Basic Calculations for Occupational Safety and Environmental Health Professionals - Mathematics and Statistics for the Environment - page 392

Personal protective equipment (PPE) —Any material or device worn to protect a worker from
exposure to or contact with any harmful substance or force.
Preliminary assessment —A quick analysis to determine how serious the situation is, and to
identify all potentially responsible parties. The preliminary assessment uses readily avail-
able information; for instance, forms, records, aerial photographs, and personnel interviews.
Pressure —The force exerted against an opposing fluid or thrust, distributed over a surface.
Radiant heat —The result of electromagnetic nonionizing energy that is transmitted through
space without the movement of matter within that space.
Radiation —Energetic nuclear particles, including alpha rays, beta rays, gamma rays, neu-
trons, high-speed electrons, and high-speed protons.
Reactive —A substance that reacts violently by catching on fire, exploding, or giving off
fumes when exposed to water, air, or low heat.
Reactivity hazard —The ability of a material to release energy when in contact with water.
Also, the tendency of a material, when in its pure state or as a commercially produced
product, to vigorously polymerize, decompose, condense, or otherwise self-react and
undergo violent chemical change.
Reportable quantity (RQ) —The minimum amount of a hazardous material that, if spilled
while in transport, must be reported immediately to the National Response Center.
Minimum reportable quantities range from 1 pound to 5000 pounds per 24-hour day.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) —A federal law enacted in 1976 to deal
with both municipal and hazardous waste problems and to encourage resource recovery
and recycling.
Risk —The combination of the expected frequency (event/year) and consequence (effects/
event) of a single accident or a group of accidents; the result of a loss-probability occur-
rence and the acceptability of that loss.
Risk assessment —A process that uses scientific principles to determine the level of risk that
actually exists in a contaminated area.
Risk characterization —The final step in the risk assessment process, it involves determining
a numerical risk factor. This step ensures that exposed populations are not at significant
risk.
Risk management —The professional assessment of all loss potentials in an organization's
structure and operations, leading to the establishment and administration of a comprehen-
sive loss control program.
Safety —A general term denoting an acceptable level of risk of, relative freedom from, and
low probability of harm.
Safety factor —Based on experimental data, the amount added (e.g., 1000-fold) to ensure
worker health and safety.
Safety standard —A set of criteria specifically designed to define a safe product, practice,
mechanism, arrangement, process, or environment; a standard produced by a body rep-
resentative of all concerned interests and based upon currently available scientific and
empirical knowledge concerning the subject or scope of the standard.
Secondary containment —A method using two containment systems so that if the first is
breached, the second will contain all of the fluid in the first. For USTs, secondary contain-
ment consists of either a double-walled tank or a liner system.
Security assessment —A security test intensified in scope and effort, the purpose of which
is to obtain an advanced and very accurate idea of how well the organization has imple-
mented security mechanisms, and to some degree, policy.
Sensitizers —Chemicals that in very low dose trigger an allergic response.
Short-term exposure limit (STEL) —The time-weighted average concentration to which work-
ers can be exposed continuously for a short period of time (typically 15 minutes) without
suffering irritation, chronic or irreversible tissue damage, or impairment for self-rescue.