Accident
An accident is an undesired event giving rise to death, ill health, injury, damage or other loss.

Aspect
An environmental aspect is an element of an organization's activities, products or services that can interact with the environment.

Note: A significant environmental aspect is an environmental aspect that has or can have a significant environmental impact.

Audit - Environmental Management System
An Environmental Management System Audit is a systematic and documented verification process of objectively obtaining and evaluating evidence to determine whether an organization's environmental management system conforms to the environmental management system audit criteria set by the organization, and for communication of the results of this process to management.

Audit - Occupational Health & Safety Management System
An Occupational Health & Safety Management System Audit is a systematic examination to determine whether activities and related results conform to planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable for achieving the organization's policy and objectives.

Continual Improvement
Continual Improvement is the process of enhancing the environmental and/or health & safety management system to achieve improvements in overall performance in line with the organization's overall performances and policy.

Note: The process need not take place in all areas of activity simultaneously.

Environment
An environment is described as surroundings in which an organization operate, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelation.

Note: Surroundings in this context extend from within an organization to the global system.

Environmental Management System (EMS)
The Environmental Management System (EMS) is the part of the overall management system that includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes, and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the environmental policy.

Hazard
A hazard is a 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
Hazard Identification is the process of recognizing that a hazard exists and defining its characteristics

Impact
An environmental impact is any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organization's activities, products or services.

Incident
An incident is an event that gave rise to an accident or had the potential to lead to an accident.

Note: An incident where no ill health, injury, damage, or other loss occurs is also referred to as a “near-miss”. The term “incident” includes “near-misses”.

Interested Parties
The Interested Party is the individual or group concerned with or affected by the environmental and/or occupational health and safety performance of an organization.

Nonconformance
A nonconformance is a non-fulfillment of a requirement.  Specifically, a nonconformance is 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 the workplace environment, or a combination of these.

Objective
An Objective is the overall environmental and/or health & safety goal, that an organization sets itself to achieve.

Note: Objectives should be quantified wherever practicable.

Occupational Health and Safety
Occupational Health and Safety is defined as conditions and factors that affect the well-being of employees, temporary workers, contractor personnel, visitors and any other person in the workplace.

OH&S Management System
The Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) Management System is the 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 maintaining the organization’s OH&S policy.

Organization
The organization is defined as the company, corporation, firm, enterprise, authority or institution, or part or combination thereof, whether incorporated or not, public or private, that has its own functions and administration.

Note: For organizations with more than one operating unit, a single operating unit may be defined as an organization.

Performance
Performance is Measurable results of the Environmental and/or Health & Safety management system, related to the organization’s control of its environmental aspects and/or health & safety risks, based on its policy, objectives and targets.

Policy
The Environmental Policy is a statement by the organization of its intentions and principles in relation to its overall environmental performance which provides a framework for action and for the setting of environmental objectives and targets.

Prevention of Pollution
Prevention of Pollution is defined as the use of processes, practices, materials or products that avoid, reduce or control pollution, which may include recycling, treatment, process changes, control mechanisms, efficient use of resources and materials substitution.

Note: The potential benefits of prevention of pollution include the reduction of adverse environmental impacts, improved efficiency and reduced costs.

Risk
Risk is the combination of the likelihood and consequence(s) of a specified hazardous event occurring.

Risk Assessment
A risk assessment is the overall process of estimating the magnitude of risk and deciding whether or not the risk is tolerable.

Safety
Safety is the freedom from unacceptable risk of harm.

Target
An Environmental Target is a detailed performance requirement, quantified where practicable, applicable to the organization or parts thereof, that arises from the environmental objectives and that needs to be set and met in order to achieve those objectives.

Tolerable Risk
Tolerable risk is 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.