Resource Centre

The final report for Phase 1 consultancy services on the development of a Design for Safety Management System and training programs for the Hong Kong construction industry, provided by the Construction Industry Council.

The Guidance Notes of Design for Safety outline an approach to integrating health and safety into design by identifying potential hazards throughout a structure's lifecycle, assessing risks, and establishing control measures in the hierarchy. Documents like the Preliminary Hazard Analysis, Hazard and Impact Summary, and Health and Safety File communicate information between duty holders to eliminate or reduce safety risks by designing appropriate controls early.

The guidelines outline the responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA) and offer principles and practices for effective Health and Safety by Design, ensuring that good design is inherently safe for users. The document serves as a fundamental resource for understanding and applying Health and Safety by Design principles in various projects, thereby enhancing worker safety and well-being from the outset.

The DfS & WSH GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE guides developers on implementing Design for Safety (DfS) to integrate health and safety considerations into design. It outlines DfS processes, including hazard identification, risk assessment, control measures, and appointing a DfS Professional. Leadership and procurement practices are discussed to complement DfS. Case studies demonstrate how design solutions can make projects safer to build, occupy, maintain, and demolish throughout the asset lifecycle. The aim is for developers to apply DfS principles and achieve a high level of safety in their projects.

This document discusses trends in engineering safety. It explores limitations of hazard and risk management approaches and outlines principles of inherently safer design. While traditional safety metrics like OSHA recordables showed improvement, major incidents can still occur when underlying safety issues remain unaddressed. The document advocates measuring leading indicators of hardware safety in addition to lagging occupational safety metrics to gain a more comprehensive view of process safety performance.

This presentation of an online open-source project by risk engineering introduces the principles of safe design and provides several examples of risk analysis.

The Pictorial Guide guides integrating occupational safety and health into the planning and design of public housing in Hong Kong. It discusses identifying potential hazards throughout a structure's lifecycle from planning, design, construction, occupation, and maintenance to demolition. Risk assessment and control techniques are covered. Case studies demonstrate safer design solutions. The Guide emphasizes collaboration between developers, designers, and contractors to address risks. It aims to promote safe design practices and a safety culture from inception. Overall, it advises planning and designing for safety in project life cycles.

a introduction of Design for Construction Safety and case study provided by Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The Workplace Safety and Health (Design for Safety) Regulations 2015, implemented by Singapore's Minister for Manpower, mandate that safety considerations be integrated into the design stage of building projects. These regulations require stakeholders, such as developers and designers, to identify and mitigate safety risks to workers during construction and maintenance. The aim is to reduce accidents and enhance the overall management of health and safety risks in the construction industry, promoting a proactive safety culture from the project's inception.

The WORKED EXAMPLE OF DESIGN FOR SAFETY introduces nine working examples in Hong Kong suitable for the principle of safety, containing project information, safety by design process, examples of safe design in this project, and a critical message within an example.

Workplace Safety and Health Guidelines Design for Safety is a comprehensive document that guides integrating safety into public housing development planning and design in Hong Kong. It offers detailed discussions on identifying hazards throughout a structure's lifecycle, encompassing the stages of planning, design, construction, occupation, maintenance, and demolition. The guide outlines risk assessment and control techniques and includes case studies illustrating safer design implementations. The guide underscores the importance of collaboration among developers, designers, contractors, and end users in mitigating risks effectively. Its primary goal is to encourage adopting safe design practices and foster a safe culture from the project's inception. Key topics covered by the guide are slope safety, ground investigation safety, construction safety, safety during demolition and foundation work, building services safety, and safety considerations for end users and maintenance workers. The guide provides practical advice on planning for and designing safety elements into different phases of project lifecycles.

Guidelines on Design for Safety in Buildings and Structures guides integrating occupational safety and health considerations into the planning and design of public housing projects in Hong Kong. It discusses identifying potential hazards throughout a structure's lifecycle from planning, design, construction, occupation, and maintenance to demolition. Risk assessment and control techniques are covered. Case studies demonstrate safer design solutions. The Guide emphasizes collaboration between developers, designers, contractors, and end users to address risks. It aims to promote safe design practices and a safety culture from inception. Overall, the Guide provides practical advice on planning and designing for safety in project life cycles..

