Occupational health & safety
Hierarchy of Controls
The ranked order of hazard controls — elimination, substitution, engineering, administrative, PPE — from most to least effective.
Definition
The hierarchy of controls is a framework that ranks methods of controlling workplace hazards in order of effectiveness: elimination of the hazard, substitution with something safer, engineering controls that isolate people from the hazard, administrative controls that change how people work, and personal protective equipment as the last line of defence. Promoted by NIOSH and embedded in ISO 45001 logic, it directs effort to controls that do not depend on human behaviour first.
References
framework and rationale
Overview
What it means
The hierarchy's core insight is that designing hazards out beats managing them: PPE fails, is misused, and shifts burden onto the worker, while elimination removes the risk entirely. In sustainability due diligence, the same logic distinguishes genuine prevention from superficial compliance — an audit that ends at PPE provision sits at the bottom of the hierarchy.
How it is used
Used in risk assessments, safety management systems, OSH training, and regulatory enforcement worldwide; increasingly cited in supply-chain safety expectations.
Why it matters
It is the single most influential decision framework in occupational safety — and a test of whether safety measures are structural or cosmetic.
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