Engineering Controls, Administrative Controls, and Personal Protective Equipment In Workplace – Are They Effective?

Discussion Prompt

Reflect on the engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment (PPE) that are involved in your workspace. Do you believe they are effective, or does more need to be done?

Sample Answer – Engineering Controls, Administrative Controls, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Engineering controls refers to physical modifications made to the work process or area which effectively reduce exposure of workers to hazards. Some of the engineering controls ensures employed in my workplace include change of workstations chairs, tables and lighting to reduce ergonomic injuries at work. The company warehouses have been redesigned to enhance ventilation, and the smooth floors have been modified to ensure that they are not slippery in a manner that they would initiate a fall. Administrative controls involve changing work schedules or tasks, but no any physical modification. Some of the administrative controls include work rotation among semi-skilled workers to ensure that workers operate in different workstations to reduce excessive sitting, standing or lifting heavy objects for a long time. Workers in the administrative duties are offered regular breaks to ensure that they do not remain seated for long hours. Personal protective equipment provided in the company includes breathing masks, helmets and dust coat among the workers in the warehouse. Others include boots with good grips to avoid slipping, aprons to protect them from dust and gloves to protect tearing of their hands. The company in my opinion has played a great role in enhancing engineering and administrative controls, and also in ensuring workers protectiveness. Although the measures employed are not 100% effective they offer a high efficiency level compared to how the situation was before these control measures were employed.

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