This document provides comprehensive guidance on implementing Construction Design and Management (CDM) protocols to enhance safety and efficiency in construction projects. Originating from the UK's CDM Regulations, the guidance emphasizes the shared responsibility among all stakeholders—including clients, designers, and contractors—to identify and mitigate health and safety hazards from the early design phase through to project execution and maintenance. The main aim is to integrate safety management with existing project operations to ensure the safety of all involved and to streamline project delivery. Key roles and responsibilities are outlined for duty holders such as the Client, Project Supervisor, Designers, and Contractors, emphasizing early hazard identification, risk management, and effective communication. This guidance is based on trials conducted by the former Works Bureau and the Housing Authority, reflecting a significant shift towards proactive health and safety management in construction.

For past decades, design for safety (DfS) has gained growing interest among scholars and practitioners in different geographical contexts as one of the innovative practices integrating worker health and safety in the front-end of the project lifecycle. However, a systematic scientometric study appraising the research development in DfS practice in construction domain remains elusive. This paper aims to bridge this gap by conducting a scientometric review of the available DfS literature in the construction domain. A total of 167 relevant articles were retrieved using a systematic data acquisition approach from Scopus and snowballing and then put forward into a scientometric analysis to construct science maps. The scientometric review identifies the most prolific journals, authorship, cooccurrence network of keywords, article citations, and regions. An in-depth qualitative discussion is presented to provide deeper insights into the existing studies and opportunities for future research in five main DfS research themes as follows: (1) DfS concept and management; (2) DfS technological advancement; (3) DfS capability and competency; (4) DfS education; and (5) DfS sustainability. The value and uniqueness of this review study lie in its novel contribution to the body of DfS knowledge through synthesizing the wider DfS literature landscape in the construction domain. The findings offer a point of reference for both academia and industry in bridging the deficiencies in the current research and providing pathways for future directions in DfS research.

This document provides a comprehensive guide on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), which were implemented to enhance health, safety, and welfare standards in construction projects. It replaces the CDM 2007 and offers detailed guidance for various dutyholders, including clients, designers, and contractors, ensuring compliance with the updated legal requirements. The guide highlights the roles and responsibilities of each party, aiming to mitigate risks throughout the construction process, from planning through to execution, thereby promoting a safer work environment.

This document provides a concise guide for clients on the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015), emphasizing the responsibilities of clients in ensuring safety and health during construction projects. It outlines essential steps such as appointing the right personnel, managing risks, and ensuring proper planning and communication. The guide stresses the importance of compliance to avoid legal ramifications and ensure the safety and value of the construction work.

The "Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015" industry guidance document for clients is a comprehensive resource aimed at assisting clients in managing construction projects safely and efficiently under the CDM 2015 regulations. It focuses on the roles and responsibilities of clients, emphasizing their critical role in ensuring health, safety, and welfare throughout the construction process. The guidance outlines essential duties during the pre-construction and construction phases and provides detailed explanations on client briefs, duty holder roles, and health and safety management. This document serves as an invaluable tool for clients to navigate the complexities of construction projects while adhering to legal and safety standards.

The "Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015" industry guidance document for principle desingers is a comprehensive resource aimed at assisting principle desingers in managing construction projects safely and efficiently under the CDM 2015 regulations. It focuses on the roles and responsibilities of principle desingers, emphasising their critical role in ensuring health, safety, and welfare throughout the construction process.

The "Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015" industry guidance document for desingers is a comprehensive resource aimed at assisting desingers in managing construction projects safely and efficiently under the CDM 2015 regulations. It focuses on the roles and responsibilities of desingers, emphasising their critical role in ensuring health, safety, and welfare throughout the construction process.

The "Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015" industry guidance document for principle contractors is a comprehensive resource aimed at assisting principle contractors in managing construction projects safely and efficiently under the CDM 2015 regulations. It focuses on the roles and responsibilities of principle contractors, emphasising their critical role in ensuring health, safety, and welfare throughout the construction process.

The "Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015" industry guidance document for contractors is a comprehensive resource aimed at assisting contractors in managing construction projects safely and efficiently under the CDM 2015 regulations. It focuses on the roles and responsibilities of contractors, emphasising their critical role in ensuring health, safety, and welfare throughout the construction process.

The "Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015" industry guidance document for workers is a comprehensive resource aimed at assisting workers in managing construction projects safely and efficiently under the CDM 2015 regulations. It focuses on the roles and responsibilities of workers, emphasising their critical role in ensuring health, safety, and welfare throughout the construction process.

This guidance document delineates the requisite competencies for Principal Designers (PD) under the CDM Regulations 2015, as endorsed by the Consultants Health and Safety Forum. It categorizes PD competencies into single-discipline, multi-discipline, and large/complex project contexts.

