What does the word safety means

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Safety is the state of being «safe», the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk.

Meanings

There are two slightly different meanings of safety. For example, home safety may indicate a building’s ability to protect against external harm events (such as weather, home invasion, etc.), or may indicate that its internal installations (such as appliances, stairs, etc.) are safe (not dangerous or harmful) for its inhabitants.

Discussions of safety often include mention of related terms. Security is such a term. With time the definitions between these two have often become interchanged, equated, and frequently appear juxtaposed in the same sentence. Readers unfortunately are left to conclude whether they comprise a redundancy. This confuses the uniqueness that should be reserved for each by itself. When seen as unique, as we intend here, each term will assume its rightful place in influencing and being influenced by the other.

Safety is the condition of a “steady state” of an organization or place doing what it is supposed to do. “What it is supposed to do” is defined in terms of public codes and standards, associated architectural and engineering designs, corporate vision and mission statements, and operational plans and personnel policies. For any organization, place, or function, large or small, safety is a normative concept. It complies with situation-specific definitions of what is expected and acceptable.^[1]

Using this definition, protection from a home’s external threats and protection from its internal structural and equipment failures (see Meanings, above) are not two types of safety but rather two aspects of a home’s steady state.

In the world of everyday affairs, not all goes as planned. Some entity’s steady state is challenged. This is where security science, which is of more recent date, enters. Drawing from the definition of safety, then:

Security is the process or means, physical or human, of delaying, preventing, and otherwise protecting against external or internal, defects, dangers, loss, criminals, and other individuals or actions that threaten, hinder or destroy an organization’s “steady state,” and deprive it of its intended purpose for being.

Using this generic definition of safety it is possible to specify the elements of a security program.^[1]

Limitations

Safety can be limited in relation to some guarantee or a standard of insurance to the quality and unharmful function of an object or organization. It is used in order to ensure that the object or organization will do only what it is meant to do.

It is important to realize that safety is relative. Eliminating all risk, if even possible, would be extremely difficult and very expensive. A safe situation is one where risks of injury or property damage are low and manageable.

When something is called safe, this usually means that it is safe within certain reasonable limits and parameters. For example, a medication may be safe, for most people, under most circumstances, if taken in a certain amount.

A choice motivated by safety may have other, unsafe consequences. For example, frail elderly people are sometimes moved out of their homes and into hospitals or skilled nursing homes with the claim that this will improve the person’s safety. The safety provided is that daily medications will be supervised, the person will not need to engage in some potentially risky activities such as climbing stairs or cooking, and if the person falls down, someone there will be able to help the person get back up. However, the end result might be decidedly unsafe, including the dangers of transfer trauma, hospital delirium, elder abuse, hospital-acquired infections, depression, anxiety, and even a desire to die.^[2]

Types

There is a distinction between products that meet standards, that are safe, and that merely feel safe. The highway safety community uses these terms:

Normative

Normative safety is achieved when a product or design meets applicable standards and practices for design and construction or manufacture, regardless of the product’s actual safety history.

Substantive

Substantive or objective safety occurs when the real-world safety history is favorable, whether or not standards are met.

Perceived

Perceived or subjective safety refers to the users’ level of comfort and perception of risk, without consideration of standards or safety history. For example, traffic signals are perceived as safe, yet under some circumstances, they can increase traffic crashes at an intersection. Traffic roundabouts have a generally favorable safety record^[3] yet often make drivers nervous.

Low perceived safety can have costs. For example, after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, many people chose to drive rather than fly, despite the fact that, even counting terrorist attacks, flying is safer than driving. Perceived risk discourages people from walking and bicycling for transportation, enjoyment or exercise, even though the health benefits outweigh the risk of injury.^[4]

Security

Also called social safety or public safety, security addresses the risk of harm due to intentional criminal acts such as assault, burglary or vandalism.

Because of the moral issues involved, security is of higher importance to many people than substantive safety. For example, a death due to murder is considered worse than a death in a car crash, even though in many countries, traffic deaths are more common than homicides.

Risks and responses

Safety is generally interpreted as implying a real and significant impact on risk of death, injury or damage to property. In response to perceived risks many interventions may be proposed with engineering responses and regulation being two of the most common.

Probably the most common individual response to perceived safety issues is insurance, which compensates for or provides restitution in the case of damage or loss.

System safety and reliability engineering

System safety and reliability engineering is an engineering discipline. Continuous changes in technology, environmental regulation and public safety concerns make the analysis of complex safety-critical systems more and more demanding.

