CRSP & CRST Glossary — 30 Essential Terms with Formal Citations
Every term below is defined in our own words, then cited to the primary authoritative source — ISO, CSA, CCOHS, NIOSH, ACGIH, BCRSP, OSHA, or Canadian common law. No paraphrasing of textbook content; we go straight to the standard or statute. Use this as a study reference, an exam day refresher, or as the canonical citation source when you write up your own notes.
How to use this glossary
The 30 terms are organized by the six BCRSP CRSP exam domains (CRST shares 5 of these). Each entry has three parts:
- Plain definition — what the term means in clear language
- What the source says — the authoritative quote or paraphrase, with the exact citation (standard, clause, year, body)
- Why it matters for CRSP/CRST — how the term shows up on the exam and what trap to avoid
This page is built term-by-term. We start with 30 (5 per domain). New terms are added as we identify exam-frequency gaps. If a term you expected isn’t here yet, it’s on the list.
DOMAIN 1 Hazard & Risk Identification, Assessment, and Control
~25–30% of the CRSP exam. Foundational concepts. Most candidates lose marks here by confusing hazard with risk.
1. Hazard #
A source, situation, or act with the potential to cause harm — to people (injury or illness), property, or the environment.
any source of potential damage, harm or adverse health effects on something or someoneCanadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), OSH Answers Fact Sheets: Hazard and Risk — General, ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/hazard/hazard_risk.html
Distinguishing hazard from risk is one of the most-tested foundational concepts. A hazard is the thing (chemical, height, equipment); a risk is the exposure to the hazard combined with severity. Common exam trap: a question describes a stored chemical (hazard) and asks "what is the risk?" — the answer requires likelihood + severity, not just naming the chemical.
2. Risk #
The combination of the likelihood that a hazardous event will occur and the severity of harm if it does. Often expressed as Risk = Probability × Severity.
the chance or probability that a person will be harmed or experience an adverse health effect if exposed to a hazardCanadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), OSH Answers Fact Sheets: Hazard and Risk — General, ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/hazard/hazard_risk.html. Definition reinforced in ISO 31000:2018, Risk management — Guidelines, Clause 3.1.
The Risk = Probability × Severity formula appears in calculation questions. The Fine-Kinney variant adds Exposure: Risk = Probability × Exposure × Consequence. ISO 31000 frames risk as "effect of uncertainty on objectives" — a broader, modern framing tested at the CRSP level.
3. Risk Assessment #
A systematic process of identifying hazards, analyzing the level of risk, evaluating whether the risk is acceptable, and deciding on controls. Repeated periodically and after change.
Risk identification, risk analysis, and risk evaluation together constitute risk assessment.ISO 31000:2018, Risk management — Guidelines, Clause 6.4. Also: ISO 45001:2018, Clause 6.1.2 (Hazard identification and assessment of risks). CCOHS, OSH Answers: Risk Assessment, ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/hazard/risk_assessment.html.
Tested as a 4–5 step ordered process: identify → analyze → evaluate → control → review. Common stem: "after identifying the hazard, what is the next step?" → risk analysis (likelihood × severity), not control selection. Don’t skip to controls before evaluation.
4. HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study) #
A structured, team-based hazard identification technique that applies guide words (No, More, Less, Reverse, As Well As, Part Of, Other Than) to design parameters (flow, pressure, temperature, level, composition) to identify deviations from design intent.
A HAZOP study is a detailed examination, by a suitably experienced team, of a process or operation in a systematic manner to determine whether deviations from intended performance can lead to undesirable consequences.IEC 61882:2016, Hazard and operability studies (HAZOP studies) — Application guide, International Electrotechnical Commission. Original development by ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries) in the 1960s.
Frequently confused with What-If analysis. HAZOP is structured (guide-word-driven) and best for continuous-process plants (chemical, oil & gas). What-If is unstructured brainstorming and used early in design. Exam trap: choosing What-If for an existing chemical plant when HAZOP is more appropriate.
5. Job Hazard Analysis (JHA / JSA) #
A task-based hazard ID technique that breaks a job into sequential steps, identifies hazards at each step, and specifies controls. Also known as Job Safety Analysis (JSA) or Task Safety Analysis (TSA).
A job hazard analysis is a technique that focuses on job tasks as a way to identify hazards before they occur. It focuses on the relationship between the worker, the task, the tools, and the work environment.U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Job Hazard Analysis, OSHA Publication 3071 (Revised 2002). Also: CCOHS, OSH Answers: Job Safety Analysis (JSA), ccohs.ca/oshanswers/hsprograms/job-haz.html.
