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You are here: Home / Safety Acronyms

Safety Acronyms

Health and Safety Acronyms (HSA’s)

safety acronyms

See also: Deciphering Safety Codes

As we all know, acronyms are shorter forms of words or phrases that are useful when you need to repeat the same word or phrase a number of times throughout the same piece of writing. Or maybe to make you look smarter or more important when they are printed on your name on your business card? They have become common place in the world of social media but can be misinterpreted eg the Mother who recently texted her son to say “Your Aunty just died, LOL” – she thought LOL meant “Lots Of Love”.

Rather than encourage trust and inclusion, Safety seems determined to encourage exclusion with its crazy language. See: Making Safety Language Meaningful

Apart from in the IT industry, the safety world seems to have more three-letter acronyms (TLA’s) than any other. I hear new ones every day, they roll easily off the tongue and those in the game spit them out assuming we all know what they mean. But, most of us are too proud to admit our ignorance and slink off to google it on the iPhone. As a lad we took great delight in making up our own derogatory meanings for any acronym we didn’t understand (“Backronyms”). Then there was our under performing Safety Health Improvement Team (took ages for the boss to wake up to that one). I’ve taken to always asking what a TLA means – its amazing how many people using them don’t even know!

I couldn’t find any web page or resource devoted to Safety Acronyms so I decided to start one and hope it helps – PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTRIBUTE IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW.

More Safety Jargon, Safety Acronym and Safety Talk Articles and Resources which may cause you to rethink your discourse:

  • Weasel Words in Safety – by George Robotham
  • They’re Only Words….Aren’t They? – by Rob Sams
  • Jargon Killed the Astronauts – by Phil LaDuke
  • WHS Harmonisation Jargon – by The Safety Nerd
  • OHS and WHS ACRONYMS – Our list of safety acronyms and their meaning (well some of them)
  • The Crazy Words of Health and Safety – by Mark Taylor
  • The Workers Compensation Discourse – by James Ellis
  • How Can I Get The Boss To Listen – by Sheri Suckling
  • Your Safety Talk Matters – by Rob Long
  • Jargon-less Safety Talk

    Here are a few Safety Acronyms to get the ball rolling and hopefully the list will grow over time:

    1. AART – Apply Advanced Resuscitation Techniques
    2. AFARP – As far as reasonably practical
    3. ALARA – As Low As Reasonably Achievable
    4. ALARP – As Low As Reasonably Practicable
    5. ASSE – American Society of Safety Engineers
    6. BBS – Behavioural Based Safety
    7. COP – Code of Practice
    8. CBT – Competency Based Training
    9. CIAED – Course In Automated External Defibrillation
    10. DGHS – Dangerous Goods and Hazardous Substances
    11. DIFR – Disabling Injury Frequency Rate
    12. DoL – Department of Labour NZ
    13. EHS, EHSQ – This time, adding the E in there means “Environment” and the Q for “Quality”. This adds a layer of environmental considerations to workplace health and safety. When you see this then you know its about systems rather than people
    14. EHSR – Elected Health and Safety Representative
    15. ELCB – Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker
    16. EMP – Emergency Management Plan
    17. ERT – Emergency Response Team
    18. FAI – First Aid Incident
    19. FIFR – Fatal Injury Frequency Rate
    20. FIGJAM – F$%# I’m Good, Just Ask Me
    21. HAZOP – Hazard and Operability
    22. HFA – Hazard Factor Assessment
    23. HIRA – Hazard Identification Risk Assessment
    24. HSE – Health & Safety Executive UK
    25. HSR – Health and Safety Representative
    26. HSSE – Health, Safety, Security & Environment
    27. ISHR – Industry Safety & Health Representative
    28. JSA – Job Safety Analysis (risk assessment before starting work)
    29. JSEA – as for JSA but includes Environmental risks
    30. L2RA – Level Two Risk Assessment
    31. LOTO – lock out tag out
    32. LTFR – Lost Time Frequency Rate
    33. LTI – Lost Time Injury
    34. MSDS – Material Safety Data Sheet
    35. MTI – Medically Treated Incident
    36. NLTPHRW – National Licence To Perform High Risk Work
    37. NMI – Near Miss Incident
    38. NSCA – National Safety Council of Australia
    39. NSFW – Not Safe For Work
    40. OFA – Occupational First Aid
    41. OHS – Occupational Health and Safety
    42. OHSC– Occupational Health and Safety Committee
    43. OSHA – Occupational Safety & Health Administration
    44. OHSMS – Occupational Health and Safety Management System
    45. PCBU – Person conducting a business or undertaking
    46. PHMP – Principal Hazard Management Plan – defined term in Qld coal mining legislation. A Principal Hazard is one capable of causing multiple fatalities. No coal mine in Qld can start without a PHMP for all PHs relevant to its operations.
    47. PHP – Personal Hearing Protection
    48. POCL – Pre Operation Check List
    49. PPE – Personal Protective Equipment
    50. PTW – Permit to Work
    51. RA – Risk Assessment
    52. RACE – Rescue, Activate alarm, Confine the fire, Evacuate/Extinguish
    53. RCA – Root Cause Analysis
    54. RCD – Residual Current Device
    55. SFA – Senior First Aid
    56. SHE – Safety Health and Environment
    57. S4IT – Special High Intensity Training, Safety & Health Improvement Team
    58. SHMP – Safety & Health Management Plan (action plan to implement the SHMS)
    59. SHMS – Safety & Health Management System
    60. SIA – Safety Institute of Australia
    61. SIFR – Serious Injury Frequency Rate
    62. SINA – Safety Is No Accident
    63. SIT – Safety Improvement Team
    64. SMP – Safety management Plan
    65. SOP – Standard Operating Procedure (defined in Queensland mining legislation)
    66. SSOP Safe Standard Operating Procedure
    67. SSHR – Site Safety & Health Representative
    68. SWI – Safe (or Standard) Work Instruction – short summary of the SOP, usually one page, listing risks and risk controls.
    69. SWL – Safe Working Load
    70. SWMS – safe work method statement
    71. SWP – Safe Work Procedures, Safe Work Platform
    72. TRI – Total Recordable Injuries, Total Reportable Injuries
    73. TRIFR – Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate
    74. TRIR – Total Recordable Injury Rate
    75. VRDs – Voltage Reduction Devices
    76. W@H – Work at Heights
    77. WAH – Work at Heights
    78. WHS – Workplace Health and Safety
    79. WHSO – Workplace Health and Safety Officer
    80. WICS – Work In Confined Space
    81. WMS – Work Method Statement
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Barry Spud