The document "Health and Safety in Construction" (HSG150, third edition, 2006) provides comprehensive guidance for ensuring safety and health on construction sites. It offers updated and expanded content, including new legislation and practical examples, targeting small contractors and all engaged in construction work. The guide emphasizes risk elimination and hazard control, aiming to reduce accidents and promote effective safety management practices across the industry.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 contains regulations, enacted by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment, aim to enhance health and safety standards in the construction sector. They define the responsibilities from the design through to the construction phase, emphasizing robust safety management practices. Additionally, the regulations detail the specific roles and responsibilities of all parties involved in construction projects to safeguard the health and safety of all personnel.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, often abbreviated as CDM 2015, are a set of regulations in the United Kingdom designed to ensure health and safety in the construction industry. They are a revision of earlier CDM Regulations, updating the rules to improve workplace safety and efficiency on construction projects.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007, effective from April 6, 2007, establish comprehensive guidelines to ensure health and safety in construction projects across the UK. These regulations mandate specific roles and responsibilities for stakeholders including clients, designers, and contractors, aiming to manage risks effectively from the design phase through to construction. Key components include the appointment of CDM coordinators, the creation of construction phase plans, and adherence to general principles of prevention. The document underscores the necessity of maintaining a health and safety file and implementing structured project management to enhance safety and compliance throughout the construction process.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 (CDM 2007) establish guidelines for managing health, safety, and welfare when undertaking construction projects. Made by the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Investment, these regulations apply to various construction phases and stakeholders including clients, designers, and contractors. They aim to enhance safety by defining roles, ensuring proper planning, and facilitating communication among all parties involved. Key components include obligations for pre-construction information, appointment of coordinators, and creation of health and safety files, thus ensuring projects are carried out safely from conception to completion.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995, effective from June 26, 1995, establish comprehensive guidelines for managing health and safety in construction projects. These regulations outline the responsibilities of clients, designers, and contractors, emphasising the importance of planning, competence, and coordination to enhance safety. Key provisions include the appointment of planning supervisors and principal contractors, creation of health and safety plans, and maintenance of health and safety files. The aim is to mitigate risks associated with construction activities, ensuring a systematic approach to health and safety management.

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994, effective from March 31, 1995, were enacted to enhance health and safety in the construction industry. These regulations outline the responsibilities of various parties involved in construction projects, including clients, designers, and contractors. Key provisions include the requirement for a health and safety plan, the appointment of planning supervisors and principal contractors, and the maintenance of a health and safety file. The regulations aim to ensure safety throughout the construction process and minimize the risks associated with construction work.

The document investigates the feasibility of incorporating safety considerations into the design phase of construction projects to enhance worker safety and health. It explores whether integrating safety in design can be a practical approach given current design practices and project delivery methods. The study encompasses a literature review, an analysis of relevant OSHA standards, and a pilot survey of design professionals. The aim is to determine the potential impact of "designing for safety" on reducing risks and improving overall project outcomes.

The Prevention through Design (PtD) National Initiative aims to mitigate occupational hazards by integrating safety considerations into the design phase of workplaces, processes, and equipment. Spearheaded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the initiative focuses on eliminating risks to workers through strategic planning in research, education, practice, and policy. By addressing potential dangers before implementation, PtD strives to reduce work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities, promoting a safer and healthier occupational environment across various industries.

Architectural Design and Construction Instructor’s Manual is a comprehensive guide published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It aims to educate on the Prevention through Design (PtD) concept, promoting safety by integrating hazard prevention into the design phase of projects. The manual covers common construction hazards, case studies, and safety strategies, serving as a valuable resource for educators in engineering curricula to enhance workplace safety and health standards.

Mechanical-Electrical Systems Instructor's Manual is a resource developed under the Prevention through Design (PtD) initiative, aimed at integrating occupational safety and health considerations into engineering education. This manual focuses on mechanical and electrical systems, providing detailed guidance for educators to teach these concepts within undergraduate curricula. It includes learning objectives, lecture notes, case studies, and test questions, designed to enhance students' understanding of how to design out hazards in engineering practices, thus promoting safer working environments from the design phase itself.

