Image for If PPE is the last resort, why is it so often the first choice?

If PPE is the last resort, why is it so often the first choice?

Published Aug 10, 2022

A common topic discussed in training sessions and during consultancy visits is PPE – whether it be its incorrect usage, overuse or underuse, incorrect selection, etc. During training workshops for risk and CoSHH assessments, the first control measure suggested is typically a mask or gloves. The question to ask then is if PPE is the last resort based on the hierarchy of risk controls, why is it so often the first choice?

PPE is a prominent first choice because it is visual – if you’re seen to be wearing PPE then you must be working safely. But does that mean if you don’t wear PPE then you’re working unsafely? Or are you working so safely that you don’t require PPE?

Sometimes PPE can be added as an ‘extra measure’ and whilst in some circumstances it may realistically add to the overall safety, it can also lead to a sense of complacency and ignorance in others. Consider blanket PPE policies where hi-vis is worn in the office, or if all persons in a yard must wear hi-vis to be more visible, how do we then distinguish banksmen?

Applying risk controls example

To see the hierarchy of risk controls in action, consider when you choose to cross the road as a pedestrian. Instinctively, what do you do? Find a clear space to cross and then stop, look, listen. From a young age we’ve learnt a simple and very effective control measure – if there’s a hazard (traffic) present then avoid it, if there’s no hazard present then it is safe.

Now consider whenever you walk along a pavement that you wear a hi-vis vest and step into the road without checking. Would that control measure be as safe as stop, look, listen? Beyond the green cross code (administrative control), we could use a zebra crossing (engineering / administrative control), a pelican / toucan crossing (engineering control), a bridge or subway (substitution), or pedestrianize the area (elimination).

Principles of prevention

This is a term that appears in several pieces of legislation but most notably in the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, Regulation 4, Schedule 1. This list is the root of the control measure selection process. Written in hierarchical order, the list makes it a legal requirement for employers and assessors to start from the top and systematically work their way through the instructions to control reasonably foreseeable risks so far as is reasonably practicable.

Hierarchy of risk controls

Whilst the principles of prevention provide instruction for compliance, like most legislation it is not the easiest list to memorise or interpret. To support companies to maintain compliance, a ‘watered down’ approach is the hierarchy of risk controls. This five-step hierarchy can often be represented by an inverted pyramid emphasising the transition from the most to least effective type of control measure, as shown below:

Share: