Security vs. Safety -- A Discussion
Hello, everyone!
I have wondered about this for a while and finally decided to ask for all of your opinions on this matter:
In English, we have two different words--"Security" and "Safety"--for which in Spanish there appears to be only one word: "Seguridad".
Although in English "Security" and "Safety" CAN mean approximately the same thing in many cases, there IS a distinction between the two words and they are not always synonyms for each other.
Safety, noun
The state of being safe; freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, or loss.
The quality of averting or not causing injury, danger, or loss.
Whereas:
Security, noun
Freedom from danger, risk, etc.; safety.
Something that secures or makes safe; protection; defense.
Precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage, espionage, etc.
Do you see the slight difference?
Here are two examples in English of the two words being used differently:
- Each employee is responsible for taking & following all safety precautions when using ladders and picking up heavy objects.
- Workplace security is a top priority for laboratories who fear chemical sabotage by intruders.
In these two cases, there is definitely a distinction between "Safety" (in this case: prevention of injury) and "Security" (in this case: steps taken to prevent sabotage).
And now for my question (sorry for the long post!):
In cases where a sentence or paragraph in English utilizes both "safety" and "security" (or, let's say, an employee manual with separate chapters dedicated to "safety" & "security") how would one distinguish between the two when you must use the same word ("seguridad") for both? Is there a better word in Spanish for "security" or "safety" other than "seguridad" which will help the reader distinguish between the two problems? Or does it all just come down to context? Any and all opinions and discussion or examples of similar instances with different words are more than welcome! Language is fascinating.
Note: I realize this question is a bit vague and "out there" but I've wondered about this distinction for a while and am hoping for some insight! =] Also: I hope that this post does not offend anyone; I am in NO WAY making a statement about one language being superior to the other. Obviously it goes both ways: there are specific distinctions made in the Spanish language which in English only have one word encompassing both meanings & there are words in Spanish that don't even exist in English (and vice versa).
1 Answer
In such cases I've seen safety translated with seguridad and security with protección or vigilancia.
