Welcome to our jargon buster. 

CDM - Construction, design and management, this is the piece of legislation in place to ensure all building, and maintenance work is managed and completed safely. The design part relates to safety being designed into how we use a building.

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COSHH - Control of substances harmful to health, this is not a bit of legislation designed to make you risk assess a bottle of washing up liquid! COSHH is about making better decisions about how you choose and use chemicals in your business and protecting everyone from needless harm. ​

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DSE - Display Screen equipment - usually referring to the assessment to ensure safe working with said equipment.

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Ergonomics - The design of everything you work with and the environment you work in to work as effectively as possible avoiding stress, strain, injury or fatigue.  Ergonomics is part of the way everything is designed at work and at home and even on the way home. 

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Emergency Lighting - The lighting that will be powered by a backup power source to help you see to get out of a building in a power cut. Usually the little green LEDs you see they are placed to highlight steps , changes of direction and guide you safely out.

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Fire Systems - This means the collection of fire detection, alarms, fire doors (which cannot do their job with a wedge in the way), fire protection in ceilings and walls - everything that helps prevent fire from occurring, spreading and that helps you get out if there is a fire.

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Fire Water - The water used by the fire service to put out a fire that will be contaminated with lots of nasty chemicals and bits of burnt furniture basically everything that has been burnt and melted. 

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HAVS - Hand, arm vibration syndrome - usually from use of vibrating tools (intentionally vibrating or vibrating because they are broken/old)

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HSE - Health and safety executive, these are the law makers and can serve a prosecution on any organisation for failings in health and safety.

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HVAC -  Heating, ventilation & Air con - has its own health and safety laws as not keeping it maintained can affect your health.

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Inspection and Audit - Inspection is a look at what you are doing, the conditions you are working in offering you an opportunity for a surface level check up. Audit is more detailed and goes into how health and safety works within your business, it offers you the opportunity to check up on the effectiveness of your policies, procedures and arrangements and plan your future improvements. 

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Method statement - This is step by step of how you will complete a task or job safely.

 

Near miss - An incident where no one is harmed but could have been, great opportunity to learn lessons without harm.​

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PAT - Portable appliance testing, this is the test on your electrical equipment done by using a test machine that runs a current through it and checks for any breaks in the protection from electrocution. 

 

PPE - Personal protective equipment, this is your last line of defence against any hazard you encounter at work. 

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RPE - Respiratory protective equipment. It has its own special category as there are so many different kinds for different tasks from those little face tents you get from B&Q for DIY to the full on Space adventure hoods used for a number of really stinky jobs. 

 

RIDDOR - These are specific kinds of accidents or dangerous occurrences at work that must be reported to the HSE.

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Risk Assessment - This is an assessment of all the hazards in your work and how the risk of harm is lowered.

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Procedure and Policy - These are the documents that set out your commitment to health and safety and give details on how you will work safely.

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Site - Your business premises, place of work regardless of business type.

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Work equipment - All equipment you use at or for work - Everything from office stationary to machines, cars, trucks and even the office fridge. 

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Workstation - this is a specific area where you do your job, from a desk to a workbench to an airplane cockpit. 

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