Behavioral Controls
Warnings
Warnings systems use audible (voice) or visible devices that help to raise awareness of fall hazards.
Warning Systems
Warning lines and safety monitoring systems are the two primary strategies to warn employees. They apply to low-slope roofing work only.
The effectiveness of warning systems is highly dependent on the quality of training, legibility and visibility, and worker compliance. Warnings may become ineffective if, over time, workers ignore them.
Administrative Controls
Administrative controls are changes made to the safety culture and the way employees conduct work.
Safety Culture
In construction, administrative controls are the safety principles, policies, programs, plans, processes, procedures, and practices aimed at reducing worker exposure to hazards. Effective administrative controls have the potential to successfully eliminate the behaviors that result in the vast majority of all workplace accidents.
It's always better to eliminate the hazard so that you don't have to rely on administrative controls because managing employee behaviors is only effective when workers comply. It's important to understand that any safety controls that rely on human behavior are inherently less reliable.
Administrative controls to help ensure safe behaviors include safety:
- instruction, training, and practice to promote workers have adequate knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) to work safely;
- policies that promote decision-making at the supervisor and employee levels, (e.g., job scheduling to limit exposure);
- processes that help to ensure complex operations are safe (e.g., chemical production preventive and corrective maintenance);
- procedures that ensure that the steps in single operation are safe (e.g., performing lockout/tagout and housekeeping);
- practices ensure behaviors in each step in a procedure are safe (e.g., inspecting PPE after use);
- rules that ensure mandatory safety behaviors (e.g., requiring the use of PPE when handling hazardous chemicals); and
- guidelines, to promote non-mandatory safety behaviors (e.g., submitting safety suggestions).
Safe work practices include:
- removing tripping, blocking, and slipping hazards
- removing accumulated toxic dust on surfaces
- wetting down surfaces to keep toxic dust out of the air
- using safe lifting techniques
- maintaining equipment and tools in good repair
- using personal protective equipment (PPE)
To make sure administrative controls are effective in the long term, they must be designed and used in conjunction with, and not as a substitute for, more effective or reliable hazard controls.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
3-7. Administrative controls are less reliable because they _____.
You forgot to answer the question!