In this paper,the current status and applications of the infrared thermography in security field were reviewed systematically,based on searching of the database EI Compendex,US Patents and EP Patents.With two subject words:thermal imaging or infrared imaging and application,about 7300 papers and 1400 patents (including 404 papers and 55 patents on field of safety science and technology) were obtained.Then a statistics depending on the time publication,research topics,authors′ affiliation and application fields were analyzed.Moreover,the current status and development directions on the field concerning safety science were pointed out from electrical safety,petrochemical safety,fire safety,building safety,transportation safety and mine safety.