Tool to Design for Construction Worker Safety

TLDR

Improving construction worker safety remains a major goal, yet designers—who significantly influence safety—are often excluded due to limited safety training and liability concerns. The study aims to link design and construction phases through a computer tool to enhance construction worker safety. The authors developed the Design For Construction Safety Toolbox, a computer program that incorporates CII best‑practice design suggestions to help designers identify hazards and integrate safety measures into project designs. The toolbox effectively assists designers in identifying project‑specific hazards and applying safety‑enhancing design suggestions.

Abstract

Improving construction worker safety continues to be a major goal in the construction industry. While significant improvements in safety performance have been made in the past few decades, one party within the project team, the designer, has not been directly involved in the safety effort. Designers have been identified as parties who have a significant influence on construction safety. The lack of designers' involvement in worker safety is attributed to their minimal education and experience in addressing safety on the construction site, and their attempt to minimize their liability exposure. In a recent study conducted by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), best practices have been accumulated that can be implemented into a project's design in order to minimize or eliminate construction site hazards. These design suggestions have been incorporated into a computer program, titled “Design For Construction Safety ToolBox,” that assists designers in recognizing project-specific hazards and implementing the design suggestions into a project's design. This computer program links the design and construction phases to improve construction worker safety.