QHSE terms explained briefly and clearly

The action plan (plan van aanpak, PvA) belonging to an RI&E is the list of measures: which risks you tackle, how, who carries it out and when it is done.

Allergens are substances in food, such as gluten, milk, egg, peanuts and nuts, that can cause an allergic reaction in sensitive people and that you handle deliberately as a producer, from recipe to label.

An arbo catalogue is a document in which employer and employee organisations record how companies in their sector can meet the goal-based requirements of the Arbowet. The Netherlands Labour Authority reviews it; using it is not mandatory.

The Arbowet (Working Conditions Act) is the Dutch law on safe and healthy work. It sets out what employers and employees have to do, such as drawing up an RI&E and properly informing employees.

Being audit-ready means you can show at any moment that your management system meets the requirements: the evidence is current and easy to find, and open points are known and being followed up.

BHV (bedrijfshulpverlening) is company emergency response: employees who are appointed and trained to provide first aid and organise evacuation in case of fire or an accident until the emergency services arrive.

BOCF stands for BrydgeOne Control Framework, BrydgeOne's own control framework: one register of control points with assessment criteria, evidence, an assessment, gaps and actions.

The bowtie method visualises one serious risk scenario in a diagram: causes with preventive barriers on the left, the central event in the middle, consequences with recovery barriers on the right. It shows which measures stand between cause and damage.

Calibration is comparing a measuring instrument with a reference of known accuracy, to establish how much it deviates and whether you can still rely on it for your measurements.

CAPA stands for Corrective and Preventive Action: the fixed way of working to resolve a problem, remove its cause and prevent similar problems, including a check on the result.

A CCP (critical control point) is a step in your process where you must control a food safety hazard to prevent it, eliminate it or reduce it to an acceptable level.

Certification is the process in which an independent body establishes that your organisation meets a standard or scheme and confirms this with a certificate that is valid for a limited time.

A certification body (CB) is an independent organisation that assesses whether your management system meets a standard or scheme and issues a certificate on that basis.

CLP is the European regulation on the classification, labelling and packaging of hazardous substances and mixtures, so that hazards are indicated in the same way everywhere.

A CO2 footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions of an organisation, activity or product in a given period, expressed in CO2 equivalents.

The CO2 Performance Ladder is an instrument with which companies map and reduce their CO2 emissions, and which clients can take into account when assessing tenders.

The context of the organisation is the set of internal and external factors that influence what your organisation wants to achieve and how your management system needs to work.

A corrective action removes the cause of a non-conformity or incident that has already happened, so it does not occur again. That is more than repairing the immediate damage.

Customer satisfaction is the degree to which customers feel your products and services meet their expectations, measured through surveys, conversations, complaints and other signals.

An effectiveness check tests, after a measure has been carried out, whether it really solved the problem and removed the cause. Only then do you close the action or CAPA file.

An environmental aspect is an element of your activities, products or services that interacts with the environment, such as energy use, waste, emissions, water use or noise.

ESG stands for Environmental, Social and Governance: the three topics of environment, social matters and good governance on which organisations describe and assess their sustainability.

Evidence is the record that shows you do what you say you do, such as records, reports, signatures, photos and logbooks with a date and a responsible person.

FMEA is a method to determine, for each step of a process or product, what can go wrong, what that would mean, how likely it is and whether you would notice it in time.

Food defense is protecting food and food businesses against intentional contamination or sabotage, for example by a disgruntled former employee, an activist or a criminal.

Food fraud is deliberately deceiving with food for financial gain, for example through substitution, dilution, false origin or incorrect labelling.

A gap analysis compares your organisation's current situation with the requirements of a standard or scheme and shows where you do not yet comply and what you need to do.

A gate induction is a safety induction that visitors, contractors and employees complete before they are allowed onto a site or location, often with a test.

HACCP is a systematic method to identify, assess and control the food safety hazards in your process, especially at the points where control is truly critical.

The hierarchy of controls, also known as the STOP principle, gives the order in which you tackle risks: substitute first, then engineer, then organise and only then personal protection.

The High Level Structure is the common layout of ISO management system standards, with the same clauses, core texts and core terms. This lets you combine ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 in one management system.

An incident is an unwanted event that led, or could have led, to injury, damage or environmental pollution. Accidents and near misses are both a type of incident.

Inspectie SZW, now the Netherlands Labour Authority, is the government body that supervises compliance with the Arbowet and other labour laws and investigates serious occupational accidents.

Interested parties are all the people and organisations that can influence your organisation or are affected by it, such as customers, employees, regulators and local residents.

An internal audit is a systematic, independent check that your own organisation carries out to see whether your management system meets the requirements and works in practice as intended.

ISO 14001 is the international standard for an environmental management system. It helps an organisation understand its environmental impact, comply with legal requirements and improve its environmental performance.

ISO 45001 is the international standard for an occupational health and safety management system. It helps an organisation prevent injury and ill health and keep improving safety.

ISO 9001 is the international standard for quality management systems. It helps an organisation consistently meet customer and legal requirements and keep improving its way of working.

KAM stands for Kwaliteit, Arbo en Milieu (quality, occupational health and safety, and environment): three topics an organisation manages together in one system so work is done well, safely and with care for the environment.

The Kinney method determines the size of a risk using three factors: probability, exposure and effect. Multiply them and you get a risk score you can use to set priorities.

