SAFETY & RISK
The language of recognizing hazards, evaluating exposure, controlling risk, responding to events, and building work where safety is part of the plan—not something added after the plan is made.
ACCEPTABLE RISK
The level of residual risk that has been evaluated and determined to be tolerable under the organization's requirements and the conditions of the work.
Across the Table: Acceptable does not mean harmless. It means the remaining risk has been evaluated after controls and is within the level the organization is prepared to manage.
Use It — Field: “We've controlled what we can. Now we need to decide whether the remaining exposure is acceptable before we start.”
Use It — Management: “After applying the required controls, the residual risk was evaluated against the organization's acceptance criteria before work was authorized.”
Related: Residual Risk · Risk Assessment · Controls · ALARP
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL
A rule, procedure, schedule, training requirement, warning, or work practice used to reduce exposure to a hazard.
Across the Table: Administrative controls change how people perform the work rather than removing the hazard itself. They matter, but they generally depend on people consistently following the process.
Use It — Field: “We're limiting access to trained people and requiring a spotter during the lift.”
Use It — Management: “Access restrictions, training, and spotter requirements are administrative controls for the lifting activity.”
Related: Hierarchy of Controls · Engineering Control · PPE · Work Practice
ALARP
A risk-management concept meaning risk has been reduced as low as reasonably practicable, considering what additional reduction is reasonably achievable.
Across the Table: ALARP pushes us beyond asking whether a minimum rule was met. It asks whether another practical control could reasonably reduce the risk further.
Use It — Field: “We meet the minimum, but if moving the work ten feet removes the exposure, why wouldn't we do it?”
Use It — Management: “The team evaluated whether additional reasonably practicable controls could further reduce the residual risk.”
Related: Residual Risk · Risk Reduction · Hierarchy of Controls · Acceptable Risk
BARRICADE
A physical barrier or clearly defined boundary used to restrict access to a hazardous area.
Across the Table: A barricade is useful only if it clearly separates people from the exposure and is maintained for as long as the hazard exists.
Use It — Field: “Keep everybody outside this area while we're working overhead.”
Use It — Management: “The drop zone is barricaded to prevent unauthorized entry during overhead work.”
Related: Exclusion Zone · Access Control · Line of Fire · Dropped Object
COMPETENT PERSON
Under OSHA usage, a person capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them.
Across the Table: Competent Person is not just a compliment for an experienced worker. In OSHA standards it can carry a specific responsibility and authority requirement.
Use It — Field: “He's experienced, but before we call him the competent person, make sure he has the required knowledge and authority to correct the hazard.”
Use It — Management: “The employer designated a competent person who can identify the applicable hazards and has authority to take prompt corrective action.”
Related: Qualified Person · Authority · Hazard Recognition · OSHA
CONTROL
A measure used to eliminate a hazard or reduce the likelihood or severity of harm.
Across the Table: Controls are what turn hazard recognition into action. If we identify a serious exposure but do nothing different, we have not controlled the risk.
Use It — Field: “We see the hazard. What are we changing before anybody goes back in there?”
Use It — Management: “The team identified the hazard and implemented controls before authorizing the activity.”
Related: Hazard · Risk · Mitigation · Hierarchy of Controls
CORRECTIVE ACTION
An action taken to eliminate or control the cause of a detected problem, deficiency, incident, or unsafe condition and reduce the chance of recurrence.
Across the Table: Fixing the immediate condition gets us safe now. Corrective action should also address why the condition existed so it does not simply return.
Use It — Field: “Replace the damaged guard now, then figure out why it wasn't caught before the shift.”
Use It — Management: “Immediate correction restored the equipment, and corrective action is addressing the inspection failure that allowed the condition to persist.”
Related: Root Cause · Preventive Action · Incident Investigation · CAPA
ENERGY ISOLATION
The process of separating equipment or systems from hazardous energy sources so energy cannot unexpectedly reach the work area.
Across the Table: Turning something off is not always isolation. We need to know where the energy can come from and how it is physically controlled.
Use It — Field: “Don't trust the switch. Isolate the source and verify it before we touch the equipment.”
Use It — Management: “The equipment was isolated from all identified hazardous energy sources before servicing began.”
