US Trends

hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control principles are made

Hazard identification, risk assessment, and risk control principles are made through a structured, step‑by‑step safety process that is now standard in modern occupational health and safety practice.

Quick Scoop

Hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control (often called HIRARC) is a formal method used in workplaces to systematically find hazards, evaluate how dangerous they are, and put controls in place to reduce risks to an acceptable level. These principles are embedded in international guidelines and many national laws, and are treated as a continuous cycle rather than a one‑time exercise.

1. How the principles are structured

Most frameworks use a simple flow:

  1. Identify hazards.
  2. Assess the risks from those hazards.
  3. Control the risks (using a hierarchy of controls).
  4. Monitor, review, and improve.

This sequence is reflected in ISO‑style risk management standards and many government safety guides.

2. Hazard identification – where it starts

Hazard identification is the process of systematically finding anything with the potential to cause harm (injury, illness, damage, or environmental impact). In practice, organizations:

  • Break work down into activities or tasks, then scan each for physical, chemical, biological, ergonomic, and psychosocial hazards.
  • Use tools such as inspections, job safety analysis, incident reports, worker feedback, and process reviews.
  • Consider who might be harmed and how, including employees, contractors, visitors, and sometimes the public.

The goal is not to judge the size of the risk yet, but to map all significant hazards tied to the work.

3. Risk assessment – turning hazards into risk levels

Risk assessment evaluates how likely it is that a hazard will cause harm and how severe that harm could be. Core principles include:

  • Considering likelihood: very likely, likely, unlikely, highly unlikely, or similar ranked scales.
  • Considering consequence: insignificant, minor injury, major injury, fatality, or graded variants.
  • Combining likelihood and consequence using a risk matrix to classify risks as low, medium, high, or extreme.

A typical risk assessment process:

  1. Gather information about each identified hazard (who is exposed, for how long, under what conditions).
  1. Decide likelihood and consequence ratings using defined tables or matrices.
  1. Assign a risk level which then guides how urgently and how strongly it must be controlled.

Risk assessments may be qualitative (using words and simple matrices), semi‑quantitative (numbers for scores), or more quantitative where data allow.

4. Risk control – hierarchy and principles

Risk control is the process of implementing measures to eliminate or reduce risk “so far as reasonably practicable”, a phrase used in many regulations. A key principle is the hierarchy of controls, ranked from most effective to least:

  • Elimination: remove the hazard entirely (e.g., discontinue a dangerous process).
  • Substitution: replace with something less hazardous (e.g., less toxic chemical).
  • Engineering controls: redesign equipment, isolate people from hazards, add guards or ventilation.
  • Administrative controls: procedures, training, scheduling, supervision, limiting exposure time.
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE): last line of defence like gloves, respirators, goggles.

Principles for choosing controls:

  • Aim for the highest feasible level in the hierarchy (prioritize elimination and engineering over relying on PPE).
  • Consider severity of potential harm, likelihood of occurrence, what is known about the hazard, and the availability and suitability of controls.
  • Balance feasibility with achieving the highest level of protection that is reasonable in the circumstances.

5. Documentation, monitoring and continual improvement

Modern guidance treats HIRARC as a continuous loop, not a one‑off checklist. Key principles:

  • Document findings: hazards identified, risk ratings, chosen controls, implementation dates, and responsible persons.
  • Monitor controls: check whether measures are in place and actually working (inspections, audits, incident trends).
  • Review and revise: update assessments when work changes, after incidents or near‑misses, or periodically by policy.

This cycle helps organizations move from reactive responses after accidents to proactive prevention of harm.

6. Why this is a “trending topic” now

Since around the early 2020s, regulators and institutions have emphasized structured hazard identification and risk assessment as central to workplace safety culture, including in universities and public sector organizations. More recent updates in 2023–2025 from safety bodies and training providers present “quick guides” and simplified tools to help smaller organizations implement these principles more easily. This reflects broader trends like:

  • Focus on psychosocial risks and mental health as recognized workplace hazards.
  • Pressure on organizations to show due diligence through documented HIRARC processes.
  • Integration of risk assessment into broader corporate risk and resilience frameworks.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.