A common fallacy, for example among electrical engineers regarding structure power systems, is that safety issues can be readily deduced. In fact, safety issues have been discovered one by one, over more than a century in the case mentioned, in the work of many thousands of practitioners, and cannot be deduced by a single individual over a few decades. A knowledge of the literature, the standards and custom in a field is a critical part of safety engineering. A combination of theory and track record of practices is involved, and track record indicates some of the areas of theory that are relevant. (In the US, persons with a state license in Professional Engineering in Electrical Engineering are expected to be competent in this regard, the foregoing notwithstanding, but most electrical engineers have no need of the license for their work.)

Safety is often seen as one of a group of related disciplines: quality, reliability, availability, maintainability and safety. (Availability is sometimes not mentioned, on the principle that it is a simple function of reliability and maintainability.) These issues tend to determine the value of any work, and deficits in any of these areas are considered to result in a cost, beyond the cost of addressing the area in the first place; good management is then expected to minimize total cost.

Measures

Safety measures are activities and precautions taken to improve safety, i.e. reduce risk related to human health. Common safety measures include:

• Chemical analysis
• Destructive testing of samples
• Drug testing of employees, etc.
• Examination of activities by specialists to minimize physical stress or increase productivity
• Geological surveys to determine whether land or water sources are polluted, how firm the ground is at a potential building site, etc.
• Government regulation so suppliers know what standards their product is expected to meet.
• Industry regulation so suppliers know what level of quality is expected. Industry regulation is often imposed to avoid potential government regulation.
• Instruction manuals explaining how to use a product or perform an activity
• Instructional videos demonstrating proper use of products
• Root cause analysis to identify causes of a system failure and correct deficiencies.
• Internet safety or Online Safety, is protection of the user’s safety from cyber threats or computer crime in general.
• Periodic evaluations of employees, departments, etc.
• Physical examinations to determine whether a person has a physical condition that would create a problem.
• Process safety management is an analytical tool focused on preventing releases of highly hazardous chemicals.
• Safety margins/Safety factors. For instance, a product rated to never be required to handle more than 200 pounds might be designed to fail under at least 400 pounds, a safety factor of two. Higher numbers are used in more sensitive applications such as medical or transit safety.
• Self-imposed regulation of various types.
• Implementation of standard protocols and procedures so that activities are conducted in a known way.
• Statements of ethics by industry organizations or an individual company so its employees know what is expected of them.
• Stress testing subjects a person or product to stresses in excess of those the person or product is designed to handle, to determining the «breaking point».
• Training of employees, vendors, product users
• Visual examination for dangerous situations such as emergency exits blocked because they are being used as storage areas.
• Visual examination for flaws such as cracks, peeling, loose connections.
• X-ray analysis to see inside a sealed object such as a weld, a cement wall or an airplane outer skin.

Standards organizations

A number of standards organizations exist that promulgate safety standards. These may be voluntary organizations or government agencies. These agencies first define the safety standards, which they publish in the form of codes. They are also Accreditation Bodies and entitle independent third parties such as testing and certification agencies to inspect and ensure compliance to the standards they defined. For instance, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) formulated a certain number of safety standards in its Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC) and accredited TÜV Rheinland to provide certification services to guarantee product compliance to the defined safety regulations.^[5]

United States

American National Standards Institute

A major American standards organization is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Usually, members of a particular industry will voluntarily form a committee to study safety issues and propose standards. Those standards are then recommended to ANSI, which reviews and adopts them. Many government regulations require that products sold or used must comply with a particular ANSI standard.

Government agencies

Many government agencies set safety standards for matters under their jurisdiction, such as:

• the Food and Drug Administration
• the Consumer Product Safety Commission
• the United States Environmental Protection Agency

Testing laboratories

Product safety testing, for the United States, is largely controlled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. In addition, workplace related products come under the jurisdiction of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which certifies independent testing companies as Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL), see.^[6]

European Union

Institutions

• the European Commission (EC)
• the European Committee for Standardization (CEN)
• the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
• the European Safety Federation (ESF)

Testing laboratories

The European Commission provides the legal framework, but the different Member States may authorize test laboratories to carry out safety testing.

Other countries

Standards institutions

• British Standards Institution
• Canadian Standards Association
• Deutsches Institut für Normung
• International Organization for Standardization
• Standards Australia

Testing laboratories

Many countries have national organizations that have accreditation to test and/or submit test reports for safety certification. These are typically referred to as a Notified or Competent Body.

See also

References

Further reading

What Does Safety Mean?

Safety is a concept that includes all measures and practices taken to preserve the life, health, and bodily integrity of individuals.

In the workplace, safety is measured through a series of metrics that track the rate of near misses, injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. In order to improve these metrics, employers and safety officials must also conduct investigations following any incident to ensure that all safety protocols and measures are being followed or to implement new ones if needed.

