by Brianna Crandall — December 17, 2014—Design-related safety issues in buildings reportedly account for 20% to 50% of all injuries or fatalities within an organization, yet most safety management systems do not capture or call attention to these factors, allowing these conditions to be repeated in existing and new structures.
That is the conclusion David Walline, author of the story “Prevention Through Design” draws in the November issue of the American Society of Safety Engineers’ (ASSE) monthly journal Professional Safety.
Walline encourages safety professionals to embrace the Prevention Through Design (PTD) process as a way of reducing future injuries. This could integrate with an effective overall strategic facilities management strategy.
“OSH professionals need to shift away from and perhaps exit out of traditional safety roles and daily focus on compliance program development, training, inspections and claims management, and transition into risk avoidance and risk-mitigation activities related to organizational planning, design, specifications, safety procurement specifications, design safety reviews, proven development and risk assessment,” Walline writes.
A key to PTD is designing out, or avoiding, situations that may cause injury, such as the use of portable ladders. Walline determined the burden cost (injury claims, compliance maintenance, retrofit, etc.) of portable ladder use in a 500,000-square-foot facility with a planned 50-year life span could be as much as $9.3 million. Over that same period, Walline says a one-time capital investment of $500,000 would eliminate 17 defined routine ladders tasks. “Communicating the burden costs incurred when low-level controls are selected over one-time, high-level controls designed to avoid or eliminate hazards and risks represent[s] an opportunity for OSH professionals,” Walline writes.
The article is available from the Professional Safety Article Archive: PS Online upon registration.
