Understanding The OSHA 5 Level Hierarchy Of Controls

The hierarchy of controls is a system developed by OSHA for ranking the efficacy of workplace safety measures, and it often serves as a framework to determine which measures are necessary to control or prevent a particular hazard. By using this system, organisations can ensure that they take the most appropriate steps to protect their workforce from the various hazards in their work environment.

When faced with a safety hazard, employers can use the hierarchy of control as a step-by-step process of determining the best course of action for controlling the danger or, ideally, eliminating it for good. Lastly, it can also be used as a guide to create a hazard control plan and efficiently implement the selected controls.

 

The five levels of the hierarchy of controls

The hierarchy of controls is generally viewed as an inverted pyramid with five levels, with the topmost being the most effective and the bottommost least effective. Below, we go over each level in the same order.

 

1. Elimination

As the first level in the hierarchy, elimination is undoubtedly the best way to deal with workplace hazards and, as the name implies, involves completely removing a given hazard from the work environment. By eliminating hazards altogether, any potential injury or harm will never come to pass. An example of a common risk or hazard is machinery that produces excessive noise and can pose hearing damage. Eliminating it can involve something as simple as replacing it with a quieter model or addressing the cause of the noise if possible.

 

2. Substitution

Substitution is the second best way of dealing with a hazard. It means replacing a hazardous piece of equipment, material, or ingredient with a far less dangerous alternative. Hence, the idea here is to simply substitute an occupational risk with another that poses minimal or no risk at all. An example of substituting a workplace hazard would be changing out a chemical that causes skin irritation for a less irritating equivalent.

 

3. Engineering controls

As the third level in the hierarchy, engineering controls are middle-of-the-road in terms of handling a given hazard, as they only seek to isolate a hazard or change the way a task is performed to mitigate worker exposure to a hazard. Implementing engineering controls typically requires adding safety measures to make a particular workload safer, like installing machine guards on certain equipment. Installing ventilation to eliminate fumes from the workplace is another example of engineering control.

 

4. Administrative controls

Administrative controls involve changing or adjusting work practices and tasks to reduce exposure to workplace hazards. The changes these controls require mainly affect work schedules and operational processes and can even include introducing warnings or signage in the workplace. A good example of a common administrative control is requiring employees to take a break every 20 to 30 minutes when working with loud machinery.

 

5. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PPE is the lowest level of control and the least effective way of handling workplace hazards. Given that the protection PPE provides pales in comparison to the previous controls, it is best reserved as a last line of defence when all other means are not possible or effective. Examples of PPE include gloves, helmets, hearing protection, and other wearable clothing and devices that protect the body from exposure to hazards.

 

Conclusion

When using the hierarchy of controls, there are a few important things to note. The first is to use the hierarchy of controls as interim controls from the top down should more time be necessary to implement a longer-term solution to a given hazard. The second is to try combining various controls should no single method be sufficient. Lastly, when choosing to implement a particular control method, make sure it does not directly or indirectly introduce new safety risks in the process by performing a comprehensive safety analysis before putting it into effect.

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