Risk and Financial Impacts of Prevention through Design Solutions
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 18, Issue 1
Abstract
Falls from roofs are a significant risk for both construction and maintenance workers. A roof anchor system is the common design solution to eliminate the falling hazard. This paper presents the findings of a case study to serve as a preliminary investigation of the financial impact and risk of roof fall protection solutions. The research began with the selection of a project that featured a roof anchor system and a parapet that does not meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guardrail height requirements. The intent of the research was to compare the cost of design and installation of the roof anchors and parapet with that of two other design options on the same project: only a parapet that meets the OSHA guardrail requirements; and no anchors or parapet. Data used for the study were collected through interviews of project personnel and reviews of project documentation. The parapet system was found be an expensive, but safer, alternative compared with the roof anchor system. The roof anchor system creates more risk to worker safety because of the extensive amount of temporary fall protection measures required during construction. This requirement puts more workers at risk of injury during installation of temporary guardrails and while working near the leading edge. The roof anchor system indirectly affects worker productivity by at least 15% compared with the parapet system. Using this study as a starting point, more research is recommended that examines the costs and risks associated with various prevention through design (PtD) solutions. Such research will assist owners and designers in making informed decisions while choosing PtD solutions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the participants and companies involved in the case study construction project. The authors appreciate their interest and the time and effort given to participating in the study and for allowing this research study to be conducted on the project.
References
Behm, M. (2005). “Linking construction fatalities to the design for construction safety concept.” Saf. Sci., 43(8), 589–611.
Gambatese, J., Behm, M., and Hinze, J. (2005). “Viability of designing for construction worker safety.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 131(9), 1029–1036.
Gambatese, J. A. (2008). “Research issues in prevention through design.” J. Safety Res., 39(2), 153–156.
Gambatese, J. A., Behm, M., and Rajendran, S. (2006a). “Additional evidence of design’s influence on construction fatalities.” CIB W99 Int. Conf. Proc., International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (C.I.B.) W99 Working Commission and Tsinghau University, Beijing.
Gambatese, J. A., Rajendran, S., and Behm, M. (2006b). “Building towards sustainable construction safety and health.” ASSE Professional Development Conf. and Exposition., Proc., ASSE Professional Development Conf., Seattle.
Gibb, A., Haslam, R., Hide, S., and Gyi, D. (2004). “The role of design in accident causality.” Designing for safety and health in construction, S. Hecker, J. Gambatese, and M. Weinstein, eds., University of Oregon Press, Eugene, OR, 11–21.
Hinze, J. (2000). “Designing for the life cycle safety of facilities.” Designing for Safety and Health Conf., Proc., Designing for Safety and Health Conference, C.I.B. Working Commission W99 and European Construction Institute (ECI), London.
Hinze, J., and Gambatese, J. (1996). “Addressing construction worker safety in the project design.” Research Rep. 101-11, Construction Industry Institute, Austin, TX.
Hinze, J. W., and Wiegand, F. (1992). “Role of designers in construction worker safety.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 118(4), 677–684.
Manuele, F. A. (1997). On the practice of safety, Wiley, New York.
Prevention through Design (PtD). (2010). “Construction workplace design solutions.” OSHA Alliance Program’s Construction Roundtable, 〈http://www.designforconstructionsafety.org/concept.shtml〉 (Aug. 23, 2010).
Rajendran, S., and Gambatese, J. A. (2009). “Development and initial validation of sustainable construction safety and health rating system.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 135(10), 1067–1075.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 18 • Issue 1 • February 2013
Pages: 67 - 72
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 28, 2011
Accepted: Feb 17, 2012
Published online: Feb 21, 2012
Published in print: Feb 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.