Glossary of Management System Terms
The following glossary terms are included to assist customers in clear understanding of the contents of this website. The specific standard using a term must be consulted for precise details of terms for conformity assessment purposes. Abbreviation of a particular management system is stated after the glossary term entries to explain the context of each entry.
Accident, OH&S
Undesired event giving rise to death, ill health, injury, damage or other loss
Audit, OH&S
Systematic examination to determine whether activities and related results confirm to planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable for achieving the organization’s policy and objectives
Audit, General
Systematic, independent and documented process to determine the extent to which policies, procedures and requirements are fulfilled
Authority, General
1- Body that has legal powers and rights.
2- Power or right to enforce obedience
3- Right to command or give a final decision
Certification, General
Or registration is the process by which a third party confirms through an audit that an organization’s management system fulfils requirements of a specified standard.
Continual improvement, OH&S
Process of enhancing the OH&S management system, to achieve improvements in overall occupational health and safety performances, in line with the organization’s OH&S policy. The improvement may not take place in all activities simultaneously.
Continual improvement, QMS
Process of establishing achievable objectives and seeking opportunities for improvements.
Customer Satisfaction, QMS
Degree of fulfillment of customer’s requirements as perceived by the customer.
Environment, EMS
Surroundings of organization which can be impacted by its activities including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans and their interaction.
Environmental Aspect, EMS
A component of an organization’s activities, products or services which has a potential to impact the environment.
Environmental Management System, EMS
Part of Organization’s management system committed to establish and maintain environmental policy and activities to achieve objectives of the policy
Hazard, OH&S
Source or situation with a potential for harm in terms of human injury or ill health, damage to property, damage to the workplace environment, or a combination of these.
Hazard Identification, OH&S
Process of recognizing that a hazard exists and defining its characteristics
Incident, OH&S
Event including near-miss that gave rise to an accident or had the potential to lead to an accident.
Interested Parties, OH&S
Individual or group concerned with or affected by the OH&S performance of an organization.
Monitor, QMS
Observe, supervise, keep under review, measure or test at intervals
Nonconformity, General
Non-fulfillment of a specified requirement which is supported by objective evidence
Non-Conformance, OH&S
Any deviation from work standards, practices, procedures, regulations, management system performance etc. that could either directly or indirectly lead to injury or illness, property damage, damage to workplace environment, or a combination of these.
Objectives, OH&S
Goals, quantified wherever possible, in terms of OH&S performance, that an organization sets itself to achieve
Occupational Health and Safety, OH&S
Conditions and factors that affect the well-being of employees, temporary workers, contractor personnel, visitors and any other person in the workplace.
Occupational Health and Safety Management System, OH&S
Part of the overall management system that facilitates the management of the OH&S risks associated with the business of the organization. This includes the organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaininig the organization’s OH&S policy.
Organization, OH&S
Company, operation, firm, enterprise, institution or association, or part thereof, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administration.
Performance, OH&S
Measurable results of the OH&S management system, related to the organization’s control of health and safety risks, based on its OH&S policy and objectives.
Performance, QMS
Execution, accomplishment, fulfillment, the carrying out of a command, duty, purpose, promise, etc.
Preventive Action, General
An action taken to eliminate the root cause of a future potential nonconformity.
Procedure, General
Specified way for carrying out an activity or process
Process, General
A set of connected activities considered as a unit that transforms inputs into products
Record, General
A document bearing the objective evidence of completion of an activity or results achieved
Risk, OH&S
Combination of the likelihood and consequences of a specified hazardous event occurring.
Risk Assessment, OH&S
Overall process of estimating the magnitude of risk and deciding whether or not the risk is tolerable
Safety, OH&S
Freedom from unacceptable risk of harm
Self-declaration, General
An organization itself or by a third party, which is not a certification body, conducts an audit to confirm that organization’s management system is in conformity with all requirements of the standard.
Tolerable risk, OH&S
Risk that has been reduced to a level that can be endured by the organization having regard to its legal obligations and its own OH&S policy.
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Lean Manufacturing Terms
Andon lights/boards, Lean Manufacturing
A visual control device in a production area
Autonomation, Lean Manufacturing
Semi-automatic operations where the operator and machine work together
Error-proofing, Lean Manufacturing
Designing a potential failure or cause of failure out of a product or process
Five S’s, Lean Manufacturing
Sort, straighten, sweep, schedule, and sustain – elements of a system to create a workplace suited for visual control and lean production
Five why’s, Lean Manufacturing
Taiichi Ohno’s practice of asking "why" five times in order to uncover the root cause of a problem so that effective countermeasures can be developed and implemented
Flow, Lean Manufacturing
The progressive achievement of tasks along the value stream
Flow manufacturing, Lean Manufacturing
A manufacturing methodology that pulls items from suppliers through a synchronized manufacturing process to the end product
Hoshin kanri, Lean Manufacturing
A strategic planning approach that focuses resources on the critical initiatives necessary to accomplish the business objectives of the firm
Just-in-time (JIT), Lean Manufacturing
System for procuring, producing and delivering the right items at the right time in the right amount
Kaikaku, Lean Manufacturing
Radical improvement of an activity to eliminate waste
Kaizen, Lean Manufacturing
Continuous incremental improvement of an activity to eliminate waste
Kanban, Lean Manufacturing
Stocking system using signals to make production systems respond to real needs and not predictions and forecasts
Muda, Lean Manufacturing
Waste – anything that interrupts flow, or consumes resources and produces no value
One piece flow, Lean Manufacturing
Producing or procuring one unit at a time as opposed to in large lots
Quality at the source, Lean Manufacturing
Prevention versus detection
Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing
Structured process improvement program for achieving virtually zero defects (3.4 parts per million) in manufacturing and business processes
Spaghetti chart, Lean Manufacturing
Map of the path taken by a product as it travels down the value stream in a mass production organization
Total employee involvement (TEI), Lean Manufacturing
Building a culture and practice of involvement and responsibility in every person in the organization
Value stream mapping, Lean Manufacturing
Representation of every process in the material and information flow, along with key data identifying the activities in the value stream, value added to a product or service as it travels along the value stream.
