Safety - Definition and Overview

Warning signs, such as this one, can improve safety awareness.

Safety is the condition of being protected against failure, breakage, error, accidents, or harm. Protection involves here both causing and exposure.

See also

• Air safety
• Material safety data sheet
• Protective clothing
• Risk management
• Road safety
• Safety engineering
• Security
• Ilities

In American football, a safety is the act by which one team gains two points when an opponent possessing the ball is tackled in his own end zone, or runs out of bounds in his own end zone. If a safety occurs while a team is attempting an extra point following a touchdown, the score is worth only one point. Additionally, safety refers to two positions in the traditional defensive backfield setup, the strong safety and the free safety.

In firearms, a safety or safety catch is a device which inactivates the trigger, making the firearm safe to handle.

Example Usage of Safety