hot work n.— «The January 2006 explosion at the Bethune Point Wastewater Treatment Plant might not have happened if the city had a safety program specifying when “hot work,” using flames such as welding or torch cutting, could...
belt air n.— «Stricken from Yonts’ bill was a provision that would have barred the use of conveyor-belt tunnels for coal-mine ventilation. “Belt air,” as it is known in the industry, may contain coal dust and toxic chemicals...
brism n.— «The club history, written on the occasion of London Hunt’s centennial in 1985, recounts…“After the mid-1920s, maneuvering around the new university buildings posed an additional hazard. It was easy to go out of bounds, to...
have one’s hazards on v. phr.— «Last column’s treatise on baseball pants pockets prompted some good responses, many of them chiding Uni Watch for not mentioning that having an inside-out pocket is often referred to as “leaving your...
duck n.— «As of this week there should be five of the big yellow CL-215 water-skimming air tankers, or “ducks” as they are commonly called, based at the Slave Lake.» —“Fire hazard extreme: be careful!” Lakeside...
alligator hide n.— «Sometimes, the tire fragments cause accidents. Damage to vehicles resulting from contact with flying “alligator hides”—or as a result of swerving to avoid them—is a common hazard of freeway driving...