Posted By Coshh Assessor Does anyone have any tips or suggestions for how to get across persuasively the idea of the hierarchy of controls? This is in an environment where the prevailing belief is that if something goes wrong it is somebody's fault and accidents won't happen if people are more careful and wear PPE. I have some difficulty with seeing how to get it across because to me the hierarchy goes without saying - when I was first introduced to it I thought "yes, that makes perfect sense". But for others it is not so obvious and I need to convince them.

Posted By Jane Blunt On the basis that I believe that people remember better things that are slightly amusing I devised a set of slides that has the hierarchy within the context of learning about the behaviour of cats. Do you choose a lion or a domestic kitten? If you have to have the lion - isolate the lion from you (behind a fence). If you must get close and personal there is PPE (picture of someone in medieval armour) Then there is the training option - a book on advanced lion taming. All put together with free clipart. The members of the hierarchy that are not illustrated are talked about at relevant stages. With a bit of imagination you can draw parallels with most work activities. Jane

Posted By Ron Hunter Kudos to you, Jane Blunt. An excellent approach if I may say so.

Posted By warwick.jones I favour using work at height as an example... Eliminate - do the job from the ground e.g. long reach window cleaning poles etc Reduce - reduce the height you need to work at or the time/frequency you need to be working at height e.g. wall mounted lights not ceiling mounted lights in workshops or using long life bulbs that do not need changing so often Isolate - Barriers and edge protection All of the above protects everybody! all of the time - then move onto those controls that require a little individual commitment to implement Controls - Procedures, SSoW, Permits, etc. only work if followed PPE - Harness and fall arrest which need to be worn and clipped on to be useful! I also point out the importance of using a combination of controls aimed at reducing the Likelihood (reduced frequency, barriers etc.) and Severity (fall arrest harnesses, airbags/crash mats) and therefore risk! regards Warwick