Lesson 1.3 · 5 min

The principles of prevention

Open in the coursewith narrated slides, a checklist to tick off and a quiz

At a glance

The principles of prevention. All measures to protect workers must follow the general principles of prevention. The assessment must apply them.
Avoid, then evaluate. Risks must be avoided first. What can't be avoided must be evaluated and combated at source.
Fit the work to the person. The human factor and the design of tasks, workflows and work organisation must be taken into account, as must the state of the art.
Collective before individual. Collective protection takes priority over individual protection: a guard for everyone comes before protective equipment for each person.
Appropriate instructions. Workers receive appropriate instructions. Technology alone is rarely enough, says the Labour Inspectorate: most accidents have organisational causes.

In detail

The principles as worded

When designing workplaces, workstations and work processes, choosing and using equipment and substances, deploying workers and in all protective measures, employers must apply these principles § 7 ASchG; the assessment must apply them too § 4(1) ASchG:

No. 1 avoiding risks;
No. 2 evaluating the risks that cannot be avoided;
No. 3 combating hazards at source;
No. 4 taking the human factor into account, especially in designing workstations and choosing equipment and methods, for example to ease monotonous work;
No. 4a taking into account the design of tasks, the type of activities, the work environment, workflows and work organisation;
No. 5 taking the state of the art into account;
No. 6 eliminating or reducing hazardous factors;
No. 7 planning prevention as a coherent whole of technology, activities and tasks, work organisation, workflows, working conditions, work environment and social relationships;
No. 8 giving collective protection priority over individual protection;
No. 9 giving appropriate instructions to workers.

What this means for the assessment

The Labour Inspectorate puts the order like this: the top aim is to combat hazards at source. Where hazards or strains cannot be ruled out, workers must be protected by technical measures (such as guards), organisational measures (such as the workflow) and personal measures (such as protective equipment) (Labour Inspectorate).

From its inspections, it points out that technical measures alone are usually not enough: by far most accidents are caused not by technical faults but by organisational and information gaps. For every hazard, the assessment should show the chain "hazard – protection goal – measure" (Labour Inspectorate).

Checklist

Where possible, we avoid a hazard instead of only handing out protective equipment.
Our measures tackle hazards at source.
Protection for everyone takes priority over personal protective equipment.
For every hazard, the chain hazard – protection goal – measure is visible.
Besides technical measures, we have set organisational measures and instructions.

Quiz

What takes priority under § 7 ASchG?

Personal protective equipment over collective protection
Instructions over technical measures
Collective protection over individual protection
The cheapest protection over the most effective

Show the answer

The answer is C: Collective protection over individual protection. § 7 no. 8 ASchG: collective protection takes priority over individual protection.

Sources

This lesson's statements rest on:

Not legal advice. What counts is the Workers Protection Act (ASchG) and its regulations in the Federal Legal Information System (read on 4 October 2026). Rules for areas outside the ASchG, such as agriculture and forestry or the public service, and special rules for particular substances or sectors are not covered. Not an offer of the Labour Inspectorate, the AUVA or the Chamber of Commerce.