Most-used tactical hazard-ID tool. CRST testing area. Order: Select job → break into steps → identify hazards per step → develop controls per step → communicate & review. Trap: confusing JHA (task-level) with PHA/HAZOP (process-level).
DOMAIN 2 Hazard & Risk Control / Mitigation
~20–25% of CRSP / 25–30% of CRST. Hierarchy of Controls is the single most-tested concept on either exam.
6. Hierarchy of Controls #
A 5-level prioritization for controlling workplace hazards, ranked from most to least effective: Elimination → Substitution → Engineering → Administrative → PPE.
Controls are usually selected from the top, beginning with the most effective. Effectiveness depends on how the controls are implemented and used.National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Hierarchy of Controls, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cdc.gov/niosh/hierarchy-of-controls. Also: ANSI/ASSP Z10-2019, Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems; ISO 45001:2018, Clause 8.1.2.
The single most-tested concept across both exams. Always select the highest feasible level. PPE is "last line of defence" — never the primary control if engineering is feasible. Common trap: choosing PPE because it’s "cheapest and fastest." Wrong on the exam regardless of cost.
7. Engineering Controls #
Physical or design-based modifications that reduce hazard exposure at the source — barriers, ventilation systems, machine guarding, sound-dampening enclosures, isolation rooms, automation that removes the worker from the hazard.
Engineering controls reduce or prevent hazards from coming into contact with workers. Engineering controls can include modifying equipment or the workspace, using protective barriers, ventilation, and more.NIOSH, Hierarchy of Controls, cdc.gov/niosh/hierarchy-of-controls. For machine guarding specifically: CSA Z432-16, Safeguarding of machinery, Canadian Standards Association.
Higher than admin controls and PPE in the hierarchy because they don’t depend on human behaviour. Examples on the exam: local exhaust ventilation (LEV), sound enclosures, machine guarding, interlocks. If a question lists "ventilation" and "respiratory PPE" as options — pick ventilation unless engineering is explicitly infeasible.
8. Administrative Controls #
Work practices, policies, training, and scheduling that reduce hazard exposure — job rotation, work-rest cycles, signage, permits-to-work, exclusion zones, hot-work permits, restricted hours.
Administrative controls establish work practices that reduce the duration, frequency, or intensity of exposure to hazards.NIOSH, Hierarchy of Controls, cdc.gov/niosh/hierarchy-of-controls. Reinforced in ANSI/ASSP Z10-2019.
Lower-effective than engineering because they depend on human behaviour to be followed. Common exam stem: "if engineering controls are not feasible, the next best is..." → administrative. Trap: confusing PPE (worn by worker) with admin controls (procedure-based).
9. ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Practicable) #
A risk-management principle requiring that risk be reduced to a level where the cost of further reduction would be grossly disproportionate to the safety benefit. Applies in jurisdictions that follow UK-style OHS law (Canada provinces incorporate the principle via "reasonably practicable" wording).
ALARP means reducing the risk until the time, trouble and cost of further reduction become unreasonably disproportionate to the additional risk reduction obtained.UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Risk management: ALARP at a glance, hse.gov.uk/managing/theory/alarp.htm. Origin: Edwards v National Coal Board [1949] 1 All ER 743 (UK Court of Appeal). Adopted in Canadian OHS via "reasonably practicable" language in provincial OHS Acts.
The legal/ethical limit of risk reduction. You must reduce risk until further reduction is no longer reasonably practicable — not "until zero." On the exam, ALARP is the answer to "how much risk reduction is enough?" The "due diligence" defence in Canadian law operates on the same logic.
10. Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) #
Procedures for de-energizing and securing equipment so it cannot be unexpectedly started during maintenance or servicing. Each authorized worker applies their own personal lock; the lock is removed only by the person who applied it.
Hazardous energy isolation is achieved through a process that includes notification, shutdown, isolation, energy dissipation, lockout, tagout, and verification before work begins.CSA Z460-20, Control of hazardous energy — Lockout and other methods, Canadian Standards Association. U.S. equivalent: 29 CFR 1910.147 (OSHA Control of Hazardous Energy Standard).
One of the highest-frequency exam topics. Memorize the standard order: Notify → Shutdown → Isolate → Dissipate stored energy → Lockout → Tagout → Verify (try-test-try). Trap: skipping the verify step ("try-test-try" against the start button after lockout).
