Safety Acronyms

Health and Safety Acronyms (HSA’s)

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

Safety Crusader, BBS Fanatic, Zero Harm Zealot, Compliance Controller and Global Pandemic Expert at Everything Safety

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