This Reinforced Concrete Design Instructor's Manual is part of the "Prevention through Design" (PtD) initiative, aimed at integrating safety and health considerations into design practices within undergraduate engineering curricula. Specifically, this manual focuses on reinforced concrete design, one of four PtD educational modules. It provides educators with learning objectives, lecture notes, case studies, and test questions, all designed to raise awareness of construction hazards and encourage the design-out of hazards. The objective is to prepare future engineers to create safer construction environments by addressing potential hazards at the design stage.

Structural Steel Design Instructor's Manual is a comprehensive educational resource developed under the Prevention through Design (PtD) initiative by NIOSH. This manual aims to integrate PtD concepts into undergraduate engineering curricula, focusing on minimizing occupational safety and health risks from the design phase. It covers the specific area of structural steel design, providing educators with learning objectives, detailed lecture notes, case studies, and test materials. This initiative underscores the importance of designing out hazards to enhance safety and reduce costs in engineering practices.

Safe Design of Structures - Code of Practice issued by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety of Western Australia provides comprehensive guidance on meeting safety requirements for structure design. It outlines the responsibilities of designers and other stakeholders to integrate safety from the planning stages, ensuring structures are safe for construction, use, and dismantling. The document emphasizes risk management throughout the lifecycle of structures and adheres to the Work Health and Safety Act 2020, offering legal and practical frameworks for enhancing workplace safety.

Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice 2021 provides comprehensive guidance on designing structures safely under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. It emphasises integrating safety measures early in the design process to eliminate or minimise health and safety risks throughout a structure's lifecycle. The document outlines duties for various stakeholders including designers and those commissioning construction work, ensuring structures are safe for use, construction, maintenance, and eventual demolition, thereby fostering a safer work environment.

This Code of Practice for the Safe Design of Structures, authorised under section 274 of the NSW Work Health and Safety Act 2011, offers comprehensive guidance on integrating safety measures in the design phase of structures. It emphasises the importance of considering health and safety implications during the lifecycle of a structure—from planning through demolition. The document outlines the responsibilities of designers and other stakeholders in ensuring designs meet safety standards, thereby reducing risks and enhancing the usability and longevity of structures.

Safe Design of Structures Code of Practice provides comprehensive guidelines for integrating safety into the design and planning of structures to minimize risks in workplaces. It outlines the responsibilities of designers, developers, and other key stakeholders in ensuring structures are free from health and safety risks. The document emphasises the importance of considering safety from the earliest stages of design, balancing it with other objectives like functionality and aesthetics, and adheres to relevant laws and standards to enhance workplace safety and compliance.

Research and practice have demonstrated that decisions made upstream from the construction site can influence construction worker safety. The design for construction safety concept is defined as the consideration of construction site safety in the design of a project. Globally, the concept has gained momentum as an intervention to improve worker safety. However, in the US construction industry, numerous barriers exist that preclude this concept from becoming a standard practice. This research established a clear link between construction fatalities and the design for construction safety concept. Two-hundred and twenty-four fatality investigation reports were reviewed and a link to the design for construction safety concept was determined. The results show that 42% of fatalities reviewed were linked to the concept; the associated risk that contributed to the incident would have been reduced or eliminated had the design for construction safety concept been utilized. The specific characteristics of construction projects were evaluated and those which lend themselves to the greatest risk reduction within the scope of the concept were identified. The US construction industry should implement the concept of designing for construction safety as a standard practice to reduce overall project risks.

As digital technologies become widely used in designing buildings and infrastructure, questions arise about their impacts on construction safety. This review explores relationships between construction safety and digital design practices with the aim of fostering and directing further research. It surveys state-of-the-art research on databases, virtual reality, geographic information systems, 4D CAD, building information modeling and sensing technologies, finding various digital tools for addressing safety issues in the construction phase, but few tools to support design for construction safety. It also considers a literature on safety critical, digital and design practices that raises a general concern about ‘mindlessness’ in the use of technologies, and has implications for the emerging research agenda around construction safety and digital design. Bringing these strands of literature together suggests new kinds of interventions, such as the development of tools and processes for using digital models to promote mindfulness through multi-party collaboration on safety.

Safety is a major concern in the construction industry. Recent studies have shown that many construction fatalities are related to design and could have been avoided with proper design considerations. Nevertheless, designers have limited knowledge about construction safety and often are unable to identify how their designs may pose a risk during the life cycle of a building facility such as construction, operation and maintenance. Limited effort has been made to help designer to address these safety issues in the design phase. This study presents a structured DfS rule-based knowledge library to provide safety knowledge to designer. Using the DfS knowledge library, an Intelligent BIM-integrated risk review system is proposed to help designers identify risk related to their design element along with required design features. A risk register system is also developed in the BIM platform to follow up for any residual risk. The proposed risk review system has been examined with an illustrative case project. It is found that many of the risks could have been avoided/eliminated with the DfS knowledge library and intelligent risk review system early in the design phase. Thus, it would help to avoid any unexpected delay or costly design change late in the project to mitigate the risk.