DOMAIN 3 Health & Safety Management Systems
~15–20% of CRSP / 15–20% of CRST. ISO 45001 and PDCA dominate this domain.
11. ISO 45001 #
International standard for occupational health and safety management systems, specifying requirements for organizations to prevent work-related injury and ill-health and to provide safe and healthy workplaces. Replaced OHSAS 18001 in 2018.
This document specifies requirements for an occupational health and safety (OH&S) management system, with guidance for its use, to enable organizations to provide safe and healthy workplaces.International Organization for Standardization, ISO 45001:2018, Occupational health and safety management systems — Requirements with guidance for use, Clause 1 (Scope), iso.org/standard/63787.html. Adopted in Canada as CSA Z45001:19.
Built on the PDCA cycle and the ISO High-Level Structure (HLS) common to ISO 9001 / 14001. Major exam topic. Know the 10 clauses, especially: 4 (Context), 5 (Leadership), 6 (Planning), 8 (Operation), 9 (Performance evaluation), 10 (Improvement).
12. CSA Z1000 #
Canadian voluntary standard for occupational health and safety management systems, applicable to organizations of any size. The Canadian-developed alternative to ISO 45001.
occupational health and safety [is] the promotion in the workplace of the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of workers and the protection of workers from, and the prevention of, workplace conditions and factors adverse to their health and safety.CSA Z1000:14 (Reaffirmed 2019), Occupational health and safety management, Canadian Standards Association, csagroup.org/store/product/CAN-CSA-Z1000-14. Note: CSA Z45001:19 separately adopts ISO 45001 in Canada.
The Canadian-grown OHSMS standard. Both Z1000 and Z45001 are recognized in Canadian jurisdictions. Distinguish: Z1000 was developed by CSA from scratch; Z45001 is the Canadian adoption of ISO 45001. Both follow PDCA but use slightly different clause structures.
13. PDCA Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act) #
A 4-stage iterative management framework: Plan (set objectives, plan changes), Do (implement), Check (measure results), Act (standardize successes or revise approach). Drives continuous improvement.
The PDCA cycle was popularized by W. Edwards Deming, who attributed it to his teacher Walter Shewhart. It became the structural backbone of ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 management systems.W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis (1986), MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study. Adopted as the management cycle in ISO 45001:2018, Figure 1 (Relationship between PDCA and the framework of this document).
Almost guaranteed exam question. Know which ISO 45001 clauses fall in each phase: Plan (4–6), Do (7–8), Check (9), Act (10). Trap: confusing PDCA with DMAIC (Six Sigma) or the OODA loop.
14. Continuous Improvement #
An ongoing effort to improve processes, products, or services through incremental and breakthrough changes. The "Act" phase of PDCA closes the loop by feeding lessons back into the next "Plan."
The organization shall continually improve the suitability, adequacy and effectiveness of the OH&S management system.ISO 45001:2018, Clause 10.3 (Continual improvement). Definition reinforced in ISO 9000:2015, Clause 3.3.2 (improvement).
Tested as the answer to "what comes after corrective action?" — continuous improvement, not "case closed." Modern OHSMS questions distinguish reactive correction from proactive system enhancement. ISO uses "continual" (always ongoing); some sources use "continuous" interchangeably.
15. Internal Responsibility System (IRS) #
A Canadian regulatory principle that everyone in the workplace — workers, supervisors, employers, owners — has responsibility for health and safety in proportion to their role and authority. Each person is accountable for what they have authority to control.
The Internal Responsibility System is the underlying philosophy of the [Occupational Health and Safety] Act. It is based on the principle that the workplace parties themselves are in the best position to identify and resolve health and safety problems.Originated in the Ham Commission Report (1976), Royal Commission on the Health and Safety of Workers in Mines, Ontario. Codified in the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, and equivalent provincial OHS Acts. Reference: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Guide to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Foundational legal concept. Tested as the legal answer to "who is responsible for safety?" — the answer is everyone, in proportion to authority. Common scenario stem: a worker reports a hazard to a supervisor who fails to act. Under IRS, the worker has fulfilled their duty; the supervisor is now accountable.
DOMAIN 4 Ethics, Legal & Professional Role
~10–15% of CRSP / 10–15% of CRST. Smaller domain by weight, but high-stakes — ethics questions are often binary right/wrong with no partial credit.
16. Due Diligence #
The legal standard requiring an employer to take all reasonable steps under the circumstances to identify hazards, prevent harm, and respond to incidents — proportionate to the foreseeable risk. The "due diligence defence" can rebut strict-liability OHS charges.
