confirmed to be in place and verified.

The permit links three roles: the requester, the authorising person and the performer. It has a limited scope and validity period, and after the work is finished it must be formally closed, with the installation returned to normal and the area checked.

A near miss is free information about a gap in your controls. A dropped object that hit nobody, a slip without a fall, a machine started with a guard open — each shows a mechanism that, with slightly different timing, would have caused an injury.

Organisations with a mature safety culture want the near miss count to go up, not down: a rising number usually signals rising trust rather than deteriorating conditions. That requires fast feedback to the reporter and no consequences for reporting.

PDCA is the backbone of most management systems, including ISO 45001 and ISO 9001. Plan covers objectives and resources, do is implementation, check is measurement and audit, and act is adjusting the plan based on the results.

In plant practice the weakest link is usually “check”: actions are implemented quickly, but nobody comes back a quarter later to verify the effect. It is worth having the system trigger the effectiveness review rather than relying on the owner's memory.

An occupational exposure limit is the maximum permitted concentration of a chemical or dust in workplace air, or the maximum permitted intensity of a physical agent such as noise, vibration or electromagnetic fields. Both relate to a defined exposure period.

Measurement results are compared against these values to establish the exposure ratio. That ratio drives how often the next measurements are required, the scope of health surveillance, and whether additional controls must be introduced.

Lockout/tagout protects against unexpected start-up or release of stored energy during maintenance. Every energy source — electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, gravitational — is isolated, locked and tagged with the name of the person responsible.

The procedure ends with a try-out to confirm the isolation worked. Only the person who applied a lock may remove it, after confirming that nobody is at the machine and guards are back in place.

VIMS stands for Varilo Integrated Management System. V-IMS is an alternative spelling of the same name, and vimsehs.pl is the product portal. VIMS and the Varilo brand are owned and developed by Vesta Usługi i Szkolenia Marcin Makowski.

The system connects incident and hazard reporting, occupational risk assessment, audits, CAPA actions, training records, and chemical and SDS documentation. The name VIMS EHS identifies the product's purpose without limiting it to occupational safety alone.

A QR code placed in a hall, on a machine or a chemical cabinet leads to a specific reporting form, checklist, machine card or safety data sheet. The location comes from the code itself.

Public codes should never expose personal data — sensitive data require sign-in.

NFC (Near Field Communication) is short-range communication. An NFC tag at a checkpoint opens the inspection checklist and records the visit time — stronger proof of presence than a QR code alone.

Tags resist dirt but need an NFC-enabled phone; they are often combined with a QR code on one sticker.

GHS is the global chemical classification system, implemented in the EU by the CLP Regulation. It defines pictograms, signal words (“Danger”, “Warning”), H statements (hazards) and P statements (precautions).

Pictograms from labels and SDSs should appear on workstation cards and in the chemical substances and SDS register.

In Poland, the accident investigation team prepares a protocol on circumstances and causes, generally within 14 days of notification. It covers the event, causes, legal qualification and preventive recommendations.

The protocol is entered into the accident register; recommendations should become corrective actions (CAPA) with deadlines and owners.

RCA uses methods such as 5 Why and the Ishikawa (5M) diagram. The aim is to find the cause whose removal prevents recurrence.

RCA results should lead to corrective actions and a check of their effectiveness.

Employers must assess and document occupational risk and inform workers. Methods include PN-N-18002, a 5×5 matrix or Risk Score.

It is updated after accidents and changes in technology, workstation or regulations.

Hazardous areas are classified by how often and how long an explosive atmosphere is present: zones 0, 1, 2 for gases and vapours, and 20, 21, 22 for dusts.

Zone boundaries are recorded in the explosion protection document and on plans; work in zones usually requires a permit.

A lone worker cannot count on immediate help from a colleague. Measures include check-in procedures, devices or apps with no-motion and fall detection and an SOS button.

Some high-risk work requires at least two people and must not be done alone.

PRSES is a role defined in EN 15635 (PN-EN 15635 in Poland). This person organises regular visual inspections, receives damage reports and decides when a damaged bay must be unloaded or taken out of use.

At least once a year racking should be inspected by a technically competent person; findings and repair deadlines are best kept in a technical inspection register.

The Office of Technical Inspection (UDT) examines and registers equipment subject to technical supervision in Poland and verifies the qualifications of operators and maintenance staff.

Employers are responsible for UDT inspection dates, maintenance and valid operator licences — ideally kept in one register with reminders. Exact requirements depend on the equipment type and current regulations.

A pre-use (daily, pre-shift) check covers a visual inspection and basic function test: load-bearing parts, markings, guards and controls. It does not replace periodic inspection or statutory examination.

A QR code or NFC tag on the equipment can open the right checklist, and a detected defect can go straight to the responsible person.

The register covers agents such as noise, vibration, dust and chemical substances, with measurement results, reference to Polish exposure limits (NDS/NDN) and the workstations concerned. Together with measurement cards it determines how often measurements must be repeated.

Results should be linked to the occupational risk assessment and medical examination referrals.

