Safety Professionals and the Design Process

To effectively assist clients to avoid bringing hazards into the workplace and to minimize the distribution of hazardous products, safety professionals must influence the design process. Their purpose would be to provide counsel to designers and engineers with respect to the identification, analysis, and assessment of hazards and risks. 

For all but a few safety professionals, what I propose is an entirely new venture — that they undertake to influence design decisions and acquisition and purchasing practices. That requires taking an anticipatory approach to safety, rather than being reactive. This new venture spells opportunity. 

For many years, I have believed that the greatest strides forward with respect to safety, health, and the environment are being made in the design 

When I first entered the safety profession, almost all of the work done was of an engineering nature and dealt primarily with the physical aspects of facilities and equipment. Quite often, the three E s—engineering, education, and enforcement—were cited in the Kterature as the foundation for the practice of safety. And engineering was quite prominent in what we did. 

Then came the behaviorists and the management systems people, who have had a significant influence on the safety profession. Their premises are based on the belief that about 90% of all industrial accidents are caused primarily by employee unsafe acts. Some safety professionals, being greatly influenced by those who profess that the worker is the problem, give minimum attention to the influence of design and engineering decisions on incident causation. 

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Safety Professionals and the Design Process Opportunities This chapter has two purposes (1) to inspire safety professionals to... 

Chapter 16—Safety Professionals and the Design Process Opportunities... 

Because of the adoption in 2011 of an American National Standard on Prevention through Design, revisions were made in the chapters Safety Professionals and the Design Process and Guidelines ... 

The involvement of safety professionals in the design processes, specification writing, purchasing, and sign-off processes varies from nothing to being required by written procedures. In all but one of the cases cited, there is some involvement by safety professionals. And, that came about because they took the initiative and proved their value. 

Involvement of safety professionals in the design processes is far more extensive now in relation to what it was 20 years ago. There is opportunity here for professional satisfaction through participation in the design processes and for being perceived as a valued contributor in support of operational efficiency as well as risk management. 

The American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) has a 30-year history of involvement with process safety for chemical processing plants. Through its strong ties with process designers, builders, operators, safety professionals and academia, the AIChE has enhanced communication and fostered improvement in the high safety standards of the industry. AIChE publications and symposia have become an information resource for the chemical engineering profession on the causes of accidents and means of prevention. 

Haz-Map is an occupational health database designed for health and safety professionals and for consumers seeking information about the health effects of exposure to chemicals at work. Haz-Map links jobs and hazardous tasks with occupational diseases and their symptoms. Chemicals and biological agents in Haz-Map are linked to industrial processes and other activities such as hobbies. Occupational diseases and their symptoms are associated with hazardous job tasks and possible exposure to hazardous agents. Information from textbooks, journal articles, and electronic databases such as HSDB (described above) is classified and summarized to create this database. 

Lessons can be learned from the successes attained by system safety practitioners. System safety is hazards-based and design-based. So is the entirety of the practice of safety. This chapter establishes why it is important for generalist safety professionals to acquire knowledge of system safety principles, and it outlines the system safety idea. As opportunities arise for generalist safety professionals to participate in the design processes, the need for system safety skills will be apparent. 

If safety professionals are to anticipate hazards, they must participate in the design process. To be involved in the design process effectively, they must be skilled in hazard analysis and risk assessment techniques. Being a participant in the design process and using hazard analysis and risk assessment techniques are the basics of system safety. 

It is a hard truth that most of the significant, work-related and product safety decisions are made in the design process. That is why the emphasis given here is so strong in support of safety professionals taking an anticipatory and proactive approach and becoming involved in the design process. 

Hammer s statement applies to every aspect of safety, whatever it is called. His premise spells opportunity for safety professionals to provide counsel in the design process on a proactive basis, to anticipate hazards, and to give advice on their avoidance, elimination, or control. 

Safety, Health, And Environmental Professional. Serving as a member of the hazard review committee, the safety, health, and environmental professional will assist in identifying and evaluating hazards in the design process and provide counsel as to their avoidance, elimination, or control. Special training programs for the review committee may be recommended by the safety, health, and environmental professional. Also, consultants may be recommended who would complete hazards analyses, other than for the What-If system. 

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