The defence of due diligence is available to a defendant who can demonstrate that he took all reasonable care... in all the circumstances of the case.R. v. Sault Ste. Marie [1978] 2 SCR 1299, Supreme Court of Canada (Dickson J.), establishing strict-liability offences and the due-diligence defence in Canadian regulatory law. Codified by reference in provincial OHS Acts.
The central legal test for OHS prosecutions. Elements that must be shown: (1) hazard was foreseeable, (2) defendant had control, (3) reasonable preventive steps were taken, (4) documentation supports the steps. Documentation is what wins or loses due-diligence cases — "if it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen."
17. Three Rights of Workers #
The three fundamental rights granted by all Canadian provincial OHS legislation: (1) right to know about workplace hazards, (2) right to participate in safety decisions (through JHSC or worker representative), and (3) right to refuse unsafe work.
A worker may refuse to work or do particular work where he or she has reason to believe that... any equipment, machine, device or thing the worker is to use... is likely to endanger himself, herself or another worker.Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, Section 43 (Refusal to work). Right to know: Sections 25(2)(a) and the WHMIS regulations. Right to participate: Section 9 (JHSC). Equivalent provisions exist in all provincial OHS Acts and the federal Canada Labour Code, Part II.
Most-tested question stem: "the worker exercised their right to refuse — what is the next step?" Answer involves a stepwise procedure: report to supervisor → investigation with worker representative → if unresolved, MOL inspector. Worker cannot be disciplined for a good-faith refusal.
18. Joint Health and Safety Committee (JHSC) #
A workplace committee composed of equal numbers of worker and management representatives that identifies hazards, recommends controls, investigates serious incidents, and reviews policies. Required in workplaces of 20 or more workers in most Canadian jurisdictions.
A joint health and safety committee shall be established and maintained at a workplace at which twenty or more workers are regularly employed.Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, Section 9(2)(a). Federal: Canada Labour Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. L-2, Part II, Section 135 (workplace committee). Specific thresholds and rules vary by province; consult the applicable jurisdiction.
Trigger thresholds vary by province (typically 20 workers for full JHSC, 6–19 workers for safety representative). Know the four core JHSC functions: identify, investigate, recommend, monitor. Trap: JHSC can recommend, but the final decision rests with the employer.
19. BCRSP Code of Ethics #
The professional conduct standard required of all CRSP and CRST certificants. Covers eight areas: Competence, Integrity, Respect in the Workplace, Ongoing Professional Development, Confidentiality, Awareness of Requirements, Support of the Safety Profession, and Support of BCRSP Certifications.
Certificants shall... maintain competence, provide sound judgment, recognize limitations, prioritize safety above self-interest, avoid conflicts of interest, and represent qualifications accurately.Board of Canadian Registered Safety Professionals (BCRSP), Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct, approved February 2015, effective January 1, 2016. bcrsp.ca/en/about-us/code-ethics-professional-conduct.
Direct exam topic. Ethics scenarios test which of the 8 principles applies. Memorize all 8 by name — CRSP-correct answers usually invoke Competence, Integrity, or Confidentiality. Trap: choosing "Respect" when the real issue is Competence (e.g., signing off on work outside your expertise).
20. Stop Work Order / Imminent Danger #
A regulatory order (issued by an OHS inspector) or worker-initiated action that halts work immediately when conditions present a risk of serious injury or death. Distinct from a routine work refusal — the threshold is "imminent danger," not just "unsafe."
An inspector who is of the opinion that any provision of this Act or the regulations is being contravened... may, in writing, order the person whom the inspector believes to be the contravener to comply with the provision and may require the order to be carried out forthwith or within such period as the inspector specifies.Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, Section 57 (Order to stop work). Worker right to refuse imminent-danger work: Section 43.
Tested in scenario archetypes about life-threatening risk. The legal threshold is imminent danger — immediate, serious, life-threatening — not "ongoing risk." Distinguish from a non-compliance order (correctable within a deadline) and a regular work refusal (worker-initiated, with multi-step process).
DOMAIN 5 Tech & Human Sciences (Industrial Hygiene, Ergonomics, Human Factors)
~15–20% of CRSP / 25–30% of CRST. Calculation-heavy on CRST. Models and theories are tested on CRSP.
21. Time-Weighted Average (TWA) #
A worker’s average exposure to a chemical or physical agent over a defined period, weighted by the time spent at each exposure level. Standard reference period is an 8-hour workday.