A KPI is a measurable indicator you use to track whether you are reaching an objective, such as the percentage of actions closed on time or the number of near misses reported per month.

An LMRA is a short check you do yourself at the workplace right before you start: does the situation still match the plan and are the risks still under control?

The LTIF shows how many lost-time accidents occur in relation to the number of hours worked. It lets you compare safety performance between periods and organisations.

Management of Change (MoC) is the controlled approach to changes in processes, installations, materials or organisation, so that you assess the consequences for safety, quality and environment beforehand.

A management review is the fixed moment when top management assesses whether the management system is suitable, effective and up to date, and decides what needs to improve.

A non-conformity is a failure to meet a requirement, such as a standard, procedure, law or customer agreement. An NCR (non-conformity report) is the formal record of it, covering cause, actions and closure.

A near miss is an event that almost caused injury or damage, but where it just did not happen. It is a warning to improve something before things really go wrong.

A non-conformity (afwijking) is a situation in which something does not meet a requirement, such as a standard, procedure, legal requirement, customer agreement or specification. Also called NC.

An objective is a concrete result your organisation wants to achieve within an agreed period, derived from the policy, with a measurable outcome and an owner.

Arbobeleid is what an employer arranges and records for safe and healthy work: mapping risks with an RI&E, carrying out measures, arranging sickness absence support, organising emergency response and instruction, and evaluating all this periodically.

PPE (persoonlijke beschermingsmiddelen) is equipment that a worker wears or uses for protection against a hazard, such as a helmet, safety shoes, gloves or goggles.

The PDCA cycle is a way of working in four steps: plan, do, check and act. You go through it again and again to improve in a demonstrable way.

A permit to work is written permission to carry out high-risk work, granted only after the conditions and measures have been checked.

The prevention officer is the employee who assists the employer with safe and healthy work: they help prepare the RI&E, advise on measures and help carry them out. Every employer has to appoint at least one.

A preventive action prevents a potential problem from arising. You take it before anything goes wrong, based on a risk, trend or warning.

A PRP (prerequisite programme) consists of the basic conditions for safe production, such as hygiene, cleaning, maintenance and pest control, and is independent of one specific process.

QHSE stands for Quality, Health, Safety and Environment: the set of agreements and activities with which an organisation controls and keeps improving quality, health, safety and the environment.

A RACI matrix records, per task or process, who is Responsible (does the work), Accountable (answerable), Consulted (asked for input) and Informed (told afterwards). That makes clear to everyone who does what and who decides.

A recall is retrieving a product that has already reached customers or consumers, because it is unsafe or may not meet the requirements.

Residual risk is the risk that remains after you have taken measures. You judge whether it is still acceptable or whether extra measures are needed.

An RI&E is an overview of all risks to the safety and health of your employees, with an assessment of those risks and an action plan to reduce them.

A risk matrix is a table in which you determine the risk by combining the likelihood of an event with its consequence. The colour of the cell shows how big the risk is.

Risks and opportunities are developments that can cause your organisation to miss its objectives (risk) or to achieve them better (opportunity), which is why you deliberately steer on them.

A root cause analysis finds out why a non-conformity, incident or complaint occurred, so you tackle the underlying cause and not just the symptom.

The Safety Culture Ladder is a five-step assessment model that shows how mature an organisation's safety culture is, from little attention to safety to safety as a natural part of the work.

A safety data sheet (SDS) is a document from the supplier with information on the properties, hazards and safe use of a hazardous substance or mixture.

A safety walk-round is a regular round by a manager or the directors through the workplace to see behaviour and conditions and talk about them with employees. It is about observation and conversation, not ticking boxes.

The scope of a management system defines which locations, activities, products and processes the system covers, and what is deliberately left out.

Stop work authority is the right and duty of everyone on the worksite to stop work in an unsafe situation, without negative consequences. You record it as an agreement and make sure supervisors respond to it properly.

Supplier evaluation is establishing whether suppliers, subcontractors and service providers meet your requirements for quality, safety, environment and reliability, at selection and periodically afterwards.

A toolbox talk is a short safety discussion at the workplace about one topic, usually led by the supervisor or foreman, after which participants record their attendance.

A TRA is a risk analysis for a single task: you split the work into steps, name the hazards per step, determine the risk and choose measures before the work begins.

Traceability is the ability to follow where a raw material or product came from and where it has gone, so that in case of a problem you quickly find the batches and parties involved.

The Tripod method (Tripod Beta) is an incident investigation model that looks beyond the immediate cause. It identifies the barriers that failed and the underlying organisational weaknesses that made them fail.

VCA is the VGM Checklist Aannemers (safety, health and environment checklist for contractors): a widely used scheme in which contractors and other companies get certified for managing safety, health and environment.

VGM stands for Veiligheid, Gezondheid en Milieu (safety, health and environment): the topics with which an organisation, especially in construction and industry, keeps work safe and healthy and limits its environmental impact.

VSME is a voluntary European reporting standard that lets small and medium-sized companies record and share in a simple way how they perform on environment, social matters and governance.

Work equipment is everything employees use for their work: machines, installations, apparatus, tools and other aids. The employer makes sure it is safe, maintained and, where needed, inspected, and that people know how to use it.

A work instruction describes step by step how to carry out one action or task, so that everyone does it the same, safe way. It is more concrete than a procedure and a process.

A work start briefing is a short meeting before the work begins in which you go through the plan, risks, measures and division of tasks with the people doing the work.