Design-Based Safety

Snake Oil Safety (SOS)

Abstract

In the Old Wild West, “quick buck” peddlers sold colored water spiked with alcohol and opium as a cure-all tonic. These elixirs were touted for their ability to stop everything from baldness to toenail fungus, along with all diseases, aches and pains in between. These sweettasting nostrums were always in demand because they made the user feel good. A common name for these concoctions was “snake oil.”

A recent feature article in Engineering News Record (ENR) offered an amazing revelation of how modern day “quick buck” condo developers are pushing risk onto other parties without addressing the hazards. In their contracts for construction, they use terms such as “the highest standard of care.” This work product of contract writers makes developers feel good, but drives up the cost of insurance and the potential liability for the bidding contractor. Overlooked is the fact that the broad term of “risk” includes many unlisted hazards, and allows the developers’ management to feel enough to ignore the need for designbased safety. To dispel this concept, management needs to retain system safety specialists at the time of design to identify each and every hazard — and ensure for their control.