Section 1-4. Definitions

For the purpose of these regulations, the following definitions shall apply:
  1. 1.
    work premises: rooms that the undertaking uses in connection with the work such as workrooms, personnel rooms, access areas etc.;
  2. 2.
    work equipment: technical installations etc. such as machinery, lifting accessories, safety components, containers, means of transport, appliances, installations, tools and any other object used in connection with the production of a product or the performance of work;
  3. 3.
    load-lifting equipment: plant designed for lifting and lowering operations;
  4. 4.
    asbestos: the fibrous, crystalline silicate minerals chrysotile (white asbestos), crocidolite (blue asbestos), amosite (brown asbestos), anthophyllite asbestos, tremolite asbestos and actinolite asbestos;
  5. 5.
    wastewater treatment plant: wastewater networks, including pump stations, treatment plants and pipelines for carrying away residual water;
  6. 6.
    standby diver: a diver who is ready to provide sufficiently rapid assistance to a diver underwater in a hazardous or emergency;
  7. 7.
    rock work: all forms of rock breaking, including work on inspection, scaling and securing rock; Includes loading and transport of blasted rock within the workplace;
  8. 8.
    biological factors: microorganisms, including genetically modified organisms, cell cultures, human endoparasites and prions that can induce infections, allergies or toxic effects in humans;
    Microorganisms mean: a microbiological unit, cellular or non-cellular, able to replicate or transfer genetic material;
    Cell culture means: the result of in vitro cultivation of cells from multicellular organisms;
  9. 9.
    use of work equipment: work operations such as starting, stopping, installation and dismantling, transportation, use, monitoring, inspection, repair, maintenance, care and cleaning;
  10. 10.
    decompression: relieving increased pressure to restore normal pressure;
  11. 11.
    diving bell: a compression chamber designed and equipped to transfer divers between the work site and the surface decompression chamber;
  12. 12.
    diving operation: work under increased ambient pressure, under water or in a decompression chamber, where the diver is supplied with breathing gas;
  13. 13.
    umbilical: the breathing gas hose, communication cable and, if applicable, safety line, bundled into a single unit,
  14. 14.
    electromagnetic field: static electric, static magnetic and time variable electric, magnetic and electromagnetic fields with frequencies up to 300 GHz.
  15. 15.
    danger zone: any area where the safety of employees may be at risk due to the nature of the work, including any area in or around work equipment;
  16. 16.
    hazardous chemical: Chemicals that can constitute a risk to the health and safety of employees;
    • -
      all chemicals that meet the criteria for classification pursuant to the Regulations of 16 June, No. 622 on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP). This applies regardless of whether the chemical is classified in accordance with said Regulations. Substances that are harmful to the external environment only, do not fall under the scope of these regulations.
    • -
      any chemical substance for which limit values have been adopted,
    • -
      any other chemical that may constitute a risk to the health and safety of employees.
  17. 17.
    fibre: a particle longer than 5 μm, with a diameter smaller than or equal to 3 μm, and with a length-to-width ratio greater than or equal to 3:1;
  18. 18.
    reproductive harm: substances or mixtures that meet the criteria for classification as reprotoxic as laid down in the Regulations of 16 June 2012 No 622 on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP); cf. Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 in Annex I. The following are considered reproductive harm:
    • -
      harm to a person's reproductive ability (reprotoxicity) in that the ability to produce healthy and normal children is partially or wholly, permanently or transiently impaired as a consequence of exposure in the working environment,
    • -
      harm or disease suffered by the child because of prenatal exposure or exposure through breastfeeding,
  19. 19.
    test dive: a diving operation carried out in connection with research or development work, where the dive is intended to produce results that provide a basis for demonstrating the effect on divers or the safety of diving operations;
  20. 20.
    excavation work: digging ditches, shafts and other excavation pits in the soil
  21. 21.
    limit value: a value for exposure that must not be exceeded;
  22. 22.
    suspended work platform: a freely moving rope-suspended mechanically operated work platform;
  23. 23.
    hand signals: movements or positioning of arms and hands, in a coded form, in order to guide persons carrying out work that can entail a risk to employees;
  24. 24.
    non-coherent optical radiation: artificial optical radiation, except for laser radiation;
  25. 25.
    containment of biological agents: barriers used to prevent biological agents from coming into contact with people or the environment;
  26. 26.
    ionising radiation: x-radiation, particle radiation, or radiation from a radioactive substance within the wavelength range 0.01-10 nm
  27. 27.
    chemicals: elements, chemical compounds or mixtures thereof, whether they occur naturally or are manufactured or are used or released in connection with any work operation, regardless of whether they were intentionally manufactured. This applies irrespective of whether the chemical is available on the market;
  28. 28.
    climbing scaffold: a mechanically operated work platform that moves vertically in guide rails;
  29. 29.
    bell run (diving): a bell run is the time that passes from the bell is disconnected from the surface habitat until it is reconnected;
  30. 30.
    carcinogenic chemicals and processes: substances or mixtures that meet the criteria for classification as carcinogenic pursuant to the Regulations of 16 June 2012 No 622 on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP); cf. Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 in Annex 1. The following processes or chemicals released during these processes are also regarded as carcinogenic:
    • -
      production of auramine,
    • -
      work involving exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), which occur in soot, tar or pitch,
    • -
      work involving exposure to dust, fumes or mist emitted during calcination and electrolytic processing of nickel from ore,
    • -
      highly acidic processes to produce 2-propanol,
    • -
      work that entails exposure to hardwood dust
    The above list is not exhaustive and does not preclude that other processes may be regarded as carcinogenic.
  31. 31.
    artificial optical radiation: electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength range between 100 nm and 1 mm that is not emitted from the sun. The spectrum of optical radiation is divided into ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation (light) and infrared radiation, Ultraviolet radiation: optical radiation of wavelength range between 100 nm and 400 nm. The range is further divided into UVA (315-400 nm), UVB (280-315 nm) and UVC (100-280 nm), Visible radiation: optical radiation of wavelength range between 380 nm and 780 nm, Infrared radiation: optical radiation of wavelength range between 780 nm and 1 mm. The range is further divided into IR-A (780-1400 nm), IR-B (1400-3000 nm) and IR-C (3000 nm-1 mm),
  32. 32.
    laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation): any device that can be made to produce or amplify electromagnetic radiation in the optical radiation wavelength range by a process of controlled stimulated emission;
  33. 33.
    laser radiation: optical radiation from a laser;
  34. 34.
    lifts and stackers for goods: forklifts and similar motorised mobile work equipment for lifting, moving and stacking;
  35. 35.
    lifting appliance: components or equipment not mounted on the machine, which make it possible to grip the load, and which are placed either between the machine and the load or on the load itself, or which are intended to be an integrated part of the load,
  36. 36.
    earth-moving machine: an engine-powered machine designed to lift or transport materials, i.e. earth, sand, rock etc., for example, a dumper, road planer, excavator, bulldozer, dump truck, scraper or backhoe loader;
  37. 37.
    saturation dive: a dive that lasts so long that the maximum amount of breathing gas is dissolved in the body;
  38. 38.
    mobile work equipment: a technical device that moves on wheels, crawler tracks etc., with or without its own propulsion;
  39. 39.
    mutagenic chemicals: substances or mixtures that meet the criteria for being classified as mutagenic pursuant to the Regulations of 16 June 2012 No 622 on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP); cf. Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 Annex I.
  40. 40.
    surface-supplied diving: a diving operation where the diver works under increased ambient pressure and is supplied with breathing gas from the surface;
  41. 41.
    personal protective equipment: all equipment, including accessories to the equipment, which is worn or carried by an employee to protect the employee from one or more hazards that can threaten his or her safety and health during the work. Personal protective equipment does not include:
    • -
      normal work clothes and uniforms that are not especially intended to protect employees’ health and safety,
    • -
      emergency and rescue equipment,
    • -
      self-defence equipment,
    • -
      portable equipment for tracking and detection of hazardous and harmful agents,
    • -
      personal protective equipment used in accordance with requirements set out in the Road Traffic Act;
  42. 42.
    rescue diver: a diver whose task is to rescue a person in the water during the period when lifesaving can be hoped for;
  43. 43.
    risk: a function of the probability of an undesirable incident taking place and the consequences for the employees’ life or health;
  44. 44.
    scuba diving: diving where the diver carries a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus;
  45. 45.
    safety signs and signalling: the use of signs, colours, light signals, acoustic signals, verbal communication or hand signals to refer to a particular object, activity or situation and that provides information or instructions about how people should act in different situations concerning safety and health in the workplace. The definition does not include signs and signalling regulated by other legislation or pursuant to regulations relating to road, rail, air or sea transport or transport by inland waterways;
  46. 46.
    pointed or sharp objects: objects that can cut, pierce the skin and cause injury and/or infections;
  47. 47.
    infection risk group: classification of live biological agents according to the infection risk they represent pursuant to Section 6-1 of the Regulations concerning Action and Limit Values;
  48. 48.
    action value: an exposure value that requires measures to be implemented to reduce the health risk to a minimum;
  49. 49.
    compression period for diving: the period for which a diver is under increased ambient pressure, reckoned from the start of compression in a hyperbaric chamber until decompression is completed, also including the ‘surface interval’ in connection with surface decompression;
  50. 50.
    hot work: work where heat is used, such as open flames, hot surfaces or ignition sparks. Hot work also includes work operations such as welding, soldering, torch cutting and metal grinding etc. that can also give rise to hazardous gases.