QHSE, EHS & ESG Software Glossary
Plain-English, citable definitions for the 20 terms that come up most often when buying QHSE, EHS and ESG software. Each definition links to the related software categories and tools we evaluate.
QHSE
Safety
- EHS(Environment, Health and Safety)
Environment, Health and Safety — the North-American framing of operational safety and environmental management.
- Permit to Work(PTW)
Formal authorisation system controlling high-risk activities such as hot work, confined space and LOTO.
- LOTO(Lockout / Tagout)
Procedures and physical devices that isolate hazardous energy during maintenance.
- Near Miss
An unplanned event that did not cause injury but had the potential to do so.
- Management of Change(MOC)
Formal process for evaluating risk before any change to equipment, procedures, personnel or chemicals.
- Incident Management
Capture, investigation, root-cause analysis and reporting of safety, quality and environmental events.
- Behavior-Based Safety(BBS)
Programme that reduces injuries by observing and reinforcing safe worker behaviours.
- Job Safety Analysis(JSA)
Task-level technique that breaks a job into steps, identifies hazards and assigns controls.
- Process Safety Management(PSM)
OSHA 1910.119 framework controlling catastrophic releases of highly hazardous chemicals.
- Contractor Management
End-to-end governance of third-party workforce: prequalification, induction, permits and KPIs.
ESG
- ESG(Environmental, Social, Governance)
Reporting framework covering environmental, social and governance performance for investors and regulators.
- CSRD(Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive)
EU directive mandating standardised sustainability reporting using ESRS standards.
- GHG Scope 1, 2 and 3
GHG Protocol classification of direct, energy and value-chain greenhouse-gas emissions.