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EH&S Acronyms


​Many acronyms have become second nature to EH&S professionals. Most know that OSHA is the acronym for Occupational Health and Safety Administration and MSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheet. What about MUTCD or SAE? The following list of acronyms was compiled for use as a handy reference guide:

  • ACGIH American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
  • ADA Americans with Disabilities Act
  • AGA American Gas Association
  • AIHA American Industrial Hygiene Association
  • ANSI American National Standards Institute
  • APHA American Public Health Association
  • AGA American Gas Association
  • AIHA American Industrial Hygiene Association
  • ANSI American National Standards Institute
  • APHA American Public Health Association
  • APR Air-Purifying Respirator
  • ASAE American Society of Agricultural Engineers
  • ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers
  • ASQCAmerican Society for Quality Control
  • ASTM American Society for Testing Materials
  • ATC Automatic Temperature Compensation
  • BS British Standards
  • BSI British Standards Institute
  • CAA Clean Air Act
  • CAL-OSHA California Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • CAS Chemical Abstracts Service (Number)
  • CERCLA Comprehensive Environment Response
  • CFR Code of Federal Regulations
  • CGA Compressed Gas Association OR Color Graphics ArrayCl Chlorine
  • CSA Canadian Standards Association
  • CSFM California State Fire Marshall
  • CWA Clean Water Act
  • dB DecibelsdB(A) Decibels A-Scale
  • DOE Department of Energy
  • DOL Department of Labor
  • DOT Department of Transportation
  • DVO Diffuse Viewing Only
  • EDP Electronic Data Processing
  • EEOC Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  • EGA Enhanced Graphics Array
  • EN European Norms
  • EPA Environmental Protection Agency
  • EPDM Ethylene-propylene terpolymer
  • EPR Ethylene Propylene
  • ESCBA Escape Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
  • ESD Electrostatic Dissipative
  • FDA Food and Drug Administration
  • FEP Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene
  • FID Flame Ionization Detector
  • FIFRA Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act
  • FM Factory Mutual
  • FMCSR Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations
  • FR Flame Resistant
  • GC Gas Chromatography
  • GFCI Ground Fault Circuit Interruptergpm
  • GSA General Service Administration
  • H2S Hydrogen Sulfide
  • HCA Hazardous Communication Act
  • HCl Hydrogen Chloride
  • HDPE High-Density Polyethylene
  • HEPA High-Efficiency Particulate Air (filtration)
  • HF Hydrogen FluorideHg Mercury
  • HID High Intensity Discharge
  • HMIG Hazardous Materials Identification Guide
  • HMIS Hazardous Materials Information System
  • HMTA Hazardous Materials Transportation Act
  • hp Horse power
  • HPLC High Performance Liquid Chromatography
  • HVAC Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning
  • IAQ Indoor Air Quality
  • IARC International Agency for Research on Cancer
  • IATA International Air Transport Association
  • ICAO International Civil Aviation OrganizationID Inside Diameter
  • IDLH Immediately Dangerous to Life and Health
  • IEC International Electrotechnical Commission
  • IMO International Maritime Organization
  • IP Industrial Plus
  • IPS Iron Pipe Standard
  • IR Infrared
  • ISEA Industrial Safety Equipment Association
  • ISO International Organization for Standardization
  • LCD Liquid Crystal Display
  • LDPE Low-Density Polyethylene
  • LED Light-Emitting Diode
  • LEL Lower Explosive Limit
  • LLDPE Linear Low Density Polyethylenelpm Liters per minute
  • LUST Leaking Underground Storage Tank
  • MECO Modern Engineering Companymg/m3 Milligrams per meter cubedmil One mil equals 1/1000 of an inchmppcf Million particles per cubic foot
  • MSA Mine Safety Appliances
  • MSDS Material Safety Data Sheet
  • MSHA Mine Safety and Health Administration
  • MUTCD Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices
  • NEMA National Electrical Manufacturer's Association
  • NEPA National Environmental Policy Act
  • NESHAP National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
  • NFC National Fire Code
  • NFPA National Fire Protection Association
  • NFR National Fire Rating
  • NH3 Ammonia
  • NiCad Nickel Cadmium (battery)
  • NIOSH National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
  • NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • NMFC National Motor Freight Class
  • NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide
  • NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
  • NPT National Pipe Thread
  • NPTF National Pipe Thread Fine
  • NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • NRR Noise Reduction Rating
  • NSF National Sanitation Federation
  • NSR No Sewing Required
  • NTP National Toxicology Program OR Normal Temperature and Pressure
  • OD Outside Diameter
  • ODP Open-Dripproof
  • ORM Other Regulated Material
  • ORP Oxidation Reduction Potential
  • OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
  • PAPR Powered Air-Purifying Respirator
  • PCB Polychlorinated BiphenylpCi/L pico Curies/Liter
  • PEL Permissible Exposure Limit
  • PETG Polyethylene Terephthalate G Copolyesterp
  • H Hydrogen ion concentration
  • PID Photo Ionization Detector
  • POP Performance-Oriented Packaging
  • PPE Personal Protective Equipment
  • ppm Parts per million, 1 x 10-6ppb
  • Parts per billion, 1 x 10-9psi
  • Pounds per square inchpsig
  • Pounds per square inch gauge
  • PVA Polyvinyl Alcohol
  • PVC Polyvinyl Chloride
  • RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
  • RFI Radio Frequency Interference
  • RMS Root Mean Squared
  • RTK Right-to-Know
  • S.E.T.R.A.F. Safety of Enclosures for Toxics using Recirculating Air Filtration
  • SAE Society of Automotive Engineers
  • SARA Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act
  • SBR Styrene Butadiene Rubber
  • SCBA Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
  • SCT Spectrum Control Technology
  • SEI Safety Equipment Institute
  • SO2 Sulfur Dioxide
  • SPCC Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures
  • STEL Short-Term Exposure Limit
  • TDS Totally Dissolved SolidTEFC Totally Enclosed Fan-Cooled
  • TLV Threshold Limit Value
  • TSCA Toxic Substance Control Act
  • TWA Time Weighted Average
  • UEL Upper Explosive Limit
  • UFC Uniform Fire Code
  • UL Underwriter's Laboratory
  • ULC Underwriter's Laboratory of Canada
  • ULPA Ultra-Low Penetration Air (filtration)
  • UN United Nations
  • USCG United States Coast Guard
  • USDA United States Department of Agriculture
  • USFDA United States Food and Drug Administration
  • USP United States Pharmacopoeia
  • UST Underground Storage Tank
  • UV Ultraviolet
  • VDT Video Display Termina
  • lVGA Video Graphics Array
  • VOC Volatile Organic Compound
  • WBGT Wet Bulb Globe Temperature
  • WEEL Workplace Environmental Exposure Limit
  • WHMIS Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System
  • YAG Yttrium Aluminum Garnet


If you have any additional acronyms please share them with us...Thank you!