Safety assessment in design and preparation phase
Introduction
Designers, architects and structural engineers, have an influence on the health and safety of the building site employees and the users. The choices designers make about design for real estate and infrastructural works, and the choice of materials are major factors in determining the possibility of safe building practices. For that reason, it will be necessary to integrate safety in the overall design objectives.
Since 1994, building designers have a legal obligation to take working conditions during execution, maintenance and demolition work into account in their designs. This obligation is contained in “Directive 92/57/EEC”, a Directive that has been incorporated into national legislation in all EU countries. In the Netherlands, the obligation is implemented via the Dutch Working Conditions Decree, which forms part of the Dutch Working Conditions Act. However, various literature sources are showing that designers, and not only in construction, fall short of satisfying this obligation (Hide et al., 1999, Lourens, 2000, Trethewy and Atkinson, 2003, Bluff, 2003, Health and Safety Executive, 2004, Behm, 2005, Fadier and de la Garza, 2006). A lack of familiarity with methods of implementing health and safety in the design process is a common excuse for failing to comply with this obligation.
Up until now, most of the publications on this subject have offered solutions that can be directly implemented and checklists to monitor the design afterwards. This type of precise advice inhibits the designer’s creative process and hampers the usual design process. Designers are used to a methodical approach, which is one of the reasons for suggesting that a method would be the best way to turn safe construction practices into a standard part of the regular design process (Thorpe, 2005). This study provides designers a method to facilitate the choice between alternative building elements, based upon a combination of safety and exposure time.
This study focuses on safety consequences for employees working on the construction sites. The study was conducted in the Netherlands and the outcome should be suitable for practical implementation in the Dutch situation.
Section snippets
Methods
Two methods are generally accepted and providing simple descriptions of design processes and assessment methods.
The British standard BS8800 is a step-by-step plan for risk inventory and evaluation (Dutch version: NNI, 1998a, NNI, 1998b), which provides a general approach to industrial hazards and applies to all sectors of the economy. The BS8800 gives designers the opportunity to make an inventory of the risks attached to the type of building element they have chosen. Using this method, it is
Results
For the purposes of the case study, the floor systems were compared in terms of the hazards: “falling from”, and “stumbling”.
Qualitative evaluation
A small number of experts (6 people) were asked for their opinion of the method. The experts consulted were internal advisers on working conditions at construction and design companies, with active experience of making risk inventories. The method was also presented to experts at the Health and Safety Executive. All the experts considered the method to be practicable. According to the Health and Safety Executive, in doubtful situations, the method is a useful tool for making or backing up a
Considerations, conclusions and recommendations
The aim of the study was to devise a method that would help designers to choose between alternative building elements on the basis of safety aspects during construction work. The case study shows that this method makes this possible. The method is not difficult to implement, but it is labour-intensive. By using the method, designers will be able to fulfil the obligations contained in Directive 92/57/EEC, Dutch legislation on working conditions and the analogous requirements in other countries.
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