Related: LOTO · Zero Energy State · Verification · Hazardous Energy
ENGINEERING CONTROL
A physical or design-based change that isolates people from a hazard or reduces the hazard at its source.
Across the Table: Engineering controls are stronger than simply telling people to be careful because the protection is built into the work or equipment.
Use It — Field: “Instead of warning everybody about the opening all day, put a proper guard around it.”
Use It — Management: “A physical guard was installed as an engineering control to prevent exposure to the opening.”
Related: Hierarchy of Controls · Elimination · Administrative Control · PPE
EXCLUSION ZONE
A defined area around a hazard where access is restricted to protect people who do not need to be exposed.
Across the Table: If the work can drop, swing, arc, move, or release energy into an area, we should control who is allowed inside that area.
Use It — Field: “Nobody who isn't part of this lift belongs inside the swing radius.”
Use It — Management: “An exclusion zone was established around the lifting operation to control exposure to suspended loads and equipment movement.”
Related: Barricade · Line of Fire · Access Control · Dropped Object
EXPOSURE
Contact with, proximity to, or involvement in conditions where a person can be affected by a hazard.
Across the Table: A hazard can exist without someone being exposed to it. Risk changes when people, equipment, or operations enter the hazard's reach.
Use It — Field: “The voltage is the hazard. Our exposure starts when we open the cabinet and work inside that boundary.”
Use It — Management: “The risk assessment considers the workers' expected exposure to energized components during the task.”
Related: Hazard · Risk · Duration · Frequency
FALL ARREST
A system intended to stop a worker after a fall has begun and limit the consequences of that fall.
Across the Table: Fall arrest does not prevent the fall from occurring. It is the backup that catches the worker, so clearance, anchorage, equipment, and rescue still matter.
Use It — Field: “This harness doesn't keep you from falling off the edge; it catches you after you fall.”
Use It — Management: “The fall-arrest system was evaluated for anchorage, clearance, compatibility, and rescue requirements.”
Related: Fall Prevention · Anchorage · Rescue Plan · PFAS
FALL PREVENTION
Controls designed to prevent a worker from reaching or entering a fall hazard in the first place.
Across the Table: Preventing the fall is stronger than relying on equipment to arrest one after it happens.
Use It — Field: “If we can guard the edge so nobody can fall, that's better than depending only on a harness.”
Use It — Management: “The team prioritized fall-prevention controls before relying on personal fall-arrest systems.”
Related: Fall Arrest · Guardrail · Hierarchy of Controls · Elimination
FREQUENCY
How often an exposure, event, task, or condition occurs.
Across the Table: A low-consequence hazard repeated hundreds of times can deserve more attention than the same exposure occurring once a year.
Use It — Field: “We do this task twenty times a week, so even a small weakness in the process matters.”
Use It — Management: “The risk assessment considers both the frequency of exposure and the potential consequence.”
Related: Probability · Exposure · Risk Assessment · Severity
HAZARD
A source, condition, or activity with the potential to cause injury, illness, damage, or other harm.
Across the Table: A hazard is what can hurt us. Risk considers how likely the harm is and how serious the consequence could be under the conditions of the work.
Use It — Field: “The energized bus is the hazard. Now let's look at who is exposed and what controls we have.”
Use It — Management: “The energized equipment is the hazard; the risk assessment evaluates exposure, likelihood, severity, and controls.”
Related: Risk · Exposure · Hazard Recognition · Control
HAZARD COMMUNICATION
The system for communicating chemical hazards and protective information through labels, safety data sheets, training, and related requirements.
Across the Table: If people are using a chemical, they need to know what it is, what can hurt them, and what protection or response is required.
Use It — Field: “Before anybody uses that product, make sure the label and SDS are available and they know the hazards.”
Use It — Management: “Hazard Communication requirements are being met through labeling, SDS access, and employee training.”
Related: SDS · Chemical Hazard · PPE · Training
HAZARD RECOGNITION
The ability and process of identifying conditions, behaviors, energy sources, or changes that could cause harm.
Across the Table: We cannot control a hazard we never notice. Good field leadership trains people to see the exposure before the incident makes it obvious.
Use It — Field: “Before you start, look at what can move, fall, energize, pinch, or put somebody in the line of fire.”
Use It — Management: “The pre-task review emphasizes hazard recognition before controls and work methods are finalized.”
