Best Practices: Incorporating Digital Technology Into The Hierarchy Of Controls

Executive Summary

Firms today have been making strides in reducing incident and accident rates and are doing so through both traditional and novel means. Traditionally, these safety gains have been achieved through variations of the hierarchy of controls (HOC). First introduced in 1950 by the National Safety Council (NSC), the HOC is a process by which firms identify and mitigate hazards though specific actions or alterations. In decreasing order of effectiveness, they are: direct hazard factor elimination, substitution of solutions or hazards, engineering a change, administrative actions and the usage of personal protective equipment (PPE).

This report provides a comprehensive overview of identified best practices around incorporating a new approach to integrating digital technologies into the existing HOC. As it stands, digital solutions are utilized across each of the steps in the pyramid – from the integration of automation in physical operations to the incorporation of camera analytics for PPE usage – and are being leveraged to a greater degree as the technology develops. The documentation around these deployments has resulted in definitive use cases that can provide new insights to firms far along the maturity curve, as well as a roadmap for those just starting to digitize.

This report will assist corporates and vendors to understand the leading trends, drivers and best practices when it comes to current and future integrations of digital technology into the HOC.