Safeopedia Explains Safety

Ensuring the safety of workers is both necessary and beneficial for any organization. Regulatory bodies such as OSHA and the NFPA mandate a variety of safety measures employers must take and have the authority to impose fines if their investigations reveal a violation of these standards.

Safety is also beneficial for all organizations since, in addition to avoiding costly fines, it ensures increased productivity, better morale, and fewer lost work days.

Synonyms

protection, immunity, shelter, security, defense

1	0   0 Reciprocal of risk: practical certainty that injury will not result from a hazard under defined conditions. Note 1. Safety of a drug or other substance in the context of human health: the extent to wh [..]

2	0   0 safety Safety is the need to ensure that the people involved with the company, including employees, customers, and visitors, are protected from harm.

3	0   0 safety early 14c., from Old French sauvete «safety, safeguard; salvation; security, surety,» earlier salvetet (11c., Modern French sauveté), from Medieval Latin salvitatem (nominative salvitas) &q [..]

4	0   0 safety /ˈseɪfti/ noun plural safeties safety /ˈseɪfti/ noun plural safeties Learner's definition of SAFETY 1  [noncount] : freedom from harm or danger : the state of being safe The changes were [..]

5	0   0 safety The condition of being safe from undergoing or causing hurt, injury, or loss. Protection against failure, breakage, or accident. [D03251]

6	0   0 safety minimizing the risk of harm to people or the environment. Possible types of harm include physical harm (repetitive stress syndrome, electrocution), mental anguish (lack of privacy, negative self-attri [..]

7	0   0 safety the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions; "insure the safety of the children"; "the reciprocal o [..]

8	0   0 safety (DOD) Freedom from those conditions that can cause death, injury, occupational illness, or damage to or loss of equipment or property, or damage to the environment.

9	0   0 safety Freedom from danger or risk of injury.

10	0   0 safety Freedom from hazard

11	0   0 safety freedom from harm or danger

12	0   0 safety 1. An important agile value. 2. The condition where one feels reasonably free to speak one's mind and act in a manner that one truly believes to be in the best interest of oneself, team, compa [..]

13	0   0 safety zikherkeyt

14

0   0 safety 1. A device on a firearm intended to help provide protection against accidental or unintentional discharge under normal usage when properly engaged.2. On — A term describing the position of a component of the safety device when set in a manner to provide protection against accidental or unintentional discharge under normal usage.3. Off — To allow t [..]

15	0   0 safety Precautions taken by firearms users to help provide protection against accidental or unintentional discharge.

16	0   0 safety The expectation that a system does not, under defined conditions, lead to a state in which human life, economics or environment are endangered.

17	0   0 safety This is a re-take that the producer or client wants to make sure that if there’s something technically wrong with the take they like, they have a back up. «Let’s do one more for safety, [..]

18	0   0 safety Device on the car or counterweight that will stop the car or counterweight…

19	0   0 safety The 8th

20	0   0 safety The outer area, of safety area, of a television film or tape, often eliminated and not visible on the screen of a TV set. Broadcasters therefore confine text and action to the centered area—about 90 [..]

21	0   0 safety The result of all actions executed to prevent personal injuries.

22	0   0 safety Safety means freedom from danger, risk, or injury. In other words, the condition of being safe. The definition of the term varies according to the context in which it is used.

23	0   0 safety (n) the state of being certain that adverse effects will not be caused by some agent under defined conditions(n) a safe place(n) a device designed to prevent injury or accidents(n) (baseball) the [..]

24	0   0 safety salus, incolumitas

25	0   0 safety A mechanical device built into a weapon intended to prevent accidental discharge. It may be either manually operated or automatic.

26	0   0 safety A large clamp that anchors the car to the building to keep the elevator from falling.

27	0   0 safety Component activities include:

28	0   0 safety Relating to the threat of crashes or collisions. See "Crash".

29	0   0 safety A safety pin used as a makeshift hypodermic needle.

30	0   0 safety Safety is the process of ensuring people involved with the organisation, including employees, customers and visitors, are protected from harm.

31	0   0 safety The extent to which a chemical substance may be used in the amounts necessary for intended purposes with a minimum risk of adverse health effects (WHO, 1979).

32	0   0 safety is a term used to mean being at little or no risk of injury. A holistic approach to wellbeing requires that people must feel that they are safe in addition to actually being safe (The National Injury [..]

33	0   0 safety An additional take, done after what may or may not be a good one, just as a safety net.

34	0   0 safety Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or Risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the Workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal [..]

