My vote would be to use the term "person(s) involved". Besides avoiding the negative connotations of being a victim or the cause of the incident, this term would also provide the flexibility to accommodate more than one person, including bystanders. I just could not come up with a one-word term that works as well.

Al
--
Allen Niemi, PhD
Director
Occupational Safety and Health Services
Room 322 Lakeshore Center
Michigan Technological University
Phone: 906-487-2118
Fax: 906-487-3048

===
From: Ray Cook
Subject: RE: [DCHAS-L] Help with terminology
Date: June 26, 2013 8:41:00 AM EDT

Ralph,

We refer to them as the injured party or "IP."

Regards!

Raymond L. Cook, Jr., MSIH, CIH, CSP
President & Principal Consultant
Apex HSE, LLC
http://apexhse.com
832.477.4454

1 Cor 1:18

===
From: "Keane J. Leitch"
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Help with terminology
Date: June 26, 2013 8:35:47 AM EDT

How about referring to him or her as the "affected individual".
Keane

===
From: Mary Beth Mulcahy
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Help with terminology
Date: June 26, 2013 9:21:14 AM EDT

Is there a reason why you would not simply use the person's job title (graduate student, PI, PostDoc, etc.)? Do the titles not translate across departments?

Mary Beth

===
From: "Smith, George S."
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Help with terminology
Date: June 26, 2013 8:38:57 AM EDT

We generally use the term "person(s) involved" in conjunction with "witness(es)". There is no blame assessed during an investigation.

George S. Smith III
Thermo Fisher Scientific

===
From:
Subject: Re: [DCHAS-L] Help with terminology
Date: June 26, 2013 9:41:57 AM EDT

target? witness? observer? bystander?

Bill Watt
===
From: Frank Coppo
Subject: RE: Help with terminology
Date: June 26, 2013 10:08:50 AM EDT

Dear Colleagues -

We typically use the generic report term ' client' for individuals directly involved; sometimes referring to 'customer', 'business partner' , or 'witness' for others, depending....

Hope this helps some!
Best regards,
Frank
Frank T. Coppo
EHS Specialist, Environment, Health, & Safety Services

GlaxoSmithKline | 1250 S. Collegeville Rd. | UP2410 | Collegeville, PA | 19426 | USA

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