Related: Risk Assessment · JHA/JSA · Line of Fire · Competent Person
HAZARDOUS ENERGY
Energy capable of causing injury if unexpectedly released, including electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical, thermal, gravitational, or other stored energy.
Across the Table: The machine being 'off' does not mean the energy is gone. Stored, back-fed, or gravity energy can remain.
Use It — Field: “The motor is off, but that raised assembly still has stored gravitational energy.”
Use It — Management: “The energy-control plan identifies electrical and stored mechanical energy before servicing begins.”
Related: LOTO · Energy Isolation · Zero Energy State · Verification
HIERARCHY OF CONTROLS
A framework that prioritizes risk controls from more effective to less effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment.
Across the Table: The hierarchy keeps us from jumping straight to PPE when the hazard could be removed or isolated instead.
Use It — Field: “Before we tell everybody to wear more gear, can we remove the hazard or engineer it out?”
Use It — Management: “The team applied the hierarchy of controls and selected engineering protection before relying on administrative controls and PPE.”
Related: Elimination · Substitution · Engineering Control · PPE
HIGH-POTENTIAL INCIDENT
An event or near miss that could reasonably have resulted in a severe or fatal outcome under slightly different circumstances.
Across the Table: The actual injury may be small or nonexistent while the potential consequence is enormous. We should investigate the potential, not just the outcome.
Use It — Field: “Nobody got hurt, but if that object had landed two feet over, we'd be having a completely different conversation.”
Use It — Management: “The event is being treated as high potential because the credible worst-case consequence was severe despite no injury occurring.”
Related: Near Miss · Severity · Serious Incident · Learning
INCIDENT
An unplanned event that resulted in, or had the potential to result in, injury, illness, damage, loss, or other adverse consequence.
Across the Table: Incident is broader than injury. Near misses and property-damage events can contain the same lessons as events where someone was hurt.
Use It — Field: “Nobody was injured, but the dropped object is still an incident we need to understand.”
Use It — Management: “The incident is being documented and evaluated for actual and potential consequences.”
Related: Near Miss · Incident Investigation · Corrective Action · Reporting
INCIDENT INVESTIGATION
A structured process for determining what happened, why it happened, and what actions are needed to prevent recurrence.
Across the Table: The purpose should be learning and prevention, not stopping at the first person who made a mistake.
Use It — Field: “Don't stop at 'he dropped it.' Find out what conditions and controls allowed the drop to happen.”
Use It — Management: “The investigation is examining immediate causes, contributing factors, control failures, and corrective actions.”
Related: Root Cause · Contributing Factor · Corrective Action · Learning
JHA/JSA — JOB HAZARD ANALYSIS / JOB SAFETY ANALYSIS
A task-level process used to break work into steps, identify hazards associated with those steps, and establish controls before execution.
Across the Table: The form is not the safety. The value is the conversation that makes the crew think through the work before exposure begins.
Use It — Field: “Don't just sign it. Walk through the steps and tell me what can hurt us on each one.”
Use It — Management: “The crew completed the JHA/JSA by reviewing task steps, hazards, and controls before work began.”
Related: Pre-Task Plan · Hazard Recognition · Risk Assessment · Controls
LEADING INDICATOR
A proactive measure that can provide early warning about conditions likely to influence future safety performance.
Across the Table: Injury counts tell us what already happened. Leading indicators look at things we can act on before somebody gets hurt.
Use It — Field: “We're seeing more housekeeping problems and missed inspections. That's warning us before the injury number changes.”
Use It — Management: “Inspection quality and corrective-action closure are being monitored as leading safety indicators.”
Related: Lagging Indicator · Trend · Corrective Action · Safety Performance
LAGGING INDICATOR
A measure based on events or outcomes that have already occurred, such as recordable injuries, lost-time cases, or incident rates.
Across the Table: Lagging indicators matter, but they tell us about the past. A low injury rate does not prove today's controls are strong.
Use It — Field: “Zero injuries this month is good, but it doesn't tell me whether we're ignoring near misses.”
Use It — Management: “Recordable incidents are a lagging indicator and are being reviewed alongside proactive measures of control effectiveness.”
Related: Leading Indicator · Incident Rate · TRIR · Safety Performance
LINE OF FIRE
A position where a person could be struck, caught, crushed, cut, burned, or otherwise harmed by moving equipment, released energy, falling objects, or other hazard movement.