35	0   0 safety The degree to which the Blood supply for Blood Transfusions is free of harmful substances or infectious agents, and properly typed and crossmatched (Blood Grouping and Crossmatching) to insure serolog [..]

36	0   0 safety Risk or hazard associated with the Handling and use of chemicals.

37	0   0 safety Freedom of equipment from actual or potential hazards.

38	0   0 safety Activities involved in ensuring the Safety of Food including avoidance of bacterial and other contamination.

39	0   0 safety Efforts to reduce Risk, to address and reduce incidents and accidents that may negatively impact healthcare consumers.

40	0   0 safety Freedom from exposure to danger and protection from the occurrence or risk of injury or loss. It suggests optimal precautions in the workplace, on the street, in the home, etc., and includes personal [..]

41	0   0 safety Freedom from danger.

42	0   0 safety Freedom from unacceptable risk of harm.

43	0   0 safety , adj. (pronounced sometimes as a trisyllable). A useful article in nurseries is called a ‘saf-e-ty pin.’

44	0   0 safety A device, incorporated into the design of most firearms actions that, when engaged, should prevent the discharge of the firearm. Some safeties are more positive than others. A safety device is not a p [..]

45

0   0 safety Freedom from unacceptable risk of harm. NOTE: In standardization, the safety of products, processes and services is generally considered with a view to achieving the optimum balance of a number of factors, including non-technical factors such as human behaviour that will eliminate avoidable risks of harm to persons and goods to an acceptable degree [..]

46	0   0 safety measures taken in the airport area to prevent acts that may cause danger or inconvenience to traffic at the airport.

47	0   0 safety Measures taken in the airport area to prevent acts that may cause danger or inconvenience to traffic at the airport.

48	0   0 safety Safety System. Helps prevent accidental acts of agressions that would cause the pilot to otherwise gain the Criminal or Suspect flags. Can be set to only allow friendly, suspicious, and all acts.

49	0   0 safety 1. A two-point scoring play usually caused by the ball carrier being tackled by a defender in his own end zone. The NFL equivalent of an own goal. 2. A defensive back who lines up in the middle of the field and provides cover for the cornerbacks on each flank.

50	0   0 safety This is the state of being safe and refers to people's physical and personal wellbeing and integrity as well as to their freedom from physical, environmental, social, spiritual, political, emotional or psychological harm.

51

0   0 safety [of an intervention:] Refers to serious adverse effects, such as those that threaten life, require or prolong hospitalization, result in permanent disability, or cause birth defects. Indirect adverse effects, such as traffic accidents, violence, and damaging consequences of mood change, can also be serious.

52	0   0 safety Relates to actual or potential bodily harm.

53	0   0 safety About Safety

54	0   0 safety A mechanical device to reduce the likelihood of accidental discharge of any gun to which it is fitted (provided that it has been engaged at the time): not much used in target shooting circles.

55	0   0 safety The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty. »If you push it to the limit, safety is not guaranteed.» (mechanics) A mechanism on a weapon or dangerous equipment designed to pre [..]

56	0   0 safety lang=en 1600s=1678 |1800s=1813 * »’1678»’ — . »». *: They are for holding their notions, though all other men are against them; but I am for religion in what, and so far as the times, and my [..]

57	0   0 safety freedom from unacceptable risk of harm (ISO/CD 14971 Medical Devices and Risk Management — Application of Risk Management to Medical Devices).

58	0   0 safety Refers to relative freedom from harmful effects to persons affected, directly or indirectly, by a product when prudently administered, taking into consideration the character of the product in relation to the condition of the recipient at the time.

59	0   0 safety also known as Penalty 6, a defending player hits the ball over his own back line.

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We are not for disarming people. When you have an epidemic it’s a public health issue, a safety issue.

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PRONUNCIATION OF SAFETY

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF SAFETY

Safety is a noun.

WHAT DOES SAFETY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of safety in the English dictionary

The first definition of safety in the dictionary is the quality of being safe. Other definition of safety is freedom from danger or risk of injury. Safety is also a contrivance or device designed to prevent injury.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH SAFETY

SYNONYMS OF «SAFETY»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «safety» and belong to the same grammatical category.

TRANSLATION OF SAFETY

Find out the translation of safety to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «SAFETY»

The term «safety» is very widely used and occupies the 929 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.

Principal search tendencies and common uses of safety

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «SAFETY» OVER TIME

10 QUOTES WITH «SAFETY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word safety.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «SAFETY»

Discover the use of safety in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to safety and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «SAFETY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term safety is used in the context of the following news items.

REFERENCE

« EDUCALINGO. Safety [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/safety>. Apr 2023 ».