An organization must strive to maintain its most valuable resource, knowledge, in order to be more productive and competitive. One of the steps to manage the knowledge is to capture contents of the knowledge. In construction site safety, success in capturing the tacit knowledge of safety officers is of paramount importance; however without a good mechanism, this process might be difficult due to time and hazard perception constraints. This paper discusses research in a design-for-safety-process tool, which aims at: (1) capturing safety knowledge from safety engineers about construction safety hazards and the safety measures required; (2) assisting a safety engineer to identify safety hazards in construction projects and determine the safety measures required; and (3) training students and inexperienced safety engineers in identifying safety hazards and the measures required. In this paper, the first objective is discussed.

In most countries, the construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries. Safety in construction is a complex issue and is influenced by many factors, such as the technology being used, worker behaviour, actual site conditions and, of course, the design being constructed. Given this background, safety hazards identification and accident precautions are important elements in any construction site safety management system. The development described in this paper has produced a visualization of the construction process that can be used to assess safety hazards. The aim of the research is to produce a design-for-safety-process (DFSP) tool. This will help to identify safety hazards inherited during the building construction phase that are actually produced during the design phase. The domain, in which this particular application is being developed, is a typical 40-storey Hong Kong Housing Authority residential block. In this paper, the components of DFSP tool are discussed. The components of DFSP tool comprise of virtually real construction components and processes, virtual reality functions, and DFSP database. The integration of these components enables a user to do a walk-through in the virtually real project and to identify safety hazards inherited within construction components and processes as well as to select accident precautions needed to prevent the occurrence of accidents.

Thinking on safety integration right from design stage is of some interest in research terms. How can we increase the overall efficiency of a working system, whilst reducing risks at source and consequently costs? Can future operation of a working system be anticipated? What can be anticipated? Can we help designers to respond to statutory requirements by experience feedback and by structuring our knowledge of working system operational performance? Based on a “user-focused” design approach, this paper is structured in two sections. The first section comprises analysis of the existing position by focusing specifically on the question of safety at design stage, the second part includes generic recommendations for making work equipment design safer and more “secure”.

This book provides useful additional information, addressing the designof structures for fire safety, which is a small but important segment of theoverall provision of fire safety.

This paper reviews and discusses the principal findings of the preceding papers in the special issue and draws out the lessons to be learned by designers, safety specialists and researchers. It returns to the questions posed in the editorial and groups them under the headings of the case for design as an important contributor to operational safety, the general principles of the design process and whether they are universally applicable across different technologies and fields of application, the dilemmas facing designers and the help which can be offered to assist them in their vital and difficult work. The paper ends with a summary of the gaps in our knowledge of the design process and its contribution to safety. These are large and cry out for more research to study them.

This paper analyzes the impact of a large-scale safety-in-design initiative during the design and construction of a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Drawing on multiple data sources including individual interviews, group interviews, construction documentation, and an expert panel involved in the initiative, the writers identify 26 potential design changes on the project and assess the importance of timing, trade contractor involvement, and the type of design change in determining whether a proposed design change was ultimately integrated into the final construction plans. The writers further consider whether adopted design changes would have occurred in the absence of the safety-in-design initiative and whether the accepted design changes ultimately impacted construction site safety on the project. This analysis of a full-scale safety-in-design initiative provides important insights into how injury prevention efforts in the construction industry can begin upstream by involving designers, engineers, and trade contractors in preconstruction processes.

Designers can contribute to enhancing the safety of construction work by considering how their decisions impact on both the physical environment in which construction workers operate and the means and methods they use. To do so, however, designers require knowledge about safety hazards on site and the opportunity to examine their designs early in projects. Through a set of studies virtual reality tools were used to examine the potential for collaborative dialogue between designers and builders to provide a forum for learning and proactive change of a design to make a project safer to build. In the tests, participants viewed proposed designs using virtual reality to examine various alternative design and construction scenarios. The study shows that consultation and dialogue with an experienced construction professional are highly beneficial for designers to appreciate the implications of designs on safety, and that designers are more willing to adapt design details than to change aesthetic aspects of their designs.