The Lehmann method adds up energy expenditure for body posture and type of activity, using reference tables and how long each lasts during a shift. The result in kcal or kJ classifies the work as light, moderate or heavy.

In Poland the result informs decisions on preventive meals and drinks and the occupational risk assessment. It assesses the workstation, not a dietary BMR/TDEE calculation.

Workstation instruction is usually delivered by the direct supervisor. It covers workstation hazards and risk, safe work methods and a practical demonstration and check of the worker's skills, confirmed in the initial training card.

Duration and requirements depend on the workstation and regulations — worth reviewing whenever work organisation changes.

Man Down is a general term for lone worker protection: a device or app recognises a possible fall or lack of movement and, unless the worker cancels the alarm, notifies designated people.

Effectiveness depends on hardware, coverage and the response procedure — detection alone does not replace a defined way of getting help to the worker.

ISO 45001 is built on the PDCA cycle and requires hazard identification and risk assessment, worker participation, internal audits, management review and corrective action, among others.

Certification is carried out by an independent body; software helps keep evidence but does not by itself guarantee conformity.

OHS (occupational health and safety; BHP in Polish) protects workers from workplace hazards. EHS (Environment, Health and Safety) and SHE (Safety, Health, Environment) add environmental protection, and QHSE (Quality, Health, Safety, Environment) combines them with quality management.

In practice these areas use the same tools — risk assessment, incident reporting, audits, CAPA and training — so they are increasingly run in one integrated management system (ISO 45001, ISO 14001, ISO 9001).

Under Polish law (Article 3 of the Act on social insurance for work accidents and occupational diseases) the event must be sudden, caused externally, result in injury or death and be connected with work. Accidents are classified as minor, serious, fatal and collective.

Every accident is entered in the work accident register. Commuting accidents form a separate category and are not work accidents.

Residual risk is the level of occupational risk remaining despite technical, organisational and personal protective measures. A risk assessment should show the risk before and after controls.

If residual risk remains unacceptable, the work should not proceed until additional measures are in place, following the hierarchy of controls.

The hierarchy of controls means first eliminating the hazard, then substituting something less dangerous, applying engineering controls (guards, ventilation), administrative controls (procedures, training) and only last personal protective equipment (PPE).

It reflects the general principles of prevention in Directive 89/391/EEC and is required by ISO 45001 (clause 8.1.2).

In Poland, induction training includes general and workstation instruction before work starts. The first periodic training takes place within 12 months of starting a role, then every 1, 3, 5 or 6 years depending on the job group and hazards.

Training confirmations are kept in personnel files. Tracking periodic training deadlines in a register helps flag upcoming renewals in advance.

In Poland, preventive examinations are carried out by an occupational physician on the employer's referral (Article 229 of the Labour Code). Pre-employment exams precede hiring, periodic ones follow the date in the certificate, and follow-up exams are required after sick leave longer than 30 days.

An employer may not allow someone to work without a valid certificate. Its expiry date is a typical deadline tracked in safety software.

CMR substances and mixtures are Carcinogenic, Mutagenic or toxic to Reproduction, classified under CLP in categories 1A and 1B.

Work with carcinogens or mutagens requires, among other things, a register of such work and of exposed workers, exposure measurements and limiting the number of exposed people.

UFI (Unique Formula Identifier) is a unique formula code printed on labels of mixtures classified for health or physical hazards, required by Annex VIII of the CLP Regulation.

PCN (Poison Centres Notification) is the submission of mixture composition via the ECHA portal used by poison centres. For users, the UFI on the label or in SDS section 1 speeds up help in case of poisoning.

LTIFR (Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate) is the number of lost-time injuries per 1,000,000 hours worked. TRIR (Total Recordable Incident Rate) covers all recordable injuries and is usually calculated per 200,000 hours (the OSHA standard).

Poland's statistics office uses an accident rate per 1,000 employees. When comparing figures, always check the base and event definitions.

In Poland, the IBP is required for buildings specified in the regulation on fire protection of buildings. It covers fire protection conditions, fire equipment and extinguishers, procedures, evacuation and building plans.

It is updated after changes affecting fire safety and reviewed at least every 2 years. Site-specific details should be confirmed with a fire protection specialist.

BBS (Behavior Based Safety) relies on regular work observations, safety conversations and feedback. The aim is to reinforce safe behaviour and remove causes of risky behaviour, not to punish.

BBS programmes complement leadership safety walks and short toolbox talks.

Just Culture distinguishes human error, at-risk behaviour and reckless disregard of rules. Workers report incidents and near misses without fear of blame, and the organisation looks for systemic causes.

It is a precondition for effective near-miss reporting — without trust, reports fall and risks stay hidden.

A DPIA under Article 35 GDPR describes the purpose and scope of processing, assesses necessity and proportionality, the risks to individuals and the measures to reduce them.

For systematic monitoring of employees, such as location in lone worker systems, a DPIA is often required; agree the scope with the data protection officer.

A check-in confirms status at set intervals — in an app, by phone or by scanning a QR/NFC point. A missed check-in triggers an alarm and the escalation procedure.

The interval follows from the risk assessment: the higher the hazard and the longer help takes to arrive, the shorter it is.