Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

4.5.2 Violations
There are three categories of violation – routine, situ-
ational and exceptional.
Routine violation
occurs when the breaking of 
a safety rule or procedure is the normal way of working. 
It becomes routine not to use the recommended 
procedures for tasks. An example of this is the regular 
speeding of fork lift trucks in a warehouse so that orders 
can be fulfi lled on time.
There are many reasons given for routine violation – 
the job would not be completed on time, lack of supervi-
sion and enforcement or, simply, the lack of knowledge 
of the procedures. Routine violations can be reduced by 
regular monitoring, ensuring that the rules are actually 
necessary or redesigning the job.
The following features are very common in many 
workplaces and often lead to routine violations:
➤
poor working posture due to poor ergonomic design 
of the workstation or equipment
➤
equipment 
diffi cult to use and/or slow in response
➤
equipment 
diffi cult to maintain or pressure on time 
available for maintenance
➤
procedures unduly complicated and diffi cult to 
understand
➤
unreliable instrumentation and/or warning systems
➤
high levels of noise and other poor aspects to the 
environment (fumes, dusts, humidity)
➤
associated personal protective equipment either 
inappropriate, diffi cult and uncomfortable to wear or 
ineffective due to lack of maintenance.
Situational violations
occur when particular job pres-
sures at particular times make rule compliance diffi cult. 

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They may happen when the correct equipment is not 
available or weather conditions are adverse. A common 
example is the use of a ladder rather than a scaffold for 
working at height to replace window frames in a build-
ing. Situational violations may be reduced by improving 
job design, the working environment and supervision.