TLV-TWA is the time-weighted average concentration for a conventional 8-hour workday and a 40-hour workweek, to which it is believed nearly all workers may be repeatedly exposed, day after day, for a working lifetime, without adverse effect.American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), TLVs and BEIs: Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices (annual edition), Definitions and Notations section, acgih.org/science/tlv-bei-guidelines/definitions-notations. Reinforced in 29 CFR 1910.1000 (OSHA Air contaminants).
One of the most common math questions on CRST. Know the formula and the Brief & Scala adjustment for shifts longer than 8 hours: reduce TLV by a factor of 8/h × (24-h)/16, where h = shift hours. Don’t forget unit conversions (ppm vs mg/m³).
22. Threshold Limit Value (TLV) #
An occupational exposure guideline (TLV-TWA, TLV-STEL, or TLV-Ceiling) recommended by ACGIH for airborne contaminants and physical agents. TLVs are guidelines, not laws. Provincial OELs (Occupational Exposure Limits) and OSHA PELs are the legal limits.
Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) refer to airborne concentrations of chemical substances and represent conditions under which it is believed that nearly all workers may be repeatedly exposed, day after day, over a working lifetime, without adverse health effects.ACGIH, TLVs and BEIs Booklet (published annually), Introduction section. acgih.org/science/tlv-bei-guidelines.
Distinguish: TLV (ACGIH guideline, voluntary), PEL (OSHA permissible exposure limit, legal in US), OEL (provincial OHS limit, legal in Canada). TLVs are usually more conservative than PELs because they’re updated annually based on current toxicology research.
23. Heinrich’s Domino Theory #
A 1931 model of accident causation in which an accident is the result of a sequential chain of five "dominos": (1) ancestry/social environment, (2) fault of person, (3) unsafe act/condition, (4) accident, (5) injury. Removing the third domino (unsafe act/condition) is presented as the most practical intervention point.
The occurrence of a preventable injury is the natural culmination of a series of events or circumstances which invariably occur in a fixed and logical order... [Heinrich’s] dominoes, when standing on edge in close proximity, will fall in succession when the first one is upset.Herbert W. Heinrich, Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach, 1st edition (1931), McGraw-Hill, New York. Subsequent editions revised by Roos, Brown, and Petersen (5th ed., 1980).
Foundational theory; superseded but still tested. Key Heinrich figures: 88-10-2 ratio (88% unsafe acts, 10% unsafe conditions, 2% acts of God) and the 1:29:300 ratio (one major injury : 29 minor injuries : 300 no-injury accidents). Modern critique: Heinrich’s data is questioned and the model overemphasizes individual blame.
24. Swiss Cheese Model (Reason’s Model) #
A model of organizational accidents in which multiple layers of defence (each with "holes" representing latent failures or weaknesses) align under specific conditions to allow a hazard to penetrate. Accidents result from failures at multiple layers, not a single cause. Distinguishes active failures (sharp end, immediate) from latent conditions (organizational, dormant).
In an ideal world, each defensive layer would be intact. In reality, however, they are more like slices of Swiss cheese, having many holes... The presence of holes in any one slice does not normally cause a bad outcome. Usually, this can happen only when the holes in many layers momentarily line up.James Reason, "Human error: models and management," British Medical Journal 320(7237), 768–770 (2000). Original concept: James Reason, Human Error, Cambridge University Press (1990).
Direct exam topic. Distinguishes active failures (the visible mistake, e.g., worker bypassing a guard) from latent conditions (the dormant organizational weakness, e.g., production pressure, inadequate training). Modern incident investigation looks for both. Trap: identifying only the active failure and missing the latent organizational condition that allowed it.
25. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) #
A heat-stress index combining dry-bulb (Tdb), natural-wet-bulb (Tnwb), and globe (Tg, radiant) temperatures to measure the environmental heat exposure on a worker.
Indoor / no solar load: WBGT = 0.7 Tnwb + 0.3 Tg
WBGT is a composite index calculated from the natural wet-bulb, globe, and dry-bulb temperatures. The index correlates well with the metabolic and environmental heat load on the worker.ACGIH, TLVs and BEIs Booklet, "Heat Stress and Strain" TLV documentation. Also: ISO 7243:2017, Ergonomics of the thermal environment — Assessment of heat stress using the WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) index.
Calculation question on CRST. Memorize both formulas: outdoor uses three components (0.7 / 0.2 / 0.1); indoor uses two (0.7 / 0.3). Note that the wet-bulb gets the heaviest weighting in both — humidity dominates heat stress more than radiant heat or dry-bulb.