Across the Table: Line of fire is about where the energy or object will go if something moves or fails. The safest position is often simply somewhere else.
Use It — Field: “Don't stand where that load can swing into you if it shifts.”
Use It — Management: “The lift plan keeps personnel out of the line of fire created by the suspended load and equipment movement.”
Related: Exclusion Zone · Stored Energy · Dropped Object · Pinch Point
LOCKOUT/TAGOUT (LOTO)
A hazardous-energy control process that uses defined procedures and lockout or tagout devices to prevent unexpected energization, startup, or release of stored energy during servicing or maintenance.
Across the Table: LOTO is more than hanging a lock. We identify energy, isolate it, apply controls, address stored energy, and verify the condition before work begins.
Use It — Field: “Lock it out, release the stored energy, and verify before anybody puts hands in it.”
Use It — Management: “The authorized employee completed the LOTO procedure and verified isolation before servicing.”
Related: Hazardous Energy · Energy Isolation · Verification · Authorized Employee
NEAR MISS
An unplanned event that did not result in injury, illness, or damage but had the potential to do so.
Across the Table: A near miss is useful because it gives us evidence of a weak control without requiring somebody to be injured first.
Use It — Field: “It missed him, but that doesn't make it nothing. We need to understand why it fell.”
Use It — Management: “The near miss is being investigated because the event exposed a control failure with credible injury potential.”
Related: High-Potential Incident · Incident · Corrective Action · Learning
PERMIT-REQUIRED WORK
Work that requires formal authorization or a defined permit process before execution because of specific hazards, controls, or site requirements.
Across the Table: A permit is a control checkpoint. It confirms required conditions have been reviewed before higher-risk work begins.
Use It — Field: “Don't start the hot work until the permit is approved and the area is ready.”
Use It — Management: “The activity remains on hold until the required permit and associated controls are verified.”
Related: Hot Work · Confined Space · Authorization · Pre-Task Planning
PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE)
Equipment worn by a person to reduce exposure to hazards that have not been fully eliminated or controlled by other means.
Across the Table: PPE matters, but it sits near the bottom of the hierarchy because the hazard is still present and protection depends on correct selection and use.
Use It — Field: “Wear the required PPE, but don't use PPE as an excuse to stand somewhere you don't need to be.”
Use It — Management: “PPE was selected after higher-level controls were evaluated and remaining exposure was identified.”
Related: Hierarchy of Controls · Residual Risk · Administrative Control · Engineering Control
PINCH POINT
A location where a body part can be caught, compressed, or crushed between moving objects or between a moving and stationary object.
Across the Table: Hands naturally go where the work is happening. We need to identify where movement can trap them before we start pushing or positioning equipment.
Use It — Field: “Keep your hands out from between the cabinet and the wall while we move it.”
Use It — Management: “The pre-task plan identifies pinch points during equipment positioning and establishes hand-placement controls.”
Related: Line of Fire · Caught-Between · Material Handling · JHA/JSA
PRE-TASK PLAN
A work-specific planning discussion or document completed before starting an activity to review scope, sequence, hazards, controls, responsibilities, and changing conditions.
Across the Table: The pre-task plan connects production and safety. We should know both how we're doing the work and what can hurt us before the crew starts.
Use It — Field: “Before we touch it, let's walk through who's doing what, the sequence, and the hazards.”
Use It — Management: “The crew completed a pre-task plan covering execution sequence, roles, hazards, and required controls.”
Related: JHA/JSA · Readiness · Hazard Recognition · Toolbox Talk
PREVENTIVE ACTION
An action taken to prevent a potential problem or undesirable condition before it occurs.
Across the Table: Corrective action responds to something that happened. Preventive action uses what we know to stop a similar problem before it happens elsewhere.
Use It — Field: “We found this loose connection here. Check the other three sites before one of them fails too.”
Use It — Management: “A preventive inspection was added across similar installations after the condition was identified at the first site.”
Related: Corrective Action · Lessons Learned · Risk Reduction · Standard Work
PROBABILITY
The assessed likelihood that a hazardous event or harmful outcome will occur.
Across the Table: Probability is one side of risk. A low-probability event can still demand strong controls when the potential consequence is catastrophic.
