How do you manage safety in your company or on your jobsite? You probably follow all federal, state and local requirements, as well as, some sort of company safety standard or project safety plan. Do you do your best to follow prevention through design as defined and discussed by NIOSH? If you're unfamiliar with prevention by design, the premise is that the best way to build projects safely is to design them and the means and methods required to build them in a way that eliminates hazards.
What do you do when you encounter a new, unique or especially challenging circumstance? A good guide to follow is NIOSH's Hierarchy of Controls. The list below notes controls, starting with the most effective and ending with the least effective.
Elimination: literally remove the hazard.
Substitution: pretty self explanatory; remove hazards.
Engineering Controls: take measures to keep people away from hazards.
Administrative Controls: change the means and methods and the way people work.
PPE: the last and least effective line of defense is PPE.
Elimination and substitution work best when construction means and methods are considered during design. Early consideration helps ensure that a project can actually be build safely. Next, engineering controls should be implemented to control hazards. Engineering could include barriers to fall hazards or ventilation when working in a confined space. Administrative controls and PPE are the last line of defense. This is because they rely on people to be effective. Human error, misunderstandings or even deliberate nonconformance can result in accidents when safe work relies heavily on administrative controls and PPE. As construction pros, it's our job to build a better world by mitigating hazards 100% and as high up on the hierarchy as possible. Construction is inherently dangerous but we can make it safe when we lead by example and create safe work environments and cultures for our teams.
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