Membership drawn from the fire service, business and industry, health care, educational and other institutions, and individuals in the fields of insurance, government, architecture, and engineering. Develops standards intended to minimize the possibility and effects of fire and explosion; conducts fire safety education programs for the public.

Federal agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) responsible for research in identifying occupational safety and health hazards and developing means of preventing these hazards, and for conducting educational programs to provide an adequate professional workforce for prevention.

Voluntary nongovernmental organization. Promotes accident reduction by providing a forum for the exchange of safety and health ideas, techniques, and experiences and the discussion of accident prevention methods. Offers background courses at Safety Training Institute and home study courses for supervisors.

The type, or classification of the hurt, harm, or impairment received or inflicted.

A description of the type or classification of the work actually being done by a person in connection with the work operation. Usually described in reports of occupational injuries.

A term used synonymously with non-injury accident.- Also applies to an accident having a potential for property damage, but where no property damage was incurred.

Submersion with asphyxia in which the victim survives the acute episode. Liquid may or may not have entered the lungs. Many near-drowning victims succumb to pulmonary edema hours to days following the acute episode.

The lack of reasonable conduct or care, characterized by accidental- or thoughtlessness-, which a prudent person would ordinarily exhibit. There need not be a legal duty. Actionable negligence - The breach or non-performance of a legal duty, through neglect or carelessness, which results in damage or injury to another. Comparative negligence - Where negligence by both the plaintiff and the defendant is concurrent and contributes to the injury. Plaintiff's damages are diminished proportionately, provided fault is less than the defendant's, and that even by exercising ordinary care plaintiff could not have avoided the consequences of defendant's negligence. Contributory negligence - Conduct by the injured person which should have known involved an unreasonable risk. Inattentiveness or carelessness when using an article known to be defective or hazardous, or disregard of warnings or instructions issued by manufacturers and sellers usually constitutes contributory negligence. Degrees of negligence - "Ordinary" negligence is based upon the fact that one ought to have known the results of unsafe acts, while "gross" negligence rests on the assumption that one knew the results of acts but was recklessly or wantonly indifferent to the results. All negligence below that called "gross" or "ordinary" by the courts is "slight" negligence.

A local autonomous new growth having no useful function.

Any disease of the peripheral nerves. Principal types are: a) demyelinating - a peripheral neuropathy in which the prominent pathologic alteration is an inflammatory destruction of the myelin sheath (example: Guillian Barre syndrome); b) Vascular - a peripheral neuropathy secondary to small vessel occlusion. Destruction involves both the axon and myelin sheath (example: diabetes mellitus mononeuropathy multiplex); c) Axonal - a peripheral neuropathy in which the primary pathologic alteration is the retro-grade destruction of the axon (examples: toxic neuropathy caused by exposure to arsenic, n-hexane, acrylamide, methyl N-butyl ketone, triorthocresyl phosphate, carbon disulfide).

A dermatitis due to sensitization to nickel and an allergic reaction on contact with nickel or nickel compounds. It is seen in nickel-platers and in persons wearing jewelry containing this metal.

The point of intersection or contact of two opposed rotating circular surfaces, or a plane and a rotating circular surface.

(See INERT GAS NARCOSIS.)

Any undesired sounds usually resulting in an objectionable or irritating sensation.

Engineering measures aimed at: the reduction of noise at the source; precluding the propagation, amplification, and reverberation of noise; and isolating workers. The term is meaningful only when noise control components and the points of observation are fully specified.

Sound level. For air-borne sound, unless otherwise specified, noise level is the weighted sound pressure level called sound level. The weighting must be indicated.

A decrease of the sound pressure level at a specified observation point, which is attributable to a designated structure. Noise reduction is also used to designate the differences in sound pressure levels existing at two different locations at a single time, when the designated structures are in position.

The slowly progressive inner ear hearing loss that results from exposure to continuous noise over a long period of time as contrasted with acoustic trauma or immediate physical injury to the hearing function.

Refers to stress, fatigue, health, work efficiency, and performance effects of loud noise that is continuous.

A statistical association between the occurrence of a factor and a disease in which the factor is not a cause of the disease.

A material or substance that will not burn readily or quickly. Noncombustible implies a lower degree of fire resistance than fire resistive. (See FIRE RESISTIVE.)

A test to determine the characteristics or properties of a material or substance that does not involve its destruction or deterioration (e.g., x-ray examination, ultra-high frequency sound, etc.)

An occupational injury which does not result in death, permanent total disability, permanent partial disability, or temporary total disability.

An accident in which at least one person is injured and no injury terminates fatally.

A material or substance that will not burn readily or quickly.

Any accident in which there is no personal injury or from which no personal

A general category of items such as might appear in an accident causal classification system to permit the grouping of relatively infrequent dissimilar items.

Generally innocuous dust not recognized as the direct cause of a serious pathological condition.