Fundamentals of Safety Design Review Process, Systems Safety, and Prevention by Design

Introduction

Occupational safety is highly important in ensuring work efficiency and in reducing unnecessary cost associated with occupational injuries in any organization. It therefore highly important for any organization to consider safety of any equipment or structure they intend to use. This can be done by ensuring safety review during the design stage of any development and employment of possible changes to maximize on the safety of upcoming structures and equipment. Safety review, during design stage increases chances of eliminating or substituting hazards before they take place. This is one of the most effective ways of addressing hazards in an organization. This paper analyses safety design review process, role of safety and concept interrelated with the approach of safety management systems.

Safety Design Review Process

The safety design process contains five main stages. The first stage involves defining safety goals. Safety goals are intended to assist in maintaining safety focus during the design process. Safety goals need to reflect on legislation, regulatory requirements and project-unique risk tolerability criteria and strategies of sustainability and project-unique environmental and safety goals. The second step involves understanding environmental aspects and hazards. Understanding hazards makes it easy to define effective hazards control process.

Read also Role of Safety Professionals and How They Should be held Accountable

The third stage involves implementation of inherent safer principles of design. With the knowledge of possible hazard, the safety professionals should focus on creating a safer design by eliminating hazards, reducing hazards, simplifying the design or moderating the possible hazards that can be found in the design and substituting hazards. The fourth stage involves controlling residual risk which happens if inherent control cannot be attained. This can be done by use of engineering control, administrative control, or by use of personal protective equipment. The last stage in safety design process involves communication and consolidation (Amec Foster Wheeler, 2016).

The Role and Importance of Safety in a Safety Management System

Safety management system is a set of procedures and policies used by an organization to lower illnesses and accidents among workers. Safety in a safety management system is to ensure that all the set policies and procedures put safety in mind and are enacted to reduce, substitute or eliminate hazards in the system. The role of safety is to ensure workers health and wellbeing and to eliminate incidences that would result to injuries, fatalities or loss of properties. Safety in procedures and policies is to ensure that the organization adapts safety culture where workers wellbeing is prioritized on. Safety is important in ensuring that no worker is subjected to injuries or pain while carrying out their duties (Amec Foster Wheeler, 2016).

Read also Ways Establishing a Safety and Health Management System in an Organization Complement and Improve Compliance with the OSHA Standards

How Safety Concepts Inter-Relate with the Safety Management Systems Approach

The safety concept focus on reducing, eliminating or substituting hazards to maximize on a safe working environment free from injuries, pain, fatalities or destruction of properties. While safety is a goal, safety management system provides a mechanism through which this goal can be achieved. An organization can achieve safety goals by defining procedures and policies that when followed they would aid in achieving the organization safety goal. The safety management system can also play a great role in guiding design safety review process to ensure all possible safety measures are considered before approval of any project.

Conclusion

Workers are among the most precious stakeholders in any organization. It is therefore important for an organization to invest on their safety and wellbeing. One way to do this is by ensuring design safety review process where the structure, equipment or system is assessed to ensure that it is safe for use. This ensures that workers can go about their daily businesses without experiencing preventable accidents that can leave them injured or dead.

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