Barry Spud

Safety Crusader, BBS Fanatic, Zero Harm Zealot, Compliance Controller and Global Pandemic Expert at Everything Safety
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Latest posts by Barry Spud (see all)

  • Things To Consider When Developing And Designing Your Company SWMS - May 29, 2021
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Baidyanath Bhowmick says

    April 30, 2022 at 2:02 AM

    What is the full form of S.R in construction safety documentation and its calculation??

    Reply
  2. Ghouse Mohammed Khan says

    November 23, 2021 at 6:34 PM

    Increasing in Knowledge

    Getting new Points

    Reply
  3. PhoeniX XXX says

    August 7, 2020 at 9:27 PM

    NLTPHRW – National Licence To Perform High Risk Work
    can be shortened (as in use in WA) to
    HRWL – High Risk Work Licence
    or
    HRL – High Risk Licence

    Reply
    • PhoeniX XXX says

      August 9, 2020 at 3:57 PM

      PTW – Permit to Work
      despite this being the title of the form, in use on SWMS in WA :
      WP – Work Permit, as Permit to Work

      Reply
  4. Rita Rumler says

    August 7, 2020 at 6:06 PM

    I think there should be a standard across the field so everyone knows & understands Instead of missing the main point by being focused on working out the acronym.

    Reply
    • Admin says

      August 7, 2020 at 6:09 PM

      Safety should be inclusive rather than exclusive – it’s quickly becoming irrelevant

      Reply
  5. Rita Rumler says

    August 7, 2020 at 6:02 PM

    What does PRESENT stand for in WHS?

    Reply
    • Admin says

      August 7, 2020 at 6:09 PM

      No idea sorry

      Reply
  6. Rob Long says

    August 25, 2019 at 8:17 AM

    The more one speaks in codes of acronyms the more one endorses the mythology of professionalism, that is the attraction.

    Reply
  7. Aurora Salinas says

    August 25, 2019 at 12:19 AM

    trying to figure out what MSRA stand for, for existing machines?

    Reply
    • Jawad says

      December 12, 2019 at 11:07 PM

      Method statement & Risk Assessment

      Reply
  8. Donna Bradley says

    July 25, 2019 at 12:08 PM

    I agree with this being confusing and silly. With all the big corporations ‘inventing’ their own in-house lists and acronyms for the same stuff only makes it more difficult to understand.
    Safety is for everyone and it should be easy as possible, yet there is a pervasive culture of elitism creeping in where it is not wanted.
    The latest additions to this ludicrosity is that the key words are not even featured within the acronym, as this example ISSMEC.
    You are now expected to remember what is to be Set, without even an initial to help you out with Procedures or Accountability!

    Reply
    • Dave Collins says

      July 25, 2019 at 8:50 PM

      Great point about elitism – this stuff also just encourages parrot learning with no understanding of the underlying methodology

      Reply
  9. willem says

    July 22, 2019 at 9:53 PM

    ISSMEC WSTF DOES IT MEAN

    Reply
    • Dave Collins says

      July 25, 2019 at 6:22 AM

      More dumb rubbish to confuse and create the illusion of safety and control: Identify, Set procedures, Set accountability, Measure, Evaluate and Control

      Reply

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