Prevention through Design (PtD) Award

Join us for the 2024 Prevention through Design (PtD) Award Ceremony
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The AIHA will host the Prevention through Design (PtD) Award ceremony in person at the AIHA Connect 2024 in Columbus, Ohio, May 20-22, 2024. We encourage all to attend this key industry conference, although attendance is not required to receive the PtD award.

Please note that the nominations are now due in March to allow for live presentations to be hosted by our new award partner, AIHA, at their spring conference.

The NIOSH PtD annual award recognizes individuals, teams, businesses, and other organizations that have eliminated or reduced hazards through design or re-design efforts or have contributed to the body of knowledge that enables PtD solutions. NIOSH presents the award in partnership with the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA), the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) and the National Safety Council (NSC).

More than one award may be given each year, depending on the type of nominations received (individual vs. organizational, research vs. practice, etc.). Also, nominations must benefit workers in the United States, especially nominations showing examples of PtD being used in a workplace.

PtD involves both a priority and a process. All nominations will be considered from, or for, individuals, teams, businesses, or other organizations who have developed workplace interventions or research in harmony with the priority or the process of PtD. Nominations should relate to work with recent or continuing impact. Smart and innovative physical designs are very important, but so is an effective design safety review process that finds solutions using the combined experience and expertise of all involved disciplines.

PtD Priorities: Ideally, PtD efforts would avoid or eliminate hazards completely – with priority given to the top of the Hierarchy of Controls. Such solutions avoid the “must trust” factor that depends on the actions of workers, operators, and maintainers to ensure protection. Complete hazard elimination, however, is not always possible. For example, if an earnest team’s review of a process or design does not completely eliminate hazards, but the review results in protecting workers through a careful combination of controls at different levels of the hierarchy, this too could be considered PtD.

PtD Process: PtD doesn’t need to depend on one person but can be a process followed by a multidisciplinary team that meets to conduct design safety reviews. For example, better solutions often result when management and designers learn and gain expertise from experienced operators and maintainers, and safety and health professionals. Such a team meets to identify hazards, assess risks, develop alternatives, and recommend better solutions. The ASSP/ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Z590.3 PtD standard provides helpful tools for this process.

When are nominations due?

Nominations are due the first weekday in March. The NIOSH PtD program office will send a confirmation email from ptd@cdc.gov when we receive a nomination – (the subject line will include “PtD Award”).

How do I submit a nomination?

Submit nominations by email to ptd@cdc.gov with the subject line including “PtD Award Nomination”. When preparing your nomination, answer the questions applicable to your situation in plain language and submit as a PDF document along with any other supporting materials you think are needed to help us understand the design and/or process. Email size is limited to 30 megabytes, including attachments. The award committee will contact the submitter for further clarification during the review process, if needed.

What do I include in the nomination?

On the first page of your nomination, please answer the following:

  1. Do you verify that your nomination does NOT include trade secret or proprietary information?
  2. Do the award partners (AIHA, ASSP, NIOSH, NSC) have your permission to summarize and publish your nomination as a positive example of PtD?

We welcome flexibility and creativity in your nomination packages, but keep these items in mind:

  1. Ensure you clearly relate how your Prevention through Design efforts benefit or improve worker safety, health, and/or well-being.
  2. A well-organized package will improve clarity and likely influence the overall rating of a nomination.

We suggest you address questions such as the following, as applicable to your nomination:

Hazard, Design, and Hierarchy of Controls

  • What problem were you solving?
  • What is the improved design or process and how does it work?
  • How did you modify a current process?
  • How did you evaluate your new solution(s)?
  • What health and safety benefits have been realized or are expected?
  • In what ways does your solution, or mix of solutions, move hazard controls further up the Hierarchy of Controls?
  • At any level of the Hierarchy of Controls, how have you made hazard controls more automatic or passive to reduce or eliminate any active involvement needed to provide protection?

Design Safety Review Process

  • What obstacles or hindrances did you overcome?
  • What did you do to implement the new solution(s), including gaining “buy-in” by managers and user-operators to overcome any resistance to the new solution(s)?
  • How did you collaborate among key workers, maintainers, designers, managers, safety and health representatives, or others to benefit from the experience, expertise, and lessons learned from their different disciplines?
  • Did you use the ANSI/ASSP Z590.3 PtD standard or similar process?
  • How did you identify hazards, assess risk, assess alternatives, and decide on solutions?