Use It — Field: “It may not happen often, but if it does, somebody could die. Treat it accordingly.”
Use It — Management: “The risk assessment considers both probability and severity rather than relying on likelihood alone.”
Related: Severity · Risk Matrix · Risk Assessment · Exposure
QUALIFIED PERSON
A person who, by recognized degree, certificate, professional standing, or extensive knowledge, training, and experience, has demonstrated the ability to solve or resolve problems relating to the subject matter, work, or project; specific OSHA standards may define the term more narrowly.
Across the Table: Qualified Person and Competent Person are not interchangeable. The applicable standard determines what qualifications and responsibilities are required.
Use It — Field: “He's experienced, but let's verify he meets the qualification requirements for this specific work.”
Use It — Management: “The assigned individual meets the applicable qualification requirements for the electrical task.”
Related: Competent Person · Training · Authorization · OSHA
RESCUE PLAN
A preplanned method for safely and promptly recovering a person from a hazardous situation such as a fall, confined space, or elevated work location.
Across the Table: Calling 911 may be part of the response, but it is not automatically a complete rescue plan. Some exposures require immediate site-specific capability.
Use It — Field: “If somebody falls and is hanging in the harness, how are we getting them down?”
Use It — Management: “The fall-protection plan includes a site-specific rescue method, equipment, roles, and emergency communication.”
Related: Fall Arrest · Emergency Response · Suspension Trauma · Planning
RESIDUAL RISK
The risk remaining after selected controls have been implemented.
Across the Table: Controls rarely make every risk disappear. Residual risk is what remains, and leadership must decide whether it is acceptable or whether more control is required.
Use It — Field: “We've barricaded it and changed the sequence. What's still left that can hurt somebody?”
Use It — Management: “The residual risk was reassessed after controls were applied and before work authorization.”
Related: Acceptable Risk · Controls · Risk Assessment · ALARP
RISK
The combination of the likelihood of a harmful event and the severity of its potential consequences, considered in the context of exposure and controls.
Across the Table: The hazard is what can cause harm. Risk is our evaluation of how that hazard can affect people under the actual conditions of the work.
Use It — Field: “The suspended load is the hazard. The risk changes depending on who is underneath it and what controls we establish.”
Use It — Management: “The risk assessment evaluates likelihood, severity, exposure, and controls associated with the suspended load.”
Related: Hazard · Probability · Severity · Exposure
RISK ASSESSMENT
A structured evaluation of hazards and associated risk used to determine the controls and actions required before or during work.
Across the Table: Risk assessment turns 'this looks dangerous' into a disciplined decision about what can happen, how serious it could be, and how we will control it.
Use It — Field: “What can go wrong here, how bad can it be, and what are we changing before we start?”
Use It — Management: “The team completed a risk assessment and selected controls based on the identified exposure, probability, and severity.”
Related: Hazard · Risk Matrix · Controls · Residual Risk
RISK MATRIX
A tool that combines categories of likelihood and consequence to help rank or communicate risk.
Across the Table: The matrix supports judgment; it does not replace it. A colored box is only useful if the inputs honestly represent the work.
Use It — Field: “Don't argue about whether it's yellow or red until we've agreed on how likely it is and how bad the outcome could be.”
Use It — Management: “The team used the risk matrix to support prioritization after evaluating credible likelihood and consequence.”
Related: Probability · Severity · Risk Assessment · Risk Ranking
ROOT CAUSE
An underlying systemic or fundamental cause that, if effectively addressed, can reduce the likelihood of recurrence.
Across the Table: The person closest to the event is not automatically the root cause. We need to examine planning, equipment, training, supervision, procedures, and conditions that shaped the event.
Use It — Field: “He made the last move, but why was the job set up so one mistake could cause the incident?”
Use It — Management: “The investigation is looking beyond the immediate action to identify underlying control and system failures.”
Related: Incident Investigation · Contributing Factor · Corrective Action · Human Factors
SAFETY CULTURE
The shared values, expectations, behaviors, and decisions that shape how an organization manages safety when nobody is being specifically watched.
Across the Table: Safety culture is revealed by what the organization rewards, tolerates, corrects, and stops—not by slogans on the wall.
