Designing for Construction Safety and Health From Research to Practice John Gambatese, PhD, PE School of Civil and Construction Engineering Oregon State University CIB W099 Conference Melbourne, Australia October 21-23, 2009

Designing for Construction Safety and Health is… The application of the Prevention through Design (PtD) concept to the design of a construction project Recognizing construction site safety as a design criterion “Safety Constructability”

What research tells us… 22% of 226 injuries that occurred from in Oregon, WA, and CA 1 42% of 224 fatalities in US between % of fatal accidents resulted in part from decisions made before site work began 2 63% of all fatalities and injuries could be attributed to design decisions or lack of planning 3 1 Behm, M., “Linking Construction Fatalities to the Design for Constr. Safety Concept” (2005) 2 European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions 3 NSW WorkCover, CHAIR Safety in Design Tool, 2001

Additional Motivations Ability to influence safety is greatest early in the project schedule (Szymberski, 1997) Moral and ethical standards – “Engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the public.” (NSPE Code of Ethics) Hierarchy of controls Sustainability Environmental EconomicSocial Sustainability

Examples in Practice

Design Kickoff Design Internal Review Issue for Construction External Review Trade contractor involvement Establish design for safety expectations Include construction and operation perspective Identify design for safety process and tools QA/QC Cross- discipline review Focused safety review Owner review (Source: Hecker et al., 2005) Resources and Processes

Begin Concept Design Commence Construction CHAIR-2 CHAIR-3 Project Phase CHAIR-1 Review of Concept Design Review of Detailed Design Construction Hazard Assessment and Implication Review (CHAIR) Resources and Processes (Source: NSW WorkCover, CHAIR Safety in Design Tool, 2001)

Resources and Processes

Design for Safety and Health Components Ability Opportunity Responsibility Authority Motivation

Design for Safety and Health Components Ability Opportunity Responsibility Authority Motivation Knowledge of construction site hazards, associated risk, and how to create safe designs Able to access and use design for safety resources and processes Education, training, and tools

Design for Safety and Health Components Ability Opportunity Responsibility Authority Motivation Available resources Access to site and resources Acceptable within contract Accepted within project team and culture A need to consider safety Right place, right time, right resources

Design for Safety and Health Components Ability Opportunity Responsibility Authority Motivation Assessing project risk and developing options to mitigate risk are within contracted scope of work Safety is a design criterion

Design for Safety and Health Components Ability Opportunity Responsibility Authority Motivation Authorized to select and prescribe designs based on safety risk assessments and option evaluations Safety is a high priority

Design for Safety and Health Components Ability Opportunity Responsibility Authority Motivation Good business practice Contracted scope of work Moral/ethical standard Governing legislation Standard design practice Interest in construction worker safety and health Designing for safety has value

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health Education, training, and tools –Safety in architecture/engineering education –Professional continuing education classes –Safety in professional licensure requirements –Visualization and work flow tools

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health Right place, right time, right resources –Safety review in project development process –Integrated project delivery methods –Co-locating design and construction staff –Supported by owner/client (resources)

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health Safety is a design criterion –Part of standard design practice –Incorporated into design codes –Contractually prescribed by owner/client –Required by legislation

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health Safety is a high priority –Authorization to modify the design for safety –Designing out the hazard is first choice –Safety and health given high priority relative to other project criteria

Research Findings Priority of project criteria * Ranking: 1 = Highest priority 6 = Lowest priority A smaller number represents higher priority. (Source: Gambatese, J., Behm, M., and Hinze, J. (2005). “Viability of Designing for Construction Worker Safety.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, 131(9), )

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health Designing for safety has value –Lifecycle savings outweigh costs, and economically feasible for designers –Improvements in safety, quality, productivity –Morally/ethically responsible –Desired by owners/clients (priority)

12345 DfCSH Steps to Designing for Construction Safety and Health Designed for construction safety and health –Construction site hazards eliminated/reduced –Improvements in safety, quality, productivity –Improvements in maintenance safety –Design and construction integration/collaboration

Design and Construction Integration (Source: Everett, J.G. and Slocum, A.H., “Automation and Robotics Opportunities: Construction versus Manufacturing.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, ASCE, Vol. 120, No. 2, pp )

Expected Impacts: “Trajectories” Increased prefabrication Increased use of less hazardous materials and systems Increased construction engineering Increased spatial investigation Increased collaboration & integration (Source: Toole, T.M. and Gambatese, J.A., “The Trajectories of Prevention through Design in Construction.” Journal of Safety Research, Special issue on Prevention through Design, Elsevier and the National Safety Council, 39, )

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