Design-Based Safety

Abstract

Edd Gibson, PhD., P.E., is the director of the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment at Arizona State University. He is establishing a center to ensure that design safety will be part of every engineering degree. Traditionally, the fundamentals of ensuring safe design and construction methods have been absent from the programs at the various colleges and universities of engineering. At commencement, an individual who receives a degree in engineering has no marketable skills to ensure safe design or planning and organizing construction projects. AECOM, one of the largest engineering firms involved in both design and build, provides training on design-based safety for many of its engineers. The value of this program is substantial, as it prevents injury and death, reduces insurance costs and minimizes costly safety management activity on how to inspect, supervise and train their workforce to recognize and avoid hazardous conditions. The key issue with design safety is that many hazards are eliminated, so there is a reduced exposure to danger during construction, operation or maintenance.