DOMAIN 6 Organizational Management & Leadership
~15–20% of CRSP / not weighted on CRST. Leading-vs-lagging indicators and safety culture are heavily tested at CRSP level.
26. Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) #
A safety metric expressing the number of recordable injuries and illnesses per 100 full-time-equivalent workers per year. Used for benchmarking organizations of different sizes.
The Total Recordable Cases incidence rate is calculated as: (Number of cases) × (200,000) ÷ (Total hours worked by all employees during the calendar year). The 200,000 figure represents 100 employees working 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year.U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) calculation guide; OSHA recordkeeping standard, 29 CFR 1904. Widely adopted in Canada via WCB / WSIB reporting.
Calculation question. The 200,000 = 100 workers × 2,000 hours/year × 1 year. Trap: forgetting to use this constant and dividing by 1,000 or 100,000. Worked example: 5 recordables, 250,000 hours worked → TRIR = (5 × 200,000) ÷ 250,000 = 4.0.
27. DART Rate (Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred) #
A severity-weighted variant of TRIR, counting only cases that resulted in days away from work, restricted duty, or job transfer. Excludes medical-treatment-only cases.
Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) cases are recordable injury or illness cases that resulted in one or more days away from work, days of restricted work activity, or job transfer.OSHA recordkeeping requirements, 29 CFR 1904.7, U.S. Department of Labor.
Distinguishes severity from raw incident count. If TRIR stays flat but DART drops → severity is being reduced even though total cases aren’t. Common exam interpretation question. Note: in Canadian reporting, the analogous metrics are LTIF (Lost Time Injury Frequency) and Severity Rate.
28. Leading vs Lagging Indicators #
Lagging indicators measure outcomes that have already occurred (TRIR, DART, fatalities, lost-time injuries, workers’ compensation costs). Leading indicators are forward-looking measures of activity that should prevent future incidents (training completion, hazard reports submitted, near-miss reporting rate, audit findings, behavioural observations).
Leading indicators are predictive measures, capable of changing operational behaviour. Lagging indicators are outcome measures, useful for benchmarking but not for prevention.Campbell Institute (National Safety Council), Practical Guide to Leading Indicators: Metrics, Case Studies & Strategies (2013). Concept reinforced in CSA Z1000:14 measurement guidance and ISO 45001:2018 Clause 9.1 (Monitoring, measurement, analysis, evaluation).
Tested as a strategic governance question. Modern programs emphasize leading indicators because they predict, not just report. Common exam stem: "the safety committee wants a metric to demonstrate proactive safety effort" → leading indicator (e.g., near-miss reports), not TRIR. Trap: choosing TRIR (lagging) for a "proactive" question.
29. Safety Culture #
The shared values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour in an organization that determine commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, the organization’s OHS management.
The safety culture of an organisation is the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and the style and proficiency of, an organisation’s health and safety management.Advisory Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations (ACSNI), Organising for Safety, Third Report of the Human Factors Study Group, UK Health and Safety Commission (HSE Books, 1993). The most-cited safety culture definition globally; adopted across OHS literature.
Tested in scenario archetypes about continuous improvement and culture maturity. Know the Hudson maturity ladder (Pathological → Reactive → Calculative → Proactive → Generative). CRSP exam questions often ask "given a Calculative culture, what’s the next step?" → Proactive (worker engagement). Reference: P. Hudson, "Implementing a safety culture in a major multi-national," Safety Science 45 (2007).
30. Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) #
A safety methodology that identifies critical workplace behaviours, observes them in practice, provides feedback to workers, and reinforces safe behaviours through positive recognition. Built on applied behavioural analysis (ABC: Antecedent-Behaviour-Consequence).
Behavior-based safety is a process that creates a safety partnership between management and workers focused on continuous attention to everyone’s daily behavior at work. The objective is to ensure that critical behaviors are performed safely on a consistent basis.E. Scott Geller, The Psychology of Safety Handbook, CRC Press (2001). Methodology origins traced to T. Krause, J. Hidley, and S. Hodson, The Behavior-Based Safety Process, Wiley (1990).
Tested as a complement to, not a replacement for, systemic controls. Common trap: choosing BBS as the "first" intervention when engineering controls are still missing. BBS is appropriate after the hazard hierarchy has been applied. Modern critique: BBS can shift blame to workers if used to deflect from organizational/engineering failures.
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