NIOSH Program Portfolio

Construction

NORA Construction Sector Strategic Goals

927ZBET - NORA Prevention through Design Research

Start Date: 10/1/2007
End Date: 9/30/2011

Principal Investigator (PI)

Name: Charles Geraci
Phone: 513-533-8339
Organization: NIOSH
Sub-Unit: EID
Funded By: NIOSH

Primary Goal Addressed

13.1

Secondary Goal Addressed

None

Attributed to Construction

50%

Project Description

Short Summary

The purpose of this study is to advance Prevention through Design principles across research, education, practice, and policy, which have been identified as important functional areas for a National Initiative on Prevention through Design by a multi-stakeholder planning committee. The project directly targets the construction, manufacturing, and healthcare industries, but has indirect applications to other industry sectors. It is being endorsed by the NORA Engineering Controls Coordinated Emphasis Area. Expected outcomes include increased knowledge on management practices related to Prevention through Design, a tested model to incorporate the concept into engineering textbooks, a better understanding of how to bring NIOSH engineering research products to practice, and influence on voluntary consensus standards.

Description

This study is comprised of four projects that support the incorporation of Prevention through Design into United States businesses. The concept of Prevention through Design can be defined as: Addressing occupational safety and health needs in the design process to prevent or minimize the work-related hazards and risks associated with the construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and disposal of facilities, materials, and equipment. Many Fortune 500 companies openly purport Prevention through Design concepts and have developed management practices to implement them. The United Kingdom has had regulations since 1994 requiring construction companies, project owners, and architects to address safety and health during the design phase of projects. Project 1 of this study identifies management practices related to Prevention through Design in Fortune 500 companies in the United States and construction companies in the United Kingdom. The findings from Project 1 will be disseminated broadly outside and within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.



A longstanding goal in the occupational safety and health community is to find ways to interject concepts of occupational safety and health into engineering school curricula so new graduates can apply this knowledge to future designs. Project 2 works with the editor for aerospace, civil, chemical, and industrial engineering textbooks at John Wiley & Sons to increase the coverage of safety and health topics in Wiley publications. Wiley is one of the largest publishers of engineering textbooks in the United States. This is a unique opportunity to affect engineering curricula on a broad scale, as it has the potential to be replicated. It will also provide a venue in which the research results from Projects 1 and 3 can be put into practice.



One goal of the Engineering Controls Coordinated Emphasis Area is to move engineering research projects (design solutions) into practice. Too often researchers develop a new tool, process, or engineering control that can effectively be incorporated into future designs, write a paper on their achievement, and then move on to the next research topic without seeing the products of their research move into practice. Project 3 attempts to overcome this trend by reviewing important but underused NIOSH-developed design solutions and disseminating them so that they can be put into practice. It is anticipated that the lessons learned from this activity will be helpful to other research-to-practice programs. They will also be incorporated into Projects 2 and 4.



Project 4 further promotes research-to-practice by attempting to influence management systems and consensus standards to include principles of Prevention through Deign. Project 4 identifies and targets important consensus standards committees and appoints National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health specialists to them to have input and influence. The results from the other component projects will support the ability to influence the language of future consensus standards.



Finally, the study proposes a coordinating function to harmonize the four component projects. It will facilitate communication and ensure that the overall study remains on track. The coordinating effort will also align the study with a National Initiative on Prevention through Design being lead by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The study is well positioned to tap into the growing number and range of stakeholders who want to participate in the national initiative and make Prevention through Design a normal way of doing business in the 21st century.

Objectives

To promote and protect the health and safety of people who work by preventing workplace-related fatalities, illnesses, and injuries by including prevention considerations into all designs that impact workers in the construction, manufacturing, and health care industries, NAICS 23, 31–33, and 62. The proposed research contributes to this overall objective by integrating the activities of four component projects within the broader context of a NIOSH-led Prevention through Design (PtD) National Initiative.

 

NIOSH Program:

Construction

Program Description
NIOSH Strategic Goals
• About NORA Construction Sector Strategic Goals
• Main Goals List
• Goal 1.0
• Goal 2.0
• Goal 3.0
• Goal 4.0
• Goal 5.0
• Goal 6.0
• Goal 7.0
• Goal 8.0
• Goal 9.0
• Goal 10.0
• Goal 11.0
• Goal 12.0
• Goal 13.0
• Goal 14.0
• Goal 15.0
• Non-Goal Projects