Glossary

Accident: an accident is an unplanned chain of events that causes the downgrading of a business operation and results in injury to employees or damage to equipment.

Administrative Head of Unit: a Director of a service unit, a Head of an academic department, a Director of a center, institute or school, a Principle of a college, a Dean, an Associate Vice President, the Registrar, the University Librarian, a Vice President or the President.

Authorized: to be designated or assigned by a manager or supervisor and trained to perform a specific type of duty or duties, to use specific equipment or vehicles and/or to be present in a given location at specified times.

Contractor: any person who works on University premises or projects who receives no medical, etc. benefits and is not considered an employee (full-time, part time or temporary) of the University.

Controls: emergency measures and techniques designed to eliminate or to reduce to acceptable levels, exposures to harmful agents in the workplace. These include engineering controls, monitoring, personal protection, administrative controls and work practices.

Controlled Product: A product, material or substance specified by regulations of the "Hazardous Products Act of Canada" as products, materials or substances included in any of the classes listed in Schedule II of the Act.

Critical Job: Jobs with past "loss" experiences, potential for a substantial loss, probability of a loss occurring, or new or unknown procedures.

Departmental Safety Program Administrator (DSPA): the Department Head or a faculty member or M&P staff person appointed by the Head. The DSPA is responsible for managing the safety program of the department. Also see Section 2, Roles and Responsibilities.

Emergency Number: a telephone number to be used for immediate access to help and assistance when an accident or serious problem occurs.

Emergency Response Plan: a plan of action in case of an emergency.

Employee: any individual who is considered a full-time, part-time or temporary employee of the University. This includes all bargaining unit, management and senior management personnel. Also see Manager/Supervisor.

Ergonomics: study of the problems of people in adjusting to their environment; science that seeks to adapt work or working conditions to suit the worker. The aim of the discipline is the evaluation and design of facilities, environments, jobs, training methods and equipment to match the capabilities of users and workers, and to reduce the potential for fatigue, error or unsafe acts.

Faculty Safety Program Administrator (FSPA): the Dean or a faculty member or M&P staff person appointed by the Dean. The FSPA is responsible for managing the safety program of the faculty. Also see Section 2, Roles and Responsibilities.

First Aid: emergency care of a person who is injured or ill to prevent death or further injury, to relieve pain and counteract shock until medical aid can be obtained.

First Aid Attendant: certified employee appointed and trained by the University/Department to administer first aid.

Formal Inspection: scheduled, comprehensive inspection of the overall workplace, usually performed at least once per month by properly trained operating personnel. Also see Informal Inspection and Job Observation.

Hazard: dangerous object, event, behaviour or condition, which can interrupt or interfere with the expected orderly progress of an activity.

Hazard Analysis: See Job Safety Analysis.

Hazard Reporting: reporting of a dangerous condition, potential or inherent, which can bring about an interruption or interference with the expected orderly progress of an activity.

Hazardous Material/Product: substance or material capable of posing an unreasonable risk to health, safety and/or property if not handled, transported or stored properly.

Hazardous Waste: solid or liquid waste that may cause or significantly contribute to serious illness or death, or that poses a substantial threat to human health or environment when the waste is improperly managed. Characteristics of hazardous waste are: ignitibility, gaseousness, corrosiveness, reactivity (explosiveness) or toxicity.

Health Monitoring: a system for providing surveillance of the health of employees exposed to hazardous substances.

Housekeeping: cleanliness, neatness and orderliness of an area with the designation of a proper place for everything and everything in its proper place; good housekeeping practices often preclude the occurrence of accidents in homes and workplaces.

Incident: an unforeseen event or occurrence, which does not result in an injury or property loss but has the potential.

Industrial Disease: a disease arising out of, and in the course of employment, resulting from exposure to, the absorption of or intoxication from harmful chemical, biological or physical agents to which the general public would not normally be exposed.

Industrial Health and Safety Regulation: Minimum health and safety requirements, prepared by the Workers’ Compensation Board under the authority of the Workers’ compensation Act. This regulation applies to all persons working in or contributing to the final production of those industries coming within the scope of the Workers’ Compensation Act of British Columbia.

Informal Inspection: an unscheduled, unplanned, walk through inspection of the workplace. Also see Formal Inspection and Job Observation.

Inspection: (a) deliberate, systematic scrutiny or examination of an activity or item; (b) thorough, close, critical examination, checking or testing against established standards. Also see Formal and Informal inspection.

Investigation: detailed systematic search to uncover facts and determine the truth of the factors (who, what, when, where, why and how) of accidents.