Use It — Field: “If production pressure makes people hide problems, our safety culture is weak no matter what the poster says.”
Use It — Management: “Leadership is evaluating whether incentives, supervision, and field behaviors consistently support safe decision-making.”
Related: Psychological Safety · Stop-Work Authority · Leadership · Reporting
SAFETY DATA SHEET (SDS)
A standardized document providing information about a chemical product's hazards, handling, storage, exposure controls, emergency measures, and other safety information.
Across the Table: The SDS is where we go when we need reliable information about what a product can do and how to work with it safely.
Use It — Field: “Before we use that chemical, pull the SDS and check the PPE and ventilation requirements.”
Use It — Management: “The SDS was reviewed to confirm chemical hazards, exposure controls, and emergency-response requirements.”
Related: Hazard Communication · Chemical Hazard · PPE · Exposure
SEVERITY
The seriousness of the credible consequence if a hazardous event occurs.
Across the Table: Severity asks how bad the outcome could reasonably be—not how bad the last outcome happened to be.
Use It — Field: “Nobody got hurt this time, but a falling tool from that height could be fatal.”
Use It — Management: “The event is being treated as high severity because the credible potential consequence includes fatal injury.”
Related: Probability · Risk Matrix · High-Potential Incident · Consequence
STOP-WORK AUTHORITY
The authority and expectation for workers to stop or pause work when they believe an unsafe condition, uncontrolled hazard, or serious uncertainty exists.
Across the Table: Stop-work authority only works when people can use it without being punished for raising a legitimate concern.
Use It — Field: “If you don't understand the condition or think it's unsafe, stop and get the right people involved.”
Use It — Management: “All personnel are authorized to stop work when a serious uncontrolled hazard or uncertainty is identified.”
Related: Psychological Safety · Escalation · Hazard Recognition · Authority
SUBSTITUTION
Replacing a hazardous material, process, tool, or method with a less hazardous alternative.
Across the Table: Substitution removes part of the problem instead of asking people to work around the same hazard more carefully.
Use It — Field: “If we can use a less hazardous cleaner that does the same job, use it.”
Use It — Management: “The team reduced chemical exposure by substituting a lower-hazard product that met the technical requirement.”
Related: Hierarchy of Controls · Elimination · Engineering Control · Risk Reduction
TOOLBOX TALK
A short, focused safety discussion used to reinforce hazards, controls, lessons, or expectations relevant to the work.
Across the Table: A toolbox talk should connect to what the crew is actually facing. Reading a generic sheet nobody remembers is weak control.
Use It — Field: “We're lifting today, so let's talk about line of fire and tag-line control before we start.”
Use It — Management: “Today's toolbox talk focuses on lifting hazards and the controls required for the planned work.”
Related: Pre-Task Plan · Communication · Training · Hazard Recognition
TRIR — TOTAL RECORDABLE INCIDENT RATE
A standardized OSHA-based rate used to express the number of recordable work-related injuries and illnesses relative to hours worked.
Across the Table: TRIR helps compare recordable incident performance across different workforce sizes, but it is a lagging indicator and should not be treated as a complete measure of safety performance.
Use It — Field: “Our recordable rate matters, but it doesn't tell us whether crews are reporting near misses or controlling today's hazards.”
Use It — Management: “TRIR is being reviewed alongside leading indicators rather than used as the sole measure of safety performance.”
Related: Lagging Indicator · Recordable Incident · Safety Performance · Leading Indicator
UNSAFE ACT
A term sometimes used for a person's behavior that increases exposure to a hazard or violates a required control.
Across the Table: Be careful with this label. Calling something an unsafe act can stop the investigation too early if we do not ask what conditions, incentives, training, design, or supervision influenced the behavior.
Use It — Field: “Yes, he reached into the area. Now tell me why the process allowed that to be the easiest way to do the job.”
Use It — Management: “The investigation documented the unsafe behavior while also evaluating the system conditions and control failures that contributed to it.”
Related: Human Factors · Root Cause · Unsafe Condition · Incident Investigation
UNSAFE CONDITION
A physical or environmental condition that creates or increases exposure to a hazard.
Across the Table: Finding an unsafe condition should trigger correction and a question: how did this condition get created, missed, or allowed to remain?
Use It — Field: “That damaged guard is an unsafe condition. Take the equipment out of service until it's corrected.”
