December 6, 2024 8 min read
What Is the Hierarchy of Controls?
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Implementing comprehensive facilities management techniques is essential to protecting employees from hazards in the workplace. One common and effective method is to use the OSHA hierarchy of controls. But what is the hierarchy of controls, and how can it be implemented? In this blog we’ll explain what a hazard is, how to identify hazards in the workplace, and how to assess and prioritize hazards for controls. We’ll also provide resources for incorporating the hierarchy of controls in your own organization.
What is a Hazard in the Workplace?
The hierarchy of controls is a method for ranking and identifying safeguards to protect workers from hazards. First, let’s break down the definition of a hazard.
A hazard is anything in the workplace that has the potential to cause harm, primarily through injury or illness.
The top five hazard categories include:
- Safety Hazards. These are common hazards that cause immediate injuries and illnesses, and may lead to death. Examples include slips, trips, and falls hazards, working from heights, electrical hazards, moving machines, and mobile equipment.
- Biological Hazards. This includes other life forms that can cause injury or illnesses, such as viruses, bacteria, mold, fungi, animal bites/stings, toxic plants, blood, and other bodily fluids.
- Chemical and Other Exposure Hazards. These are things that can cause harm to workers through exposure, such as radiation, temperature, noise, and chemicals.
- Ergonomic Hazards. These are strains and stresses on the body caused by workplace motions and body positions, including poorly designed work areas, repeated motions, and lifting heavy weights.
- Psychological or Societal Hazards. These are hazards caused by interacting with people and social conditions at the workplace. Examples include workplace violence, sexual harassment, stress, depression, and alcohol and drug addiction.
In the following sections we’ll address how to identify, assess, rank, and control hazards.
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How to Identify Hazards in the Workplace
Identifying hazards is essential to eliminating or controlling potential future harm.
This checklist is not exhaustive, but it will help determine how to identify hazards in the workplace:
- Perform routine hazard inspections
- Maintain health and environmental monitoring programs
- Talk to workers about hazards in their work area
- Check your records of near misses, injuries, and illnesses
Assessing and Ranking Hazards in the Workplace
It’s important to address the hazards you’ve identified and rank them in order of urgency.
The kinds of hazards you should address first include:
- Hazards that are likely to cause harm
- Hazards that would lead to severe consequences
- Hazards that are both likely to cause harm and would lead to severe consequences
How to Control a Hazard?
Controlling a hazard includes either removing or reducing a hazard’s ability to cause harm.
Different categories of hazard controls include:
- Elimination. Removing a hazard from the workplace.
- Substitution. Replacing a hazard with something less hazardous.
- Engineering controls. Designing a solution that controls the hazard at its source, which requires a physical change at the workplace.
- Safe work practices. Developing specific rules and procedures for employees to follow when working in the presence of / potentially exposed to a hazard.
- Administrative controls. Developing other work practices to protect workers from hazards.
- Personal protective equipment (PPE). Protective clothing or equipment that protects an employee from a hazard.
Safe work practices make up one of the most important categories of hazard controls. Some examples of safe work practices include:
What Is the Hierarchy of Controls?
The hierarchy of controls represents the order in which you should consider controls for a hazard.
The most effective controls are ranked at the top of the hierarchy, while the less effective controls are positioned more toward the bottom. If the first control does not work, simply progress down the hierarchy until a certain control works.
The hierarchy of controls progresses as follows:
- Elimination
- Substitution
- Engineering control
- Administrative control
- PPE
Using More than One Control to Control a Hazard
It’s often necessary for organizations to use more than one control to completely control a hazard.
For instance, you could use Substitution to replace a hazardous chemical with a less hazardous chemical, and then use Administrative Controls to limit the time an employee is near the chemical. You could also provide employees with PPE to ensure extra protection.
Using PPE Only as a Last Resort
When you’re trying to control a hazard, personal protective equipment (PPE) should never be the first control you use. In fact, PPE should only be tried as a possible control when:
- All other controls have been exhausted
- There’s still an unacceptable level of hazard present
Benefits of Using the Hierarchy of Controls
The Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded 2.8 million workplace injuries and illnesses in 2022 alone. Additionally, research shows that fatal incidents cost organizations $6 billion annually while nonfatal incidents cost $186 billion.
Implementing a robust hierarchy of controls in your organization is therefore essential. Benefits for companies using this tool include:
- Reduced workplace injuries and illnesses
- Cost savings due to reduced medical expenses, legal fees, workers’ compensation, and lost productivity
- Compliance and legal protection
- Improved safety reputation
- Enhanced employee morale and retention
- Improved operational efficiency due to reduced downtime, smoother operations, and higher output
How Vector Solutions Helps Promote Workplace Safety
“We pride ourselves on doing a great job of identifying and addressing potential safety hazards. And with the help of Vector EHS we are building a framework that can assist us in identifying contributing factors, becoming more responsive, and being proactive in our safety programs.”
– Maintenance Planner
The hierarchy of controls is an essential tool in workplace safety, but it’s only effective when you already have an established safety culture.
At Vector Solutions, we offer organizations robust workplace safety and risk management tools to enhance the quality of their work environments. Our Environmental Health and Safety library provides companies with comprehensive online training courses and information to elevate productivity, improve safety, and meet regulatory requirements.
Request a demo and learn more.