Job: an individual task or activity that an employee does within their occupation. The job is not the occupation itself.

Job Observation: observing an employee to determine if the employee is performing the job free from safety and health hazards without risk or damage to equipment, materials or other workers. Also see Formal Inspection, Informal Inspection and Job Safety Analysis.

Job Procedures: a step-by-step description that describes how to perform a job or task safely.

Job Safety Analysis: the break down into its component parts of any method or procedure to determine the hazards connected therewith and the requirements or qualifications of those who are to perform it.

A method for studying a job to (1) identify hazards or potential accidents associated with each step or task and (2) develop solutions that will eliminate, nullify or prevent such hazards or accidents.

Local Safety and Health Committee: safety committee at the local/departmental workplace level. Also see Safety and Health Committees.

Manager/Supervisor: any individual held responsible for the behaviour and production of a group of employees.

Material Handling: lifting, transporting and depositing material by human means using a variety of hand or hand-operated accessories such as hooks, bars, jacks, hand trucks, dollies, wheel barrows or other mechanical means.

Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS): data sheet that contains detailed information related to the possible safety and health hazards of a product. The MSDS are available from the manufacturer for any chemical or mixture of chemicals used in industry (all controlled products).

Monitor: to observe, listen in on, keep track of or exercise surveillance over a process or activity, e.g., to monitor radio signals, the quality of a product in an assembly live, the progress of a chemical reaction or the manufacturing steps in a production process.

MSDS: See material safety data sheet.

Occupational Environment Regulations: the government regulations of BC that govern workplace environment, including: lighting, heating, atmospheric conditions, office layout, etc.

Occupational Injury: an injury arising out of, and in the course of employment, resulting from the action of traumatizing physical or chemical agents in the workplace.

On-the-Job-Training: job-specific education and training of employees so that they may perform the work free of safety and health hazards.

Orientation: the act of making the employee aware of the employee’s job functions, responsibilities and how to safely perform the work.

Personal Protective Equipment: device or item of apparel worn to protect a worker, vehicle driver or passenger, or participant in a game or sports activity, ex. Helmet, goggles, safety belt, apron, shoulder pads, safety footwear, respirator etc.

Personal Security Emergency: exists when a reasonable person believes that there is an imminent risk to personal safety and that there is a need for immediate intervention.

Program Review: See Safety and Health Program Review.

Safety and Health Committee: committee of bargaining unit and management employees whose purpose is to promote safe workplace attitudes and practices, and to reduce or eliminate hazards and accidents.

Safety and Health Policy: written statement that expresses the philosophy, experience, commitment and belief of the Department’s senior management towards workplace safety and health.

Safety and Health Program: the administrative and procedural plan for placing loss prevention and hazard control systems into operation and maintaining their effectiveness. An orderly arrangement of activities and procedures which facilitate safe performance of tasks and processes and maintains control of risk due to hazardous exposure, including human error.

Safety Meetings: communication technique to relate effective employee knowledge, attitudes and skills applied to a job.

Safety and Health Program Review: an examination or evaluation to determine adherence to the Department’s safety and health program plans, goals, and results. Such a review provides for the basis for higher management judgment of safety and health program effectiveness.

Safety and Health Training: the transmission of knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations, etc. Concerning the corporate safety and health requirements of operations, processes, environment, etc., to persons working on University premises.

Senior Management: any individual held responsible for the direction and effective performance of operations of the organization.

Statistics: branch of mathematics dealing with numerical data assembled, processed an interpreted so as to present useful information about a given subject.

Supervisor: a person who has been assigned supervisory responsibility for others working or studying at UBC.

Supplier Label: label provided by a supplier that complies with the requirements, discloses the information and displays the hazard symbols as described in section 13b of the Hazardous Products Act (Canada), section 17 of the Controlled Products Regulations and section 11 of the WHMIS Regulations.

Threat: a declaration of an intention to punish or hurt. This may include: bomb and personal threats.

Verification: the process of an instance of establishing the correctness by examination or demonstration, i.e., the supervisor verifies that the employee is performing the work safely.

WHMIS: Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System. This legislation describes the safety and health hazards connected with hazardous (controlled products) materials in the workplace. Also see Material Safety Data Sheets and supplier / workplace label.

Workplace Inspection: See Inspection.

Workplace Label: label that discloses a product identifier, and information for safe handling of the controlled product and that indicates that a Material Safety Data Sheet is available.

Workplace Monitoring: to detect and measure any deviation from established safety and health procedures, using observation and information collection methods.