Use It — Management: “The equipment was removed from service after an unsafe condition was identified during inspection.”
Related: Hazard · Corrective Action · Inspection · Unsafe Act
VERIFICATION
The act of confirming that a required condition, control, isolation, or result is actually in place rather than assuming it is.
Across the Table: Safety-critical work often fails at the gap between 'we think it's done' and 'we proved it's done.' Verification closes that gap.
Use It — Field: “Don't assume it's de-energized because somebody said it is. Verify it.”
Use It — Management: “The authorized employee verified the absence of hazardous energy before work began.”
Related: LOTO · Zero Energy State · Validation · Control
ZERO ENERGY STATE
A condition in which hazardous energy has been isolated, dissipated, restrained, or otherwise controlled so it cannot cause unexpected movement or release during the work.
Across the Table: Zero energy is not just 'the switch is off.' We have to account for stored, residual, gravity, pressure, and other energy sources.
Use It — Field: “The disconnect is open, but bleed the pressure and block the raised section before we call it zero energy.”
Use It — Management: “The crew verified electrical isolation and controlled stored mechanical and pneumatic energy before servicing.”
Related: Hazardous Energy · LOTO · Energy Isolation · Verification
ACCESS CONTROL
Measures used to limit entry into an area to people who are authorized, trained, or necessary for the work.
Across the Table: Keeping unnecessary people away from the hazard is often one of the simplest ways to reduce exposure.
Use It — Field: “Only the lift crew belongs inside this barricade until the load is landed.”
Use It — Management: “Access control limits the exclusion zone to personnel required for the lifting activity.”
Related: Exclusion Zone · Barricade · Administrative Control · Authorization
AUTHORIZED EMPLOYEE
In OSHA lockout/tagout terminology, an employee who locks or tags out machines or equipment to perform servicing or maintenance under the energy-control procedure.
Across the Table: Authorized has a specific meaning in LOTO. It is not simply anyone who has permission to be in the area.
Use It — Field: “If you're performing the servicing under LOTO, make sure you're trained and designated for that role.”
Use It — Management: “The servicing work is being performed by employees authorized under the site's energy-control program.”
Related: LOTO · Affected Employee · Training · Hazardous Energy
AFFECTED EMPLOYEE
In OSHA lockout/tagout terminology, an employee whose job requires operating or using equipment being serviced under LOTO, or working in the area where that servicing occurs.
Across the Table: Affected employees need to understand the lockout and stay within their role, but they are not automatically the people applying the lockout.
Use It — Field: “Let the operators know the equipment is locked out and cannot be restarted until it's released.”
Use It — Management: “Affected employees were notified of the lockout before servicing began.”
Related: Authorized Employee · LOTO · Communication · Training
CONFINED SPACE
A space large enough for a person to enter and perform work, with limited or restricted means of entry or exit, and not designed for continuous occupancy; additional criteria determine whether it is permit-required.
Across the Table: A tight area is not automatically a confined space, and a confined space is not automatically permit-required. The classification has specific criteria.
Use It — Field: “Before anybody enters, let's determine whether this meets the confined-space criteria and whether a permit is required.”
Use It — Management: “The space was evaluated against confined-space and permit-required criteria before entry planning.”
Related: Permit-Required Confined Space · Entry Permit · Atmospheric Testing · Rescue Plan
DROPPED OBJECT
An object that falls or is released from its intended position and can strike people, equipment, or property below.
Across the Table: A small object becomes serious when height adds energy. We control both the chance of the drop and who can be underneath it.
Use It — Field: “Secure the tools and keep everyone out of the drop zone while we're overhead.”
Use It — Management: “Dropped-object controls include tool retention, housekeeping, and an exclusion zone below the elevated work.”
Related: Line of Fire · Exclusion Zone · High-Potential Incident · Barricade
ELIMINATION
Removing the hazard entirely so the exposure no longer exists.
Across the Table: Elimination sits at the top of the hierarchy because people do not need to manage a hazard that is no longer present.
Use It — Field: “If we can do the work on the ground instead of at height, remove the fall exposure completely.”
Use It — Management: “The team eliminated the work-at-height hazard by assembling the component at ground level.”
