Making the Business Case for Prevention through Design
One of the best ways to prevent and control occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities is to "design out" or minimize hazards and risks early in the design process. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is leading a National initiative called Prevention through Design (PtD) to promote this concept and highlight its importance in all business decisions. PtD addresses occupational safety and health needs by eliminating hazards and controlling risks to workers throughout the life cycle of work premises, tools, equipment, machinery, substances, and work methods, including their construction, manufacture, use, maintenance and ultimate disposal or re-use.
The reasons for this initiative are compelling. Each year in the U.S., 55,000 people die from work-related injuries and diseases, 294,000 are made sick, and 3.8 million are injured. The annual direct and indirect costs have been estimated to range from $128 billion to $155 billion. Recent studies in Australia indicate that design is a significant contributor in 37% of work-related fatalities; therefore, the successful implementation of prevention through design concepts can have substantial impacts on worker health and safety.
Although there is a long history of designing for safety for the general public, there has been less emphasis on designing for safety for workers. However, many U.S. companies support PtD concepts because they have witnessed first hand the business value of PtD and have developed successful PtD management practices. Several of these companies shared their PtD successes with 225 participants from diverse industry sectors and disciplines at the first Prevention through Design Workshop, held in Washington DC July 9–11, 2007. The proceedings from the Prevention through Design Workshop as well as six peer-reviewed papers demonstrating PtD principles have been included in a special Prevention through Design issue of the Journal of Safety Research.
The meeting participants provided feedback to NIOSH on the goals that should be included in the strategic plan for the Prevention through Design National initiative. Overwhelmingly, workshop participants from all of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) industry sectors requested that NIOSH include goals that will assist them in demonstrating the business case for prevention through design. Specifically, the participants recommended that NIOSH:
- Research the costs associated with implementing Prevention through Design as well as the long-term return on investment, or ROI;
- Develop and distribute methods and tools that can be used by engineers, designers, finance professionals and H&S professionals to calculate return on investment for PtD options. Educate these professionals on the practical use of these tools;
- Understand industry motivations and challenges and develop compelling business cases for PtD that address their concerns;
- Educate business and finance leaders in the value of PtD to their organizations, not only in terms of human lives, injuries and illnesses but also in terms of improving business processes, productivity and creating workplaces of choice.
Your Feedback Is Important to Us
NIOSH understands that recognizing and defining the business case for PtD will strengthen this national strategy. As we move forward with the PtD initiative we would like to hear more from you, through this blog, about your success in building a business case for Prevention through Design as well as the challenges you have encountered. We would appreciate learning more about the outcomes you have experienced, in terms of reduction in the incidence of serious injuries, illnesses and/or exposures. Additionally, we would like to hear about any improvements in other business metrics, such as quality or productivity, that are the result of including prevention through design elements into the construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and disposal of materials, equipment, and facilities.
Thank you in advance for your assistance in strengthening the PtD initiative.
—Donna S. Heidel, CIH, and Paul Schulte, Ph.D.
Ms. Heidel, a NIOSH Research Industrial Hygienist, is the Coordinator of the PtD National initiative
Dr. Schulte, Director of NIOSH's Education and Information Division, is leading the NIOSH PtD National initiative.
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Comments
I am very interested in participating in the Prevention Through Design effort. At my organization, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (a water and wastewater agency), we have implemented a Safe Design Guidleines program for our capital improvement program. Please add me to the distribution list for PtD.
Posted 6/2/08 at 11:15 am
I provide ergonomic, safety and loss control consulting services to a variety of industries. More often than not the best ideas for improving work processes come from the people on the manufacturing floor or constructing buildings. These are the professionals who implement and adapt design concepts in the field. They know what does and doesn't work. Tapping into this resource should be a priority in this process.
Also, industry would benefit if this concept is a core component of college curriculum for architects and engineers. Then the seed would be planted early on.
Prevention Through Design's long term goals should be convincing the corporate world and investors that it is the right thing to do. The focus should not be solely on ROI alone, as is all too often the case.
What can I do to help?
Posted 6/3/08 at 10:11 am
Thank you, Mr. Lambert, for your support of the Prevention through Design National initiative, your advice and your willingness to do more.
At the Prevention through Design workshop last July, participants shared your observation that workers often have the best ideas for improving their work processes. The Rapporteur Report from the Services Sector break-out session (Johnson, J. V., Services Sector, Journal of Safety Research (2008), doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2008.02.003) identifies worker input as "critical in the design of work tasks and equipment," and names this issue as one of the most compelling ideas to come out of the Service Sector workshop discussions. Our strategic plan will include elements to include workers in "designing out" hazards and risks in their work environments.
We also intend to work with universities to include Prevention through Design principles in the curricula of engineers and designers by including concepts of safe design into textbooks. In addition, we will continue to educate practicing engineers, designers and H&S professionals to gain immediate impact.
Based on stakeholder input, we have begun to develop our "strategic areas of focus" for the national initiative. We expect to mature these concepts into a strategic plan by the end of 2008. Once the strategic plan has been developed and goals are established, we will be searching for committed professionals like you to work with us on turning the plan into reality.
You ask what you can do to help. Please consider supporting one of the NORA Sector Councils in the development of sector-specific goals that include Prevention through Design (contact the NORA coordinator at noracoordinator@cdc.gov). Please consider contributing an article about your experiences with Prevention through Design to "PtD in Motion," (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ptd/#motion) our quarterly newsletter. And please offer your comments to our draft strategic plan when it is posted for public comment on the PtD page of the NIOSH Website http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/PtD/ at the end of this year.
Posted 6/09/08 at 10:55 pm
This is great stuff, and I look forward to NIOSH's continued work in this area.
Also, coming from a engineering background originally, I support whole heartedly Mr. Lambert's comment that PtD concepts in an engineering curriculum would be invaluable in making our designs for buildings, processes, equipment, products, etc safer (and less costly in the long run). I believe every engineering curriculum should have an entire course dedicated to safety, inlcuding PtD.
Posted 6/3/08 at 2:29 pm
I have been a believer in safety process through designing for years, although this is the first time I have ever read concern about it through the safety and health industry. Many times, I have been through new developments in planned communities where it seemed no forethought went into its development. This inevitably causes the same problems from poor design leading to safety, health, and ergonomic problems for workers, to crowded streets and poor access, easy traffic flow and the ability to make changes in cases of emergencies. If the Archetects, planners, and builders would take the time to ask opinions of the professional employees that have to work within the building, or if they would look at future statistics and talk to futurists of civil planning, then this process could become a recognized discipline in the planning process, our future at work and in planned communities and cities will be better.
Posted 6/16/08 at 11:42 pm
Great initiative and one that should mesh well with the myriad of organizations striving to be "lean." Since lean focuses on the identification and elimination of waste, the opportunity to eliminate and reduce hazards before they come into the workplace is a natural fit.
Those of us in the health and safety field well recognize that injury and illness are sources of huge waste to any organization. We need to promote the idea that "you cannot be lean without being safe."
Posted 6/17/08 at 7:44 am
We, at the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, are working to include design elements in our safe work practices to be used by all (planners, designers, field staff). Please include me on your mailing list.
Posted 7/11/08 at 11:26 am
We are in the process of developing an employee injury reduction plan and I am very interested in your PtD. Please add me to your newsletter list. Thank you.
Posted 9/12/08 at 11:01 am