ASBESTOS |
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Asbestos (a misapplication of Latin: asbestos "quicklime" from Greek ἄσβεστος: a-, "not"; sbestos, "extinguishable") describes any of a group of fibrous metamorphic minerals of the hydrous magnesium silicate variety. The name is derived for its historical use in lamp wicks; the resistance of asbestos to fire has long been exploited for a variety of purposes. It was used in fabrics such as Egyptian burial cloths and Charlemagne's tablecloth, which, according to legend, he threw in a fire to clean. Asbestos occurs naturally in many forms (see below); it is mined from metamorphic deposits.
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AUTO - AIR BAGS |
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An airbag, also known as a Supplementary/Secondary Restraint System (SRS) or as an Air Cushion Restraint System (ACRS), is a flexible membrane or envelope, inflatable to contain air or some other gas. Air bags are most commonly used for cushioning, in particular after very rapid inflation in the case of an automobile collision.
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BATTERIES |
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In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores chemical energy and makes it available in an electrical form. Batteries consist of electrochemical devices such as one or more galvanic cells, fuel cells or flow cells. The earliest known artifacts that may have been batteries are the Baghdad Batteries, from some time between 250 BCE and 640 CE. The modern development of batteries started with the Voltaic pile developed by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in 1800. The worldwide battery industry generates 48 billion dollars in sales annually (2005 estimate).
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BICYCLE HELMETS |
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A bicycle helmet is designed to provide head protection for cyclists. Helmets are most suitable for preventing injury in straight falls, and for reducing friction related damage to the head. Modern bicycle helmets were first developed in the 1970s.
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CARBON MONOXIDE EMISSIONS |
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Carbon monoxide, chemical formula CO, is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, flammable and highly toxic gas. It is a major product of the incomplete combustion of carbon and carbon-containing compounds. It is less dense than air under ordinary conditions, however it accumulates on the ground, meaning that if poisoning causes loss of consciousness the amount of carbon monoxide inhaled increases and so fatality is radically increased. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns in air with a characteristic blue flame, producing carbon dioxide; it is a component of producer gas and water gas, which are widely used artificial fuels. It is a reducing agent, removing oxygen from many compounds and is used in the reduction of metals, e.g., iron , from their ores. At high pressures and elevated temperatures it reacts with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst to form methanol. Carbon monoxide is formed by combustion of carbon in oxygen at high temperatures when there is an excess of carbon. It is also formed with a byproduct oxygen by decomposition of carbon dioxide at very high temperatures (above 2,000 °C). It is present in the exhaust of internal-combustion engines, often the exhaust of automobiles, and is generated in coal stoves, furnaces, and gas appliances that do not get enough air. This may be due to insufficient ventilation or other reasons.
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CHEMICALS / ELEMENTS |
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A chemical element, often called simply element, is a chemical substance that cannot be divided or changed into other chemical substances by any ordinary chemical technique. The smallest unit of this kind of chemical substances is an atom, and the term "atom" is typically used to refer to atoms of particular elements. An element is a class of substances that contain the same number of protons in all its atoms. Chemicals are made from Chemical Elements.
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CLAIMS |
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A claim is a legal action to obtain money, property or the enforcement of a right protected by law against another party.
Individuals and businesses purchase insurance policies to protect against monetary losses. In the event of a loss, policyholders submit claims, or requests for payment, seeking compensation for their loss. Adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators work primarily for property and casualty insurance companies, for whom they handle a wide variety of claims alleging property damage, liability, or bodily injury. Their main role is to investigate the claims, negotiate settlements, and authorize payments to claimants, all the while mindful not to violate the claimants rights under Federal and State privacy laws. They must determine whether the customers insurance policy covers the loss and how much of the loss should be paid to the claimant. Although many adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators have overlapping functions and may even perform the same job, the insurance industry generally assigns specific roles to each of these claims workers.
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COMBUSTION |
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Combustion or burning is a chemical process, an exothermic reaction between a substance (the fuel) and a gas (the oxidizer), usually O2, to release heat. In a complete combustion reaction, a compound reacts with an oxidizing element, and the products are compounds of each element in the fuel with the oxidizing element. For example:
CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 2O + heat
CH2S + 6 F2 → CF4 + 2 HF + SF6 + heat
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CORROSION EVALUATIONS |
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Corrosion is deterioration of intrinsic properties in a material due to reactions with its environment. Weakening of steel due to oxidation of the iron atoms is a well-known example of electrochemical corrosion. This type of damage usually affects metallic materials, and typically produces oxide(s) and/or salt(s) of the original metal. Corrosion also includes the dissolution of ceramic materials and can refer to discoloration and weakening of polymers by the sun's ultraviolet light.
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DRUG ABUSE |
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Drug abuse has a wide range of definitions, all of them relating to the use, misuse or overuse of a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. Some of the most commonly abused drugs include alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, caffeine, cannabis, cocaine, methaqualone, nicotine, opium alkaloids, and minor tranquilizers. Use of these drugs may lead to criminal penalty in addition to physical, social, and psychological harm.[1] Other definitions of drug abuse fall into four main categories: Public health definitions, Mass communication and vernacular usage, Medical definitions, and Political and criminal justice definitions.
