Action hierarchy
The employer must ensure the safety and health of employees through appropriate occupational safety measures in accordance with the general principles in Section 4 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. These measures concern technology, work organization, the working environment and social relationships in the workplace . The employer must adhere to a specified order of precedence (hierarchy) of the measures to be taken.
This hierarchy of occupational health and safety measures was previously divided into three and currently five levels by the statutory accident insurance providers (professional associations and accident insurance funds) (training for occupational safety specialists in Germany).
The rule of thumb "Occupational health and safety is TOP" shows this order: First the technical measures ( T , levels one and two or points 1 to 3 in the technical rule for operational safety TRBS 1111, see below) should always be exhausted, then the organizational ( O , Level 3 or point 4), and only if this is not possible should personal protective measures ( P , level four and five or points 4 and 5) be used.
The BG rule 527 (DGUV Information 211-005) primarily takes into account the conditions of the workplace. There, the setting up of signs or a simple instruction on site is always considered the weakest protective measure, because it does not protect a "stranger" who comes "unprepared" to the workplace with the corresponding risk, while z. B. a worn helmet works even without instruction. In fact, basic instruction must be available for this, otherwise the helmet would not be worn.
TRBS 1111 argues from the point of view of responsibility: What steps must those responsible (usually the employer) implement in order to correctly assess the risk? In the TRBS (the national implementation of Directive 2009/104 / EC) the order of the measures in occupational safety has been changed, ie training and instruction are given before the use of personal protective equipment .
In some occupational health and safety management systems , training and instruction alone are not recognized as protective measures. They must at least be linked to organizational measures (e.g. approval procedure).
The TOP principle must always be applied. It also applies to all ordinances assigned to the Occupational Safety and Health Act (e.g. the Industrial Safety Ordinance ).
Action hierarchy according to DGUV information
Technical measures (old hierarchy level "T")
- 1. Avoidance of the hazard (e.g. replacing a hazardous work process with a non-hazardous one)
- 2. Separation of people and danger (e.g. by encapsulating a dangerous machine)
Organizational measures (old hierarchy level "O")
- 3. Organizational measures (e.g. time limitation of the effect of a dangerous condition; access controls (often in connection with technical and personal protective measures) etc.)
Personal measures (old hierarchy level "P")
- 4. Personal protective equipment (PPE e.g. safety shoes, dust mask, gloves, etc.)
- 5. Instructions (in addition to training and instructions, this also includes signs and markings, prohibitions, commands, etc.)
The higher the number of measures, the easier and faster they can usually be implemented, but at the same time their scope and effectiveness decrease.
Measure hierarchy according to TRBS
In TRBS 1111 - "Risk assessment and safety assessment" there is the following sequence of measures:
3.3.5 Defining measures
1. Avoidance of the hazard
2. Keep remaining hazard as low as possible
3. Protection against hazards through the use of technical measures
4. Keep people away from the danger area
5. Schools and instruction
6. Protection against hazards through the use of personal protective equipment
Web links
- Lower Saxony Ministry of Culture FaSi measures
- DGUV Information 211-005: Instruction - part of occupational health and safety (previously: BGI 527)
- BAuA TRBS-1111.pdf