General principles of prevention
A hierarchy of eight principles derived from the EU Framework Directive that employers must apply when implementing health and safety measures. Codified in GB in MHSWR 1999 Schedule 1 and in Irish law through the General Application Regulations.
Also known as
By jurisdiction
UK HSE
“general principles of prevention”Exact equivalentSchedule 1 of MHSWR 1999 sets out the general principles of prevention that employers must apply when implementing preventive and protective measures: avoiding risks; evaluating unavoidable risks; combating risks at source; adapting work to the individual; adapting to technical progress; replacing the dangerous with the non-dangerous; developing a coherent prevention policy; giving priority to collective protective measures over individual ones; and giving appropriate instructions to employees.
Irish HSA
“general principles of prevention”Close equivalentThe Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 implement the EU Framework Directive principles of prevention. Schedule 3 of the General Application Regulations sets out equivalent principles to MHSWR Schedule 1.
US OSHA
“hierarchy of controls”Partial equivalentOSHA does not codify the EU eight general principles of prevention in a single regulatory provision. The NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls (eliminate, substitute, engineer, administer, PPE) serves a similar purpose and is widely referenced in OSHA guidance. The principle of giving priority to collective over individual protective measures is implicit in OSHA standards.
Practitioner note: EU Framework Directive derived (Schedule 1 MHSWR 1999 / Schedule 3 GAR 2007). Hierarchy of controls is the practical expression. OSHA embeds equivalent principles in individual standards rather than a single codified list.