Discussion on the relative effectiveness of engineering versus management controls to improve job safety and health
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Discuss the relative effectiveness of engineering versus management controls to improve job safety and health
Safety and health at the workplace are crucial. It is important to note that when safety and health are disregarded, it can be very expensive. Cascio (2013) says that accidents are expensive. The cost implication of disregarding safety include compensating workers, cost of wages paid for time lost, damage to material and equipment among others (Cascio, 2013). For this reason, engineering and management controls aimed at improving safety and health at the workplace will have considerable benefits.
Engineering controls attempt to eliminate unsafe work conditions and neutralize unsafe worker behaviors (Cascio, 2013). They include modifying the work environment to make it safer for the workers (ibid). On the other hand, management controls involve those efforts made by the management to increase safe behaviors. Such practices by the management include formulating a safety policy, implementing, and sustaining the policy (ibid).
In this regard, the policies formulated and implemented and the engineering adjustments made help in sensitizing everyone that it is their responsibility to regard safety standards at the workplace. Therefore, in order for the standards to be maintained, everyone, including those in management, whether they are in suits, must adhere to these safety standards.
In this sense, this will reduce accidents at the workplace and hence reduce or completely do away with the cost arising from these accidents. It will also ensure that time is not lost while attending to victims of accidents while ensuring a healthy workforce which will most probably result in increased productivity.