Business Case Considerations

  • In what ways are financial benefits realized from this PtD effort?
    • For example: reductions in lost work days; decreased workers’ compensation costs; lowered medical costs; increased productivity; lawsuit avoidance; regulatory fine avoidance; PPE cost reductions; training cost reductions; equipment cost reductions; facility modification/retrofit reductions; effects on demand and sales; initial versus ongoing or long-term costs.
  • In what ways are NON-financial benefits realized from this PtD effort?
    • For example: worker health and safety; worker participation, contribution, impact, satisfaction, and morale; social responsibility; community reputation; reputation with customers; product/service quality; liability reduction; environmental stewardship; industry reputation; and competitive edge.

How are PtD winners notified?

The PtD program office will notify the winner no later than September of the submission year. The winner will receive an award certificate in an award ceremony and will have news of their winning efforts announced by the award partners: AIHA, ASSP, NIOSH, and NSC.

Questions?

For further questions, please email us at ptd@cdc.gov or call 513-533-8317.

Previous Award Winners

Four people smiling for the camera, two of them holding the award.

2023: On October 23, 2023, the National Safety Council (NSC) hosted the first LIVE presentation of the PtD Award at the NSC Congress & Expo in New Orleans. The NSC has provided a video of the event here.

2023 Awardee: Port of Portland (video)

The Port of Portland won the Prevention through Design (PtD) Award for their work at the PDX/Next airport. They worked on five facilities during a $325 million project. They used an integrated design-safety process and the Hierarchy of Controls, which is a system to address workplace hazards that prioritizes methods from most to least effective. This helped them make the construction, operation, and maintenance of these facilities safer.

The Port of Portland, along with JE Dunn and YGH, decided to use PtD because it worked well on smaller projects. They met at least once a month to talk about the project. Making PtD a part of the contract was important, and this included making sure it met standards for being eco-friendly, such as requiring the PtD credit for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification.

They shared many examples of actions they took to improve safety, including designing roofs, planning construction work, and using safer engineering methods. They creatively avoided using ladders. They were concerned about how safety railings on roofs would appear, so they made a virtual video to show how it would look and ended up using permanent railings.

They also built components on the ground and then lifted them into place. This reduced the risk of falls, made the work less physically demanding, and prevented tools from falling. One method they used saved $20,000 in work hours and equipment costs.

The team found that using PtD either didn’t cost much more or even saved money over older methods. They now share what they learned with others in the industry and at other airports.

Congratulations to the Port of Portland, JE Dunn, and YGH for using PtD so well on a big project. Your work helps others do the same.

2023 Honorable Mention Nominations (alphabetical, individuals first):

Jack Dolan-Brown’s Work in Oil Fields (video)

Jack Dolan-Brown, working full time in Texas oil fields, is also studying for a safety and health doctoral degree. He suggested a new standard way to make a job safety analysis:

  • Identifying dangers by looking at different types of energy.
  • Using the Hierarchy of Controls to prioritize methods.
  • A scoring system to evaluate the job safety analysis.

His work could improve safety for workers. We’re excited to see his future work and wish him success.

3M’s Noise Reduction Project in Wisconsin (video)

The 3M team in Menomenie, Wisconsin, worked together to reduce noise in a new production line. They faced a challenge from loud noise from air knife systems and exhausts, and they wanted a solution that did not require workers to take more steps to reduce noise. They tested different ideas and chose these:

  • Seals on hinges and openings.
  • Enclosures reaching the floor.
  • Thicker walls in the enclosures.
  • Foam that absorbs sound at a total cost of only $7,000.

This reduced noise by about 10 decibels, saving money that would have been needed for hearing protection programs. The enclosures also helped protect workers from machinery and materials and made the workplace a better environment for the workers. Well done to the 3M team!

Automotive Lift Institute’s Training Improvements (video)

The Automotive Lift Institute is a private, non-profit organization recognized by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The Automotive Lift Institute oversees three standards for lifts, finding that mistakes by users were a major reason that cars fell from lifts. They improved their training to be more interactive and realistic, including:

  • Real-life examples.
  • 3D animations.
  • Versions for mobile devices, in Spanish, and for schools.

We commend their efforts in making worker training better.

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Safety Enhancements (video)

The commission serves 2.7 million customers and had safety issues in older facilities, some dating back to the early 1900s.

