In a safety program, which sequence correctly represents the hazard control loop?

• A. Identification -> Assessment -> Controls
• B. Controls -> Identification -> Assessment
• C. Assessment -> Identification -> Controls
• D. Identification -> Controls -> Assessment

Answer: (A)

Identifying hazards, assessing risk, and then implementing controls is the logical flow for managing safety. First you uncover what could cause harm—the list of potential hazards. Next you evaluate how likely that harm is to occur and how severe the consequences could be, which helps you prioritize which hazards need attention and what level of control is needed. Only after you understand the hazards and their risk do you select and apply measures to eliminate or reduce those risks.

If you try to put controls in place before identifying what could cause harm, you might miss critical hazards or waste resources on unnecessary measures. If you assess risk after implementing controls, you won’t know whether the controls were properly targeted or sufficient. The sequence in this question—identify, assess, then control—captures that essential progression from discovery to prioritization to action. In practice, you would also monitor the effectiveness of the controls and revisit the process as conditions change, but the core order remains identification, then assessment, then controls.