Safety in design: a proactive approach to construction worker safety and health

Details

• Personal Author:
  Gambatese JA ; Hecker S
• Description:
  Safety through design is a familiar concept to occupational hygienists. Indeed, the primacy of engineering controls in the hierarchy of controls that is fundamental to the discipline derives from the principle of safety through design. The use of ergonomic redesign to reduce risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal disorders is another prominent example of the application of this concept. Unfortunately, construction workers comprise one group of employees that has previously received limited benefit from safety through design. While architects and engineers clearly consider safety in their designs, the target of their efforts has traditionally been the end user of the facility rather than those who will construct it. This is slowly beginning to change. This article describes the current state of activity in safety through design for construction, including barriers and the efforts to overcome them. Also presented are preliminary findings from a case study of a safety-in-design effort on a large industrial construction project in which the authors are involved. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Construction Industry Engineering Ergonomics Occupational Health Safety Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Construction Industry Control Equipment Control Technology Engineering Controls Equipment Design Human Factors Engineering Safety Engineering Training
• ISSN:
  1047-322X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  339-342
• Volume:
  18
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041011
• Citation:
  Appl Occup Environ Hyg 2003 May; 18(5):339-342
• Contact Point Address:
  Steven Hecker, Labor Education and Research Center, 1289 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403
• Email:
  shecker@oregon.uoregon.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• NORA Priority Area:
  Construction
• Performing Organization:
  The Center to Protect Workers' Rights
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19990930
• Source Full Name:
  Applied Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• End Date:
  20050630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:33c82ab302782a50cd85cc541849a3f48d15f1accc75922a43fa9534bc65c0e5359e080e2354b2eb4df2e5e8f7cd060ee70824e7d2a7521156ce9c84801a4605
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193685/cdc_193685_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 235.72 KB ]