MODULE 5: HAZARD IDENTIFICATION AND CONTROL

Controlling Hazards

The Hierarchy of Hazard Controls

When the supervisor or safety professional identifies a hazard, it's important that one or more strategies be used to eliminate or reduce the risk of injury.

• Hazardous conditions include:
• unsafe materials,
• machinery,
• equipment,
• tools, and
• the environment.

Unsafe work practices include:

• allowing untrained workers to perform hazardous tasks,
• taking unsafe shortcuts,
• horseplay, or
• long work schedules.

To combat these hazardous conditions and unsafe work practices, control strategies, called the "Hierarchy of Controls" have been developed. The terminology for the different strategies varies in the literature, but generally, it describes two general strategies:

1. Engineering Controls
2. Management Controls