Span of Control
Examples
During a measles outbreak, 25 personnel may be required to evaluate vaccination records. This number of personnel exceeds a manageable span of control for one supervisor. Therefore, the personnel assigned to this task need to be grouped into smaller units to assure adequate supervision.
During a weather event that precipitated contamination of the water supply, the DOH may dispatch 30 environmental staff (many of whom may have come from regional or state offices) to collect water samples. These 30 individuals should not report to a single Unit Leader, but rather should be divided into smaller units with designated leaders.
The concept of span of control refers to the notion that an individual manager cannot effectively manage if the group of subordinates is too large. To date there have been no specific studies that have established the optimal span of control for public health. (Studies done by the U. S. military suggest spans of control in the range of 3-7 persons supervised per manager.) However, it is essential that the Agency Incident Commander and Section Chiefs consider span of control when establishing assignments for managers. Factors to consider include nature of the incident and tasks to be performed, existing or potential hazards, safety factors and distances between personnel and resources.