Annual workplace safety training material includes OSHA’s NIOSH hierarchy of controls, which is a method for identifying strategies for mitigating safety risks to maximize workplace safety.
The Bureau of Labor statistics reported 5,283 workplace fatalities in 2023 with the number one source being transportation incidents.
Roadway fatalities in the same year numbered 39,345.
A quick exercise applying the Niosh heirarchy of controls to Vision Zero using edited AI content is below.
Building Safer Streets Together: How DOTs Can Leverage the NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls and Land Use Collaboration to Achieve Vision Zero
A Policy Brief on Strengthening Roadway Safety Through Interagency Partnerships and Proven Safety Frameworks
Executive Summary
Transportation departments across the United States have embraced Vision Zero—the ambitious commitment to eliminate traffic-related deaths and serious injuries. However, these goals require tools and partnerships that go beyond traditional roadway design and enforcement models.
This brief presents a path forward: by adopting the NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls as a guiding safety framework and forming deeper collaborations with transit agencies, land use planning agencies, public health professionals, and occupational safety organizations, Departments of Transportation (DOTs) can make substantial progress toward a transportation system that truly protects all users.
1. Vision Zero: A Shared Commitment to Human Life
Across all levels—federal, state, and local—DOTs have joined the Vision Zero movement with the recognition that no death on the roadway is acceptable. The next step is aligning policies and practices with that principle, using proven interdisciplinary models.
To do this, DOTs have an opportunity to expand their scope:
- Collaborate with agencies who already use systemic safety frameworks, like NIOSH
- Coordinate with land use planners to reduce car dependency
- Partner with public health institutions to better understand risk exposure and vulnerability
2. The NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls: A Model for Transportation Safety
NIOSH—widely respected in workplace safety—organizes harm reduction into five levels, ranked from most effective to least:
- Elimination – Remove the hazard entirely
- Substitution – Replace the hazard with a less risky alternative
- Engineering Controls – Isolate people from the hazard
- Administrative Controls – Change behavior through policies or training
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) – Rely on gear or individual responsibility
While traditionally applied to workplace environments, this model can be adapted to street design, transportation systems, and mobility planning.
3. Applying the Hierarchy to Transportation
DOTs can align their safety strategies with the NIOSH framework by reprioritizing how risks are addressed:
| NIOSH Level | Transportation Application |
|---|---|
| #1 – Elimination – Most Effective | Prioritize eliminating the need or transportation, and the most deadly forms of transportation, namely motor vehicle travel. Increase the number of areas with high pedestrian activity (e.g., school streets, downtowns) that do not allow motor vehicle access, specifically during the times of the day with most pedestrian activity. |
| #2 – Substitution – Second Most Effective | Replace the most dangerous forms of transportation, motor vehicle trips, with comparatively safe, reliable transit, cycling, and walking. |
| #3 – Engineering – Third Most Effective | Design streets with protected bike lanes, raised crosswalks, and reduced lane widths (proven to lower travel speeds) |
| #4 – Administrative – Second Least Effective | Lower speed limits, change delivery hours, implement driver training |
| #5 – Personal Protective Equipment – Last Resort and Least Effective | Motor vehicle artificial intelligence, Air bags, seatbelts, crumple design, etc. |
DOTs have an opportunity to shift from reactive least effective measures to proactive most effective safety design—eliminating hazards before they cause harm.
4. Unlocking New Possibilities Through Land Use Collaboration
To fully achieve elimination and substitution of transportation hazards, land use planning must be integrated into safety strategies.
Why Land Use Matters
- Dense, mixed-use neighborhoods reduce the need for car trips
- Transit-oriented development (TOD) supports walking and public transit over private vehicle use
DOTs Can Collaborate By:
- Co-planning capital improvement projects with planning departments engaged in
- Supporting zoning reforms that encourage walkable, car-optional lifestyles
- Aligning traffic safety goals with housing, equity, and climate initiatives
These strategies not only reduce traffic deaths—they also enhance community health, affordability, and sustainability.
5. Strategic Recommendations for DOTs
To fulfill their Vision Zero commitments, DOTs can build upon their strengths by incorporating the following cross-sector strategies:
5.1 Embrace the NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls
- Use the model to prioritize high-impact safety interventions
- Shift focus from education/enforcement to elimination/engineering
5.2 Foster Interagency Collaboration
- Partner with public health agencies, NIOSH, and local planners to co-develop safety plans.
- Create multidisciplinary Vision Zero task forces with shared accountability among organizations representing all transportation modes.
- DOTs design transportation future prioritizing expanding the safest modes and protecting the most vulnerable street users such as pedestrians and cyclists from the most dangerous modes such as motor vehicles.
5.3 Integrate Land Use and Mobility Planning
- Support zoning updates that reduce auto reliance
- Design streets for the transportation future—not just current traffic volumes
5.4 Measure What Matters
- Focus on outcomes (fatality reduction), not just outputs (number of signs or PSAs)
- Tie funding and project evaluation to safety performance
6. Conclusion: From Silos to Systems
Transportation safety is no longer just an engineering challenge—it is a systems challenge. DOTs have a timely opportunity to lead by working collaboratively across disciplines, integrating proven safety frameworks like the NIOSH Hierarchy of Controls, and addressing the root causes of vehicular harm through land use reform.
By doing so, they move from managing risk to designing it out entirely—bringing Vision Zero from aspiration to reality.
References
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). (2023). Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities.
- NIOSH. (2015). Hierarchy of Controls. CDC/NIOSH
- Vision Zero Network. (2022). Moving from Vision to Action: Implementing Vision Zero.
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). (2017). Safe System Approach for Highway Safety.
- American Planning Association (APA). (2021). Integrating Transportation and Land Use Planning: A Guide to Coordination.
- Speck, J. (2012). Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time.
- National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO). (2023). Designing for Safe Streets: Urban Street Design Guide.
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