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 at 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 a hazard.
These strategies are considered first because they have the potential of completely eliminating the hazard, thus greatly reducing the probability of an accident. Redesigning or replacing equipment or machinery may be expensive, but remember the average direct and indirect cost of a lost-work injury can be more than $50,000 and easily more than $1 million to close a fatality claim.
Examples of these two strategies include:
- removing the source of excessive temperatures, noise, or pressure
- substituting a toxic chemical with a less toxic or non-toxic chemical
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
4-3. Which strategy is an example of controlling hazards through substitution?
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