Related: Hierarchy of Controls · Substitution · Risk Reduction · Fall Prevention
EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN
A defined plan for responding to foreseeable emergencies, including communication, roles, evacuation, rescue, medical response, and coordination.
Across the Table: The middle of an emergency is the wrong time to decide who calls, who responds, and where people go.
Use It — Field: “Before the outage starts, everybody needs to know the emergency contacts, exits, and response roles.”
Use It — Management: “The emergency response plan defines notification, evacuation, rescue, and medical-response responsibilities for the work.”
Related: Rescue Plan · Emergency Action · Communication · Preparedness
FATIGUE
A state of reduced physical or mental capability caused by insufficient rest, extended work, circadian disruption, workload, or other factors.
Across the Table: Fatigue is a risk factor because judgment, reaction time, attention, and coordination can degrade before someone admits they are too tired.
Use It — Field: “We've been at this too long. Tired people make bad calls, so we're stopping before the next critical step.”
Use It — Management: “The supervisor recognized fatigue exposure after extended hours and adjusted the work plan before safety-critical activity continued.”
Related: Human Factors · Fitness for Duty · Work Hours · Risk Assessment
FITNESS FOR DUTY
A person's ability to safely perform assigned work considering physical, mental, and functional condition.
Across the Table: Being present is not the same as being fit to perform safety-critical work. Fatigue, impairment, illness, or other conditions can change capability.
Use It — Field: “If you're not in condition to climb or drive safely, tell me before you put yourself or somebody else at risk.”
Use It — Management: “Supervision evaluates fitness for duty when conditions could impair safe performance of safety-critical tasks.”
Related: Fatigue · Impairment · Competency · Stop-Work Authority
HUMAN FACTORS
The ways human abilities, limitations, workload, environment, equipment design, communication, and organizational conditions influence performance and error.
Across the Table: Human error is rarely a useful stopping point. Human-factors thinking asks why the system made the error possible, likely, or hard to detect.
Use It — Field: “He made a mistake. Now look at the labeling, lighting, workload, and procedure that surrounded that mistake.”
Use It — Management: “The investigation is evaluating human factors rather than treating individual error as the complete cause.”
Related: Root Cause · Error Trap · Fatigue · Incident Investigation
MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE (MOC)
A structured process for evaluating and controlling new hazards or risks introduced when equipment, materials, procedures, organization, or operating conditions change.
Across the Table: A change that solves one problem can create another. MOC forces us to ask what new risk came with the change before we normalize it.
Use It — Field: “We're changing the equipment and the sequence. Recheck the hazards instead of assuming the old plan still works.”
Use It — Management: “The change triggered an MOC review to evaluate new safety, operational, and training requirements.”
Related: Change Control · Risk Assessment · Procedure · Training
RECORDABLE INCIDENT
A work-related injury or illness that meets OSHA recordkeeping criteria for recording on the employer's OSHA injury and illness records.
Across the Table: Recordable is a regulatory classification, not a measure of how much we care about an event. A nonrecordable near miss can still have fatal potential.
Use It — Field: “Don't judge the seriousness only by whether OSHA calls it recordable. Look at what could have happened.”
Use It — Management: “The event was evaluated for OSHA recordability separately from its high-potential risk classification.”
Related: TRIR · Lagging Indicator · Incident · OSHA
SAFETY OBSERVATION
A documented or informal observation of work conditions or behaviors used to identify strengths, hazards, and opportunities for improvement.
Across the Table: An observation should improve the work, not become a quota exercise. The value is what we learn and correct.
Use It — Field: “I saw the crew controlling the drop zone correctly. Tell them that's exactly what we want repeated.”
Use It — Management: “The safety observation documented both effective controls and an opportunity to improve material staging.”
Related: Leading Indicator · Recognition · Hazard Recognition · Corrective Action
STOP WORK
The act of pausing or halting an activity because a hazard, uncertainty, changed condition, or control failure requires resolution before continuing.
Across the Table: Stopping work is a control decision, not a failure of production. Continuing into an uncontrolled condition can turn a short pause into a serious event.
Use It — Field: “Stop. The condition changed and the JHA doesn't cover what we're looking at now.”
Use It — Management: “Work was stopped after conditions changed, and the risk assessment was revised before restart.”
Related: Stop-Work Authority · Changed Condition · Risk Assessment · Restart