41 HSE terms you should know

Unsure when it comes to HSE words and phrases? Fear not. We've compiled a glossary of the most important HSE terms you need to know.

HSE - Abbreviation for Health, Safety and Environment. It is an umbrella term for all internal conditions in the company related to health protection, environmental protection, working environment and safety for employees. Employers are required to work systematically with HSE, and employees are obliged to participate. The HSE handbook provides employees and managers with a simple overview of procedures, roles and legislation.

Health - Absence of illness, as well as physical, mental and social well-being. Employees must not be exposed to illness or other stresses that affect their state of health in their work.

Environment - Environment focuses on the external environment and the working environment. The working environment is the sum of the factors that affect employees physically, mentally and socially in a positive or negative way. The external environment means taking responsibility for preventing pollution from the business to air, water and soil.

Safety - Safety for people and materials both inside and outside the company. Today, there is often a need to focus on measures aimed at securing money etc. to create a safe workplace.

Serious near misses - Work-related incidents where the incident could have led to long-term sick leave or death. Also applies if the incident could result in damage to the environment or assets.

Serious injury/accident - Any injury, physical or mental, that results in permanent or prolonged inability to work

Working Environment Act - Statutory provisions on the rights and obligations of employers and employees to ensure a safe working environment.

Working Environment Committee (AMU ) - A committee with representatives from the employer and employee sides to work for a fully acceptable working environment in the company.

Employee participation duty - The employees' statutory right and duty to contribute to the design, implementation and follow-up of the company's systematic HSE work.

Sustainable solutions - Solutions that meet today's needs for energy, natural resources, technology, goods, services and consumption without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

CLP - EU regulation on classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures of substances.

Computer glasses - Special glasses for working at a computer screen.

Discrimination - Differential treatment, usually in the sense of treating some less favorably than others. The word is often used to denote an inappropriate or unreasonable differential treatment of other individuals, ethnic groups, nationalities, religious communities, etc. based on emotional or traditional attitudes. Three laws are particularly important: The Ethnicity Discrimination Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of ethnicity, national origin, descent, skin color, language, religion, community, etc. The Discrimination and Accessibility Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. Finally, the Gender Equality Act prohibits direct or indirect differential treatment of women and men.

Ethics - The study of what is right and wrong, good and bad.

Trade union - An association of employees in the same trade, industry or sector whose main objective is to promote the interests of its members vis-à-vis the employer.

Hazardous chemicals - chemical substances and mixtures of substances that may pose a health, environmental, fire or explosion hazard.

Health-promoting workplaces - The term can have many different meanings, but is about improving an individual's quality of life through increased job satisfaction and fewer job-related health problems.

HSE deviations - Violations of laws, regulations and/or internal provisions, or faults and deficiencies discovered during operation or internal audits. Examples of HSE non-conformities that must be reported are: fire hazards, material damage, burglary, personal injury, harmful emissions, etc.

HSE culture - Collective ways of acting expressed through shared understanding, values, norms, knowledge and symbols that shape HSE behavior in organizations.

HSE legislation - The laws mentioned in section 2, first paragraph, of the IK-HMS regulations.

Internal control - Systematic health, safety and environment work. Means working systematically, well-documented and purposefully with health, safety and the environment, as well as complying with Norwegian laws and regulations that affect the HSE area.

Performance review - Well-prepared, systematic and personal development and planning meeting between manager and employee once a year or more often.

Co-determination - A right enshrined in the Working Environment Act where employees in certain contexts have the right to participate in decision-making processes in areas that affect their working conditions.

Bullying - Activity in which someone intentionally, directly or indirectly inflicts harm on others through derogatory comments, physical attacks or other denial methods such as manipulation or exclusion from social interaction.

Psychosocial work environment - An umbrella term encompassing interpersonal interactions in the workplace, the individual's contribution and how it affects employees, organizational conditions and organizational culture.

Risk - Risk is defined in relation to the likelihood of an event occurring and the expected consequences of the event if it does occur.

Risk management - Controlled method to ensure that the goal of the HSE work is achieved.

Risk assessment - Involves identifying hazards and adverse events, analyzing and evaluating risks and identifying measures that can reduce the risk.

SHA - Safety, Health and Working Environment. The term is anchored in the regulations on safety, health and working environment at workplaces (Byggherreforskriften). The term SHA only applies to workplaces in the construction industry.

Safety data sheet - Information on inherent properties of chemical substances and mixtures as well as recommended protective measures and first aid.

Safe job analysis - A detailed review of the work operation to clarify which hazards need to be taken into account and how these should be handled, for example with training, safety equipment or personal protective equipment.

Substance index - A collection of safety data sheets for all chemical substances and substance mixtures in the company, as well as information sheets for hazardous biological material.

Stress - A term used to describe either external forces, the body's reaction pattern for coping with external and internal challenges or the negative effects and experiences of challenges.

Collective agreement - Agreements concluded between a group of employees and one or a group of employers for a given period of time.

Shop steward - A person elected to represent a group of employees in a workplace.

Harassment - A term used when one or more people are repeatedly subjected to negative actions by one or more people over time. In the case of harassment, there is often an imbalance of power, making it difficult for the person being harassed to defend themselves.

Whistleblowing - a term used to describe situations where an employee reports misconduct in the workplace.

Safety representative - An elected representative among the employees who shall safeguard the employees' interests in matters relating to the working environment.

Safety round - A working environment survey of the physical conditions at the workplace. Management is responsible for ensuring that this is carried out, but it should be planned and carried out together with the safety representative.

Occupational injury / occupational disease - Bodily injury or illness caused by an accident at work.

Root cause analysis - Systematic approach to describe and/or calculate the underlying cause of adverse events or problems.