Design for Safety (DfS) Driving Out Project Costs

Frank Wampol CHST Corporate Safety Director, B.L.Harbert International

John J. Placey CSP SVP Risk Control Willis of Alabama Inc

“Last picture I ever took…”

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DfCS Practices Around the Globe• Designers first required to design for construction

safety in the United Kingdom in 1995• Other European nations have similar requirements• In Europe, a 1991 study concluded that 60% of fatal

accidents resulted from decisions made before site work began

• Australia also leading in DfCShttp://www.ascc.gov.au/ascc/HealthSafety/SafeDesign/Understanding

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Here at home• Industry studies show 30% of work related

injuries are design or lack of design related – 6000 people on average die of work-related

injuries or illnesses– 250,000 illnesses, 4 million injured– $130 billion in costs

• Currently there are no requirements for construction safety in building codes

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DfCS = Design for Construction Safety (constructability)

• An extension of DfS to cover construction projects• Recognizes construction site safety as a design criterion• The process of addressing construction site safety and

health in the design of a project

• Excerpts from UK law…– Designers shall “ensure that any design…includes among the

design considerations adequate regard to the need (i) to avoid foreseeable risks to the healthy and safety of any person at work carrying out construction work….” and

– “The design shall include “adequate information about any aspect of the project or structure or materials … which might affect the health and safety of any person at work carrying out construction work….”

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Our project ABC / AIA / ASSE Whitepaper

• Genesis in Associated Builders and Contractor’s Alabama Chapter Safety Committee

– A multi disciplined group was tasked with a best practices whitepaper development to be shared with national entities and throughout our industry

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DfS task group members • Owner – Southern Company Generation

– Bob Fitzgerald Manager of Construction Safety and Health for Engineering and Construction Services, Bob Powers, Alan Speegle, Thomas Ricketts

• Contractor – B.L.Harbert International– Frank Wampol corporate safety director

• Architect – Aycock Architecture Studio– Jamie Aycock

• Legal – Huie, Fernambucq & Stewart law firm– Joe Duncan attorney

• Insurance / Risk Management– John Placey SVP Willis, Mike Fredebeil SVP National Director Construction

Safety Willis

• Academia – University of Alabama– Dr. Robert G. Batson Professor Construction Engineering Program

• Associated Builders and Contractors– Jay Reed Alabama Chapter President

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Influencing Safety, Cost, and Constructability

(Source: Szymberski, R., “Construction Project Safety Planning.” TAPPI Journal, Vol. 80, No. 11, pp. 69-74.)

Conceptual Design

Detailed Engineering

Procurement

Construction

Start-up

High

Low

Start date End date

Ability to Influence

Project Schedule

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Common non-mandated “best practices”

– Drug testing – RTW– Stretch and Flex - STI prevention– Comprehensive safety manuals – Benchmarking – safety ROI – Contractor prequalification– Project and activity pre-planning

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“War stories” ….

Alabama PowerGeorgia PowerMississippi PowerGulf Power

Southern Nuclear

Fortune's 'Most Admired'Fortune magazine's 2011 list of the "World's Most Admired Companies" has Southern Company at the top in the electric and gas utility sector.

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Modular Ductwork Field Assembly

… Exactly as planned several years prior!

4 truck modules insulated and assembled into lift pieces!

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DfS examples “Real-world” a picture is worth 1,000 words!

• Southern Company flue gas duct work • 3D imaging

– Analyzing component parts – Pre fab – Truck to site– Assembly at ground level– Protected work platforms (PM)– Reduced hazard– $3 Million savings

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“Southern Company representatives from Design and Construction Services improved the design of the flue gas duct work to eliminate most field welds and moved some of the large steel duct assembly to the fabricator’s shop…

…This redesign reduced cost, improved quality, shorted the construction field schedule, and made a safer construction job site”

Southern Company DfS report

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Example: Squirter Washers

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Auburn University Basketball Arenalong span truss installation (DfCS = $500,000 savings)

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Multi-crane critical lift and fall hazards

avoided•Computer modeling design and installation of long span trusses to accommodate single crane pic and control worker hazards •“stub columns” to facilitate steel erection•Elevated work platforms for connectors•Engineered horizontal lifeline pre-fab onto each truss prior to erection for fall protection and end user•One crane mobilization for pre-cast and steel erection

Savings - $500,000

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Falls – construction’s #1 killer

• What impact could DfCS have on this statistic?– Anchorages

• For personal fall arrest / swing stage scaffolding

– Steel pre-punched – Parapet wall height– Window height – Rooftop equipment installed at safe distances

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Multiple anchorages for end user and construction

Engineered anchorages… but – what if the parapet were just a little taller?

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What Types of Design Decisions?• IBC paragraph 704.11.1 requires

that a parapet wall be at least 30 inches high

• OSHA 1926 Subpart M requires a guardrail at 42 inches (+/- 3”) or other fall protection

• If the design professional specifies a 39 - 45 inch high parapet wall, additional fall protection would not