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NIOSH Safety and Health Topic:

Prevention through Design

Prevention through Design

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The Business Case for PtD
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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. NIOSH is leading a national initiative called Prevention through Design (PtD) to promote this concept and highlight its importance in all business decisions.

The concept of PtD can be defined as:

Addressing occupational safety and health needs in the design process to prevent or minimize the work-related hazards and risks associated with the construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and disposal of facilities, materials, and equipment.

A growing number of business leaders are recognizing PtD as a cost-effective means to enhance occupational safety and health. Many U.S. companies openly support PtD concepts and have developed management practices to implement them. Other countries are actively promoting PtD concepts as well. The United Kingdom began requiring construction companies, project owners, and architects to address safety and health during the design phase of projects in 1994, and companies there have responded with positive changes in management practices to comply with the regulations. Australia developed the Australian National OHS Strategy 2002–2012, which set "eliminating hazards at the design stage" as one of five national priorities. As a result, the Australian Safety and Compensation Council (ASCC) developed the Safe Design National Strategy and Action Plans for Australia encompassing a wide range of design areas including buildings and structures, work environments, materials, and plant (machinery and equipment).

Partnerships

NIOSH has partnered with the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, Kaiser Permanente, Liberty Mutual, the National Safety Council (NSC), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ORC Worldwide, and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering for the development of a National Initiative on Prevention through Design. Other partners may be joining this national initiative soon.

Approach to PtD

The approach that will be used to develop and implement the PtD National Initiative will be framed by industry sector and within four functional areas: Research, Education, Practice, and Policy. As the chart below indicates, this process encourages stakeholder input through a sector-based approach consistent with the one used under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA).

Flowchart illustrating the National Initiative

The ultimate goal of the PtD initiative is to prevent or reduce occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities through the inclusion of prevention considerations into all designs that impact workers. Along the way, intermediate goals will be identified to provide a path toward achieving the ultimate goal. NIOSH will serve as a catalyst to establish this Initiative, but in the end, the partners and stakeholders must actively participate in addressing these goals to make PtD business as usual in the 21st century.

Prevention through Design (PtD) Workshop

The first Prevention through Design (PtD) Workshop was held in Washington DC July 9-11, 2007 to launch a National Initiative aimed at eliminating occupational hazards and controlling risks to workers “at the source” or as early as possible in the life cycle of items or workplaces. PtD includes the design of work premises, structures, tools, plants, equipment, machinery, substances, work methods, and systems of work.

The workshop attracted approximately 225 participants from diverse industry sectors and disciplines. Day 1 began on July 9 at 1:00 p.m. with keynote and plenary speakers that spotlighted the success of PtD in several industries in the United States and internationally. Day 2 engaged participants in industry-centered breakout sessions to identify opportunities and barriers, and to develop recommendations for each industry. Day 3 included cross-industry breakout sessions that used the recommendations from the previous day to map out the top over-arching issues for PtD in Research, Education, Practice, and Policy. The output from the workshop will be used to develop a strategic plan that highlights actions and milestones to institutionalize the concept throughout the United States.

While NIOSH is coordinating the initiative, PtD is a collaborative endeavor and current partners include the American Industrial Hygiene Association, the American Society of Safety Engineers, the Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, Kaiser Permanente, Liberty Mutual, the National Safety Council, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, ORC Worldwide, and the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering. The list is expected to grow.

Agenda

Below are links to the agendas that were used at the workshop. The first one is a general agenda, and the second one is a more detailed set of agendas for each industry sector for the Day 2 breakout sessions.

PtD Agenda (general) (PDFadobe acrobat icon 8 pages, 446 KB)

PtD Agenda by Sector (day 2) (PDFadobe acrobat icon26 pages, 841 KB)

PtD in Motion Newsletter

PtD in Motion is a newsletter published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to help foster communication among practitioners, researchers, and others about the tools and actions related to Prevention through Design. Each newsletter will focus on one industry sector or one of the broader functional areas: Practice, Policy, Research, or Education. Please feel free to contact the editors at ptd@cdc.gov with any PtD-related news or topics. We look forward to your input to make PtD in Motion truly a collaborative exchange.

PtD in Motion Newsletter, Issue 3, September 16, 2008

PDF version, (PDF adobe acrobat icon 6 pages, 1.8 MB)
HTML version

PtD in Motion Newsletter, Issue 2, June 12, 2008

PDF version (PDF adobe acrobat icon 7 pages, 3.05 MB)
HTML version

PtD in Motion Newsletter, Issue 1, February, 2008

PtD In Motion Newsletter, (PDF adobe acrobat icon 6 pages, 1.5 MB)

Related NIOSH Topics

Engineering Education in Occupational Safety and Health
Project SHAPE (Safety and Health Awareness for Preventive Engineering) was a collaborative project between NIOSH, engineering professional societies, and engineering schools to enhance the education of engineering students in occupational safety and health.

Other Resources

National Safety Council’s Institute for Safety through Design
External link: https://www2.nsc.org/istd.htm
This organization’s mission is to reduce the risk of injury, illness and environmental damage by integrating decisions affecting safety, health and the environment in all stages of the design process.

Safety and Chemical Engineering Education (SAChE) Program
External link: http://www.sache.org/
This program provides teaching materials and programs to bring elements of process safety into the education of undergraduate and graduate students studying chemical and biochemical products and processes.

Design for Construction Safety
External link: http://www.designforconstructionsafety.org/
This site provides information on design as a critical aspect of construction safety, including resources and information on the OSHA Alliance Program Construction Roundtable.

Minerva Safety Management Education
External link: http://www.safetymanagementeducation.com/
Minerva is a not for profit corporation dedicated to improving business effectiveness through Safety Management Education.

Safety in Design
External link: http://www.safetyindesign.org/
This UK organization provides benchmarked standards for knowledge and competence for designers.

Design Best Practice
External link: http://www.dbp.org.uk/pages/welcome.htm
This UK organization provides information and resources to assist people in complying with UK construction design management regulations. It includes case studies.

Australian Safety and Compensation Council
External link: http://www.ascc.gov.au/ascc/HealthSafety/SafeDesign/
The Australian Government's Safe Design Initiative. Safe Design is a process of hazard identification and risk assessment to eliminate or minimize risk of injury through out the life of the product.

 

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November 21, 2008
Page last reviewed: February, 2008
Content Source: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Education and Information Division