Safety Professionals and the Design Process Opportunities

This chapter has two purposes (1) to inspire safety professionals to recognize the opportunities they have to give counsel to clients on addressing hazards and risks in the design and redesign processes and (2) to encourage them to become involved in those processes. 

Many of the chapters in this book speak of the implications of design and engineering within the practice of safety. Safety professionals are obligated to take into account the broadly recognized premise that the most effective and economical method to avoid, eliminate, or control hazards is to address them as early as possible and as often as needed in the design and redesign processes. 

Over time, the level of safety achieved will relate directly to the caliber of the design of facilities, hardware, equipment, tooling, operations layout, the work environment, the work methods, and products. Design, as the term is used here, encompasses all processes applied in devising a system to achieve results. 

On the Practice of Safety, Fourth Edition. Fred A. Manuele. 

When this author 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 literature as the foundation for the practice of safety. And engineering was quite prominent in what was done. 

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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... 

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. 

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. 

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. 

Lean Concepts Opportunities for Safety Professionals Applied lean concepts are to eliminate waste, improve efficiency, and lower production costs. Elements of waste that should be addressed in the lean process are the direct and ancillary costs of accidents. This chapter Discusses the origin of lean concepts and how broadly they are being applied Gives examples of lean applications in which hazards and risks were not addressed Comments on the opportunity for effective involvement in lean initiatives by safety professionals and Outlines a unique merging of lean and safety through design concepts. An Addendum offers A Simplified Initial Value Stream Map To Identify Waste (Muda) and Opportunities for Continuous Improvement (Kaizen). 

This chapter was written to encourage safety professionals to explore the gains that can be achieved when hazards and risks are addressed in the design and redesign processes and to become involved in those processes. Without question, safety professionals can create opportunities to influence the design process, to their great advantage. To do that effectively requires ... 

For new products, facilities, equipment, and processes, and for their subsequent alteration, the time and place to efficiently and effectively avoid, eliminate, or control hazards is in the design or redesign processes. Participating in those processes presents opportunities for upstream involvement by safety professionals, using system safety concepts. 

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