Application of Elimination and Substitution Strategies

The two best ways to keep workers safe in the workplace

The two best ways to keep workers safe in the workplace are to eliminate dangers and substitute hazardous waste items. It is because the likelihood of a human coming into touch with a hazardous material or condition is substantially lower than for other types of controls in the hierarchy (Carayon et al., 2015). Several working conditions demand the aforementioned two hazard control techniques as the only sure approach to prevent injury.For instance, in a situation where an individual has to accomplish his or her duties in a level above the ground, bringing the equipment to be worked on at the floor would eliminate the risk of complete failure. Also, in the same situation, substitution can take place where instead of the worker climbing, he or she can use extending tools to perform the task (Carayon et al., 2015). Another example applies where a medication with many adverse effects is substituted with another that does not have the harmful effects. For instance, in the hospital where a friend of mine works, they use nucynta drug instead of tramadol which is known to be more addictive than other opioids.

Pros and Cons

Elimination and substitution strategies are of more merits compared to administrative and personal protective equipment, because they remove the hazard, leaving zero or minimal chances of injuring someone (Carayon et al., 2015). Therefore, possibility of compensating workers for sustained injuries in the workplace is minimized with a higher percentage. The demerit of elimination and substitution of hazards is that they may be expensive to the employer, since the cost of acquiring new equipment or inventing new products is higher than expected. Also, these strategies may be time-consuming, as a normal process has to be altered which may cause delays that can be harmful (losing trust from customers) to the employer or an organization.

Reference

Carayon, P., Hancock, P., Leveson, N., Noy, I., Sznelwar, L., & Van Hootegem, G. (2015). Advancing a sociotechnical systems approach to workplace safety - developing the conceptual framework. Ergonomics, 58(4), 548-564.