Elimination and Substitution
Elimination and substitution, while most effective at reducing hazards, also tend to be the most difficult to implement in an existing process. If the process is still in the design or development stage, elimination and substitution of hazards may be inexpensive and simple to implement. For an existing process, major changes in equipment and procedures may be required to eliminate or substitute for a hazard.
Some examples of these two strategies include:
- Elimination: removing the source of excessive temperatures, noise, or pressure
- Substitution: substituting a toxic chemical with a less toxic or non-toxic chemical
Engineering Controls
Engineering controls are favored over administrative and personal protective equipment (PPE) for controlling existing worker exposures in the workplace. They are designed to remove the hazard at the source before it contacts the worker.
Well-designed engineering controls can be highly effective in protecting workers and will typically be independent of worker interactions to provide this high level of protection.
The initial cost of engineering controls can be higher than the cost of administrative controls or PPE, but over the longer term, operating costs are frequently lower, and in some instances, can provide cost savings in other areas of the process.
Warnings
Warnings are signs and labels that tell employees to "Keep Out," "May cause eye irritation" etc. to warn employees about hazards. However, it's important to know that employees will not necessarily pay attention to "posted" warning signs. Unless compliance is enforced, employees are more likely to ignore warning signs. To illustrate, think about this concept the next time you're driving a vehicle. Do you drive at the posted speed limit, or the enforced speed limit?
Work Practice Controls and PPE
Work practice controls and PPE are frequently used with existing processes where hazards are not particularly well controlled. Work practice controls and PPE programs may be relatively inexpensive to establish but, over the long term, can be very costly to sustain.
These methods for protecting workers have also proven to be less effective than other measures, requiring significant effort by the affected workers because you can't control all employee behaviors all the time.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
1-10. Which type of hazard control may be relatively inexpensive to establish but very costly to sustain over the long term?
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