Problems included unsafe access, confined spaces, valves and gauges at heights, and lack of methods to prevent falls. The Safety and Health Program worked closely with engineering and operations during extensive capital improvements. They relied on the ANSI/ASSP Z590.3 Prevention through Design standard to help address hazards as early as possible.

They worked on major upgrades, focusing on safety from the start. The commission:

  • Reviewed injury records.
  • Held workshops with workers and designers.
  • Encouraged workers to share photos of unsafe areas.
  • Used guidelines based on the Hierarchy of Controls, including pictures and examples of good and poor practices.
  • Improved stairs, lighting, and valve locations to reduce risks.

These guidelines have been so successful that they are now part of business requirements. Stairs, lighting, ventilation, and re-location of valves and gauges have eliminated some confined spaces. Railings, stairs, and integral fall-arrest systems have reduced fall hazards.

Their teamwork and guidelines are great examples of proactive safety design. Congratulations to them for their success.


a graphic with a picture of a smiling man and a major award. Text reads: 2022 prevention through design Award Recipient, Dr. Georgi Popov. The PtD award is a collaborative effort of NIOSH, ASSP, and NSC

2022 Awardee: Dr.Georgi Popov, PhD, QEP, CSP, ARM, SMS, CMC, FAIHA

On October 11, 2022, longtime occupational safety and health expert, Dr. Georgi Popov received the Prevention through Design (PtD) Award for his research, teaching, writing, industry consulting and design, and the creation of a practical model to help make the Business Case for Prevention through Design interventions. Read the full NIOSH Update.

 


2022 Honorable Mention Nominations (alphabetical, individuals first):

Mr. Bruce Main was nominated for his research, consulting, authoring of over 40 manuscripts, risk assessment software, his training of well over a thousand designers and other professionals in PtD and risk assessment, and his safety systems designs (including two patents). Mr. Main was a founding member of the National Safety Council’s Institute for Safety Through Design (ISTD), served as the Vice Chair of the original ANSI/ASSP Z590.3 Prevention through Design standard committee, and now chairs the ANSI B11.0 Safety of Machinery standards committee.

Jacobs Engineering (TX, United Kingdom (U.K.)) was nominated for their “FIVE in Design” process used to apply PtD principles in the design and construction of facilities. In addition to manuals and training for their own designers, Jacobs has a social media campaign to influence the entire construction industry toward design safety.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Engineering Design & Construction (NY) has developed an extensive PtD process over many years for the largest municipal water and wastewater utility in the United States. They started with lessons learned from inspections, leading to design training, design guides and checklists, and design review processes.

Park Health & Safety Partnership LLP (U.K.) has incorporated PtD principles in an extensive series of best practice facility design templates for the design and construction industry. These are available to any firm wanting to begin or improve PtD design safety and health processes.

The Port of Portland (OR) successfully used PtD methods, including the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED PtD pilot credit, for a new $325 million dollar facility. Collaborating with general contractor JE Dunn and Design Contractor YGH, their integrated design-safety process applied the Hierarchy of Controls to the facility life cycle of construction, operations, and maintenance. Costs of PtD methods were reported to either be minimal, or an actual cost savings. In one case, a substantial savings on manhours and equipment was realized by building components on the ground and then lifting them into place. This is a PtD method that also reduces fall hazards and ergonomic risks.

Tesla Inc. (TX) studied ergonomic hazards and collaborated with workers to design a passenger car with an innovative “Supertub” modular underbody that allows their production associates to stand erect while constructing much of the vehicle interior. The design resulted in a 95% reduction in recordable and first aid cases, and contributed to reduced equipment costs, improved quality, and improved morale.

UrbanE Recycling, Inc. (FL) used the PtD methods of risk assessment and alternatives assessment to improve vehicle driver safety. Collaborating with employees, they designed an individual training and performance award system using data-driven scoring from GPS and camera data. UrbanE Recycling was careful to avoid negative peer-pressure that can result from subjective, team-based incentive programs. More than a year of data shows a four-fold reduction in distracted driving and excessive speed.


Prevention through Design (PtD) Award

2021 Awardee: Fred A. Manuele, PE, CSP

On July 14, 2021, longtime occupational safety and health expert, Fred A. Manuele, PE, CSP, received the inaugural Prevention through Design (PtD) Award for his outstanding foresight, wisdom, tireless effort, and major accomplishments in preventing harm to workers by helping organizations avoid and prevent hazards. Read the full NIOSH Update.