Hierarchy of controls poster

The hierarchy of controls ranks the ways of dealing with a hazard from most to least effective: eliminate it, substitute something less hazardous, isolate people from it with engineering controls, change the way people work with administrative controls, and protect the worker with personal protective equipment (PPE). This poster draws the NIOSH version as an inverted pyramid, with one example for each level, so a team choosing a fix starts at the top and only falls back to PPE when nothing above it is practical.

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Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 423 KB · no form

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The words on the poster

Hierarchy of controls

Start at the top. PPE is the last line of defence, not the first.

Most effective to least effective

Eliminate Remove the hazard. Do the job at ground level, not at height.
Substitute Use something less hazardous: water-based, not solvent.
Engineer Isolate people from it: guards, interlocks, extraction, barriers.
Admin Change how people work: procedures, permits, training, signs.
PPE Protect the worker: gloves, glasses, hearing and fall protection.

Combine them. Most hazards need more than one level. Use PPE with the controls above it, never instead of them.

NIOSH hierarchy of controls. ISO 45001 clause 8.1.2 uses the same order.

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the Hierarchy of controls poster to work

1
Put it where countermeasures are agreed: the safety board, the maintenance office, the risk assessment room.
2
When a job safety analysis or an incident report proposes a fix, ask which level it sits at and whether a higher one is possible.
3
Use it in induction to explain why PPE is the last line of defence, not the first.
4
Pair it with the risk assessment matrix poster: score the risk, then pick the control from the top down.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.