Controls are measures used to eliminate or minimise the exposure of workers to workplace health risks and therefore protect workers from physical and psychological harm. Where the necessity of applying controls is informed by a process of hazard identification and methodological risk management, controls can be applied to change the risk profile of an activity or exposed person by changing the hazard, changing the likelihood of exposure, or controlling the harm that may arise. These are broad delineations and are not finally definitive. The application and use of controls and their relative effectiveness is informed by the Hierarchy of Controls, where controls are graded from more effective, like elimination, substitution, and isolation, to less effective such as administration and personal protective equipment.
Controls are divided into broad categorisations depending on the extent to which they can change a worker's potential exposure to harm as well as the intensity of that harm. The most effective risk control in a work health and safety context is the elimination of the hazard at its source, like designing out hazardous steps and elevation changes in the environment, eliminating the need to work at height by constructing assemblages on the ground, and removing asbestos from walls and cladding. If elimination is not possible, substitution of the hazard involves replacing a hazardous material, process, or element with a safer alternative, like replacing carcinogenic cleaning agents with noncarcinogenic alternatives, switching latex to non-latex gloves in case of allergen risk, using battery-powered tools instead of corded tools to minimise trip risks, and so on. If a hazard cannot be substituted, then workers can minimise their exposure to the hazard by being isolated from the hazard through using physical barriers and enclosures like machine guarding, storage, operating machinery remotely, and exclusion zones that are cordoned off. Where it is impossible to isolate workers from hazards owing to the need for a worker to operate equipment, maintain presence, or participate in a practical task, engineering controls are used to redesign equipment, processes, and the work environment to minimise exposure. Examples of engineering controls include dilution ventilation to decrease the concentrations of airborne contaminants, emergency stop devices or dead-mans' switches that require worker engagement, sound dampening, and vibration shielding. Where the process, plant, or workplace cannot be adjusted to eliminate or otherwise mitigate worker exposure to a hazard, workplaces can use policies and procedures to prepare workers to manage hazards. The provision of information, training, instruction, and support as administrative controls through training and education, the rotation of workers between tasks to minimise continuous exposure, the development of standard operating procedures, and health monitoring are examples of the application of administrative controls. Where there is still exposure to the worker of sufficient intensity that the risk poses material likelihood of harm, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) can be used as a final stage of control where no other means are available to otherwise mitigate the risk or when the risk is inherent to the work, such as when earmuffs are necessary when operating impact drills, eye protection is needed when lathing, gloves needed when handling biological waste, and so on.
Controls may be institutional and personal with respect to the worker. Institutional controls are modifications made to process, plant, and workplace at the discretion of the business, and personal controls include administrative and PPE controls requiring worker participation to mitigate residual or uncontrolled risk. The key difference between the two is that institutional controls, by virtue of applying controls at the work level through a systematic and methodological process of safety design, are more effective at minimising risk of harm to workers as a result of designing safety into operations and controlling hazards at their source, be that an operational, chemical, organisational, or environmental. Conversely, while administrative and PPE-based controls are demonstrably effective at controlling risks, they rely on worker engagement, compliance, and adherence to those measures in terms of adoption and continued correct use. Workers are human, and are so prone to the four causes of accidents - inattention, indifference, ignorance, or insufficiency. Workers might be ignorant of the importance of using PPE or of the harm that might arise if PPE is not used properly, indifferent to the necessity of following controls or using PPE as a result of a lack of care or broader disregard of institutional oversight, fail to pay attention in compliance with instructions and use of PPE, or be physically incapable of following the instruction as a function of situational or personal insufficiency. Where active compliance is needed, that compliance is a volitional adherence to management that may be intermittent or imperfect given the situation, and that in and of itself degrades the effectiveness of lower-order controls.
The application of controls transforms risk and should be done methodologically through a process of review and change management to ensure that controlling one risk does not concentrate or transform another, result in the deprecation of the effectiveness of other controls, or contribute to the unsustainability of residual risks that need to be addressed by downstream controls. An example of this is given earlier where height work might be eliminated by constructing assemblages on the ground. This relocates the risk from height to ground, but the ecosystem around those risks still remains, and now a larger assemblage needs to be craned up at height, which changes the risks around craning and the installation procedure. A practical example of this is that if a worker is lifting a single 30-kilogram load, breaking that load up into 6 loads of 5kg each decreases the intensity needed to negotiate each individual lift, but introduces repetition into the movement. In addition to this, there are residual and inherent risks that can not be eliminated without making the task impossible, like trying to butcher an animal without a bladed implement, or trying to drill something without exerting force. When implementing controls, practicability, cost, benefit, and risk transformation should all be considered as materially relevant factors.
Each workplace is different, with different demands, methods of business, and is staffed by people whose capacities, needs, and risk profiles are different. Managing ergonomic, environmental, and occupational health and safety challenges requires a business to examine and engage with the ecosystem of factors that give rise to risk, and how that risk may affect people. Each workplace is different and so sometimes the same problem will require different solutions. This applies to workers as well - every person is different and so may require different support, supervision, or resources to perform comfortably and sustainably. Under Work Health and Safety law, consultation with the workforce, the control of risk as far as is reasonably practicable, and the provision of information, training, instruction and support to the worker by the workplace, is essential to meet obligations to provide workers with a workplace that is as free of risk as far is reasonably practicable.
In our capacity as consultants, Atlas Physio will explore and scope the business and its needs, examining how exposures, risks, and processes contribute to the hazard ecosystem, best inform the design and arrangement of procedural, policy-based, and practical risk controls. Our solutions are tailored to the needs of those with whom we work, implemented in a simple, sustainable, and supportive fashion, designed to be robust and resilient, and to support the ongoing life of the business as well as the sustainable wellbeing of the workers who undertake the day to day activities of work.
At Atlas Physio, we provide reporting, structured control, and ongoing management of risk onsite, on the road, and wherever work is done. We are open seven days a week, and are happy to offer a brief complimentary discussion to explore the needs of your business and your workers if you are an employer, and your needs if you are a worker. Reach out today to arrange a discussion and take the first step toward managing risk and working safely, supported by expertise that is practical, reliable, and designed to deliver lasting results.