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DUST CONTROL |
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Dust consists of tiny solid particles carried by air currents. These articles are formed by a disintegration or fracture process, such as grinding, crushing, or impact. The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) defines dust as finely divided solids that may become airborne from the original state without any chemical or physical change other than fracture.
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EMS - Emergency Medical Service |
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The Emergency Medical Service system (known by the acronym "EMS" in the USA and Canada) is responsible for providing pre-hospital (or out-of-hospital) care by paramedics, emergency medical technicians (EMT's), and medical first responders (MFRs in US terminology). The goal of EMS is to provide early treatment to those in need of urgent medical care, and ultimately rapid transportation to an Emergency department. Stabilizing patients early (within the golden hour) significantly increases their chances of survival, particularly in the event of a heart attack, diabetic emergency, or severe physical trauma.
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ENGINEERING - AUTOMATION |
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Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. In the scope of industrialization, it is a step beyond mechanization, where human operators are provided with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work.
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ENGINEERING - INSTRUMENTATION |
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Instrumentation Engineering is a discipline relying on connecting multiple disciplines of engineering.
Measurement and controls, the two facets of instrumentation, have brought technology to an unprecedented degree of precision. Instrumentation enables the measurement of various variables such as flow and pressure. Control works to keep these variables at a desired level of safe, economic and other constrained values. Instrument engineers usually have degrees in chemical engineering, electrical engineering, or mechanical engineering and sometimes in the newer field of control systems engineering.
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FIBER OPTICS |
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An optical fiber (or fibre) is a transparent thin fiber, usually made of glass or plastic, for transmitting light. Fiber optics is the branch of science and engineering concerned with such optical fibers.
Optical fibers are commonly used in telecommunication systems, as well as in illumination, sensors, and imaging optics.
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HAZMET - HAZARDOUS MATERIALS |
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A hazardous material (HAZMAT) is any solid, liquid, or gas that can cause harm to humans, other living organisms, or the environment due to being radioactive, flammable, explosive, toxic, corrosive, a biohazard, an oxidizer, an asphyxiant, or capable of causing severe allergic reactions. The term hazardous material is used in this context almost exclusively in the United States. The equivalent term in the rest of the English-speaking world is Dangerous Goods.
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HEALTH / SAFETY |
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Occupational safety and health is the discipline concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of employees, organisations, and others affected by the work they undertake (such as customers, suppliers, and members of the public).
The primary, and arguably most prominent reason for occupational safety and health (OSH) standards are moral - an employee should not have to expect that by coming to work they are risking life or limb, and nor should others affected by their undertaking.
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HELICOPTERS |
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A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors (propellers). Helicopters are classified as rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from conventional fixed-wing aircraft. The word helicopter is derived from the Greek words helix (spiral) and pteron (wing). The engine-driven helicopter was invented by the Slovak inventor Jan Bahyl. The first stable, single-rotor, fully-controllable helicopter to enter large full-scale production was made by Igor Sikorsky in 1942.
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INDOOR AIR QUALITY (IAQ) |
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Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) deals with the content of interior air that could affect health and comfort of building occupants. The IAQ may be compromised by microbial contaminants (mold, bacteria), chemicals(such as carbon monoxide,radon}, allergens, or any mass or energy stressor that can induce health effects. Often it is perceived that outdoor air is polluted, but indoor air is acceptable. Scientific studies illustrate the falsity of this perception, and, in fact, indoor air is often a greater health hazard than the corresponding outdoor setting.
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INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION |
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Automation (ancient Greek: = self dictated) or industrial automation or numerical control is the use of control systems such as computers to control industrial machinery and processes, replacing human operators. In the scope of industrialization, it is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the physical requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental requirements as well.
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INFORMATION SYSTEMS |
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As an area of study it is commonly referred to as information technology management. The study of information systems is usually a commerce and business administration discipline, and frequently involves software engineering, but also distinguishes itself by concentrating on the integration of computer systems with the aims of the organization. The area of study should not be confused with computer science which is more theoretical in nature and deals mainly with software creation, or computer engineering, which focuses more on the design of computer hardware.
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INSURANCE - HEALTH |
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Health insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the insured if the insured becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. The insurer may be a private organization or a government agency. Market-based health care systems such as that in the United States rely primarily on private health insurance.
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LABORATORIES / CLINICAL LABS |
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A laboratory (often abbreviated lab) is a place where scientific research and experiments are conducted. A typical lab can hold space for one to thirty, or more, researchers depending on the size of the room and state mandated maximum occupancy limit.
All laboratories share some common features, mainly laboratory equipment and laboratory glassware: Usually, they have at least one fume hood. Toxic and hazardous chemicals can be safely handled in a fume hood. This reduces, and usually eliminates, the risk of inhalation of toxic gases produced by the reaction of chemicals. Laboratories usually have a sink for handwashing. A fire extinguisher is located in a laboratory, as well as a fire blanket, to help exterminate fire in the event of an accident. There is also an eye wash station and an overhead shower in the event that chemicals gain access onto clothes, skin, or eyes. The exceptions to this would include certain engineering and physics laboratories, which usually do not include glassware, hoods, and toxic chemicals.
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LAND FILL - WASTE DISPOSAL - GARBAGE DUMP |
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Landfill is a waste disposal site for the deposit of the waste onto or into land (i.e., underground), including: internal waste disposal sites (i.e., landfill where a producer of waste is carrying out its own waste disposal at the place of production), and a permanent site (i.e., more than one year), which is used for temporary storage of waste, but excluding: transfer facilities where waste is unloaded in order to permit its preparation for further transport for recovery, treatment or disposal elsewhere, and storage of waste prior to recovery or treatment for a period less than three years as a general rule or storage of waste prior to disposal for period less than one year.
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LEAD |
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Lead is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Pb (L. plumbum) and atomic number 82. A soft, heavy, toxic and malleable poor metal, lead is bluish white when freshly cut but tarnishes to dull gray when exposed to air. Lead is used in building construction, lead-acid batteries, bullets and shot, and is part of solder, pewter, and fusible alloys. Lead has the highest atomic number of all stable elements. (But see the article on Bismuth, which has a half life so long it can be considered stable.)
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MACHINERY SAFEGUARDING |
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Crushed hands and arms, severed fingers, blindness -- the list of possible machinery-related injuries is as long as it is horrifying. There seem to be as many hazards created by moving machine parts as there are types of machines. Safeguards are essential for protecting workers from needless and preventable injuries.
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MATERIALS |
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Materials are physical substances used as inputs to production or manufacturing. "Raw materials" are first extracted or harvested from the earth and divided into a form that can be easily transported and stored, then processed to produce "semi-finished materials". These can be input into a new cycle of production and "finishing processes to create "finished materials", ready for distribution and consumption.
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MEDICAL INSURANCE |
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Medical Health insurance is a type of insurance whereby the insurer pays the medical costs of the insured if the insured becomes sick due to covered causes, or due to accidents. The insurer may be a private organization or a government agency. Market-based health care systems such as that in the United States rely primarily on private health insurance.
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MICROWAVE HEATING |
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A microwave oven, or microwave, is a kitchen appliance employing microwave radiation primarily to cook or heat food. Microwave ovens have revolutionized cooking since their use became widespread in the 1970s.
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OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY |
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Occupational safety and health is the discipline concerned with protecting the safety, health and welfare of employees, organisations, and others affected by the work they undertake (such as customers, suppliers, and members of the public).
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OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration |
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The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970. Its mission is to prevent work-related injuries, illnesses, and deaths by issuing and enforcing rules (called standards) for workplace safety and health. This same act also created the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a research agency whose purpose is to determine the major types of hazards in the workplace and ways of controlling them. As of March 2006, the agency is headed by Assistant Secretary of Labor Edwin Foulke.
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POLLUTION |
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Pollution is the release of environmental contaminants. Carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and nitrogen oxides produced by industry and motor vehicles are common air pollutants. Sunlight converts nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons to ozone or smog. Water pollutants may consist of a wide range of organic and inorganic chemicals such as heavy metals, petrochemicals, chloroform, and bacteria. Water pollution may also occur in the form of thermal pollution and dissolved oxygen depletion. Soil contamination is an important aspect of environmental pollution; this phenomenon occurs when chemicals are released by spill or underground storage tank leakage. Among the most significant soil contaminants are hydrocarbons, heavy metals, MTBE, herbicides, pesticides and chlorinated hydrocarbons. The U.S., Russia, China and Japan are the world leaders in air pollution emissions; however, Canada is the number two country on a per capita basis.
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PRODUCT LIABILITY |
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Product liability can mean a defective product that has caused you a injury or an illness. Product liability encompasses a number of legal claims that allow an injured party to recover financial compensation from the manufacturer or seller of a product.
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PRODUCT SAFETY |
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The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government created in 1972 through the Consumer Safety Act to protect against unreasonable risks of injuries associated with consumer products. As of 2005 its chairman is Hal Stratton, a Republican. The two other commissioners on the three-member board are (as of February 2006) Thomas Hill Moore (Democrat) and Nancy Nord (Republican).
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REINSURANCE |
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Reinsurance is a means by which an insurance company (called the reinsured, ceding company or cedant) shares the risk of loss with another insurance company (called the reinsurer).
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WARNINGS / LABELS |
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A warning label is a label attached to an item, or contained on the item's instruction manual, usually warning the user about risks associated with the use of the item. Some of them are intended to prevent lawsuits against the item's manufacturer, which sometimes results in labels which state the obvious.
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WORKERS COMPENSATION |
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Workers compensation systems (workers comp or compo) provide for financial compensation for work-related injuries of employees, in particular compensation of loss of wages, sometimes also for medical costs. These laws are usually a feature of highly developed industrial societies. Employees compensation laws are often only implemented after long and hard fought struggles by trade unions, particularly in early industrialisation. There are often benefits available to dependents of workers killed on the job as well.
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