School Safety Assessment Glossary

School safety includes many terms that are often used interchangeably, even though they can have different meanings and implications. This glossary defines key terms used throughout the toolkit to help readers better understand safety assessments, identify potential hazards, and engage in informed conversations about creating safer schools. 

Safety

The condition of being protected from preventable injury, harm, or loss. In schools, safety involves identifying hazards, reducing risks, and creating environments where students, staff, and visitors can learn, work, and participate without unnecessary danger.

Safety Culture

The shared values, attitudes, behaviors, and practices that influence how an organization approaches safety. A strong safety culture encourages people to identify concerns, report hazards, take corrective action, and continuously work to prevent injuries before they occur.

Hazard

A condition, object, activity, or situation with the potential to cause injury, illness, damage, or other harm. Examples include a damaged playground surface, a poorly-maintained gate, poor traffic patterns, or blocked emergency exits.

Risk

The likelihood that a hazard will cause harm, combined with the potential severity of that harm. A hazard may exist with low, moderate, or high risk depending on how likely it is to cause an injury and how serious the consequences could be.

Comprehensive School Safety Assessment

A comprehensive, integrated school safety assessment examines how facilities, equipment, operations, maintenance, emergency preparedness, traffic flow, playgrounds, athletics, policies, and human behavior interact in real school environments. Rather than focusing on a single issue, it evaluates the overall safety system to identify hazards, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.

Assessment

A systematic evaluation of people, places, equipment, policies, procedures, or operations to identify hazards, understand risks, and determine opportunities for improvement. Assessments are generally broader than inspections and focus on overall conditions and performance and recommend practical next steps.

Inspection

A focused examination of a facility, area, piece of equipment, or process to identify visible hazards, defects, damage, or unsafe conditions. Inspections are often conducted regularly and may address a specific location or safety concern.

Audit

A formal review used to determine whether an organization, program, or facility is meeting specific standards, requirements, policies, or regulations. Audits typically compare current practices against established criteria and identify areas of compliance and non-compliance.

Compliance

Meeting applicable laws, regulations, codes, standards, policies, or other established requirements. Compliance is an important component of safety, but compliance alone does not guarantee that a school or facility is free from hazards.

Mitigation

Actions taken to eliminate a hazard or reduce the likelihood or severity of harm. Mitigation measures may include repairs, maintenance, policy changes, training, supervision, equipment upgrades, or environmental modifications.

Corrective Action

A specific step taken to eliminate a hazard, address a deficiency, or reduce risk after a problem has been identified. Corrective actions may include repairs, policy changes, training, maintenance, equipment replacement, or other measures designed to improve safety.

Verification

The process of confirming that a corrective action has been completed and is functioning as intended, which may include documentation, follow-up observations, testing, or confirmation by the responsible party. Verification helps ensure that identified hazards have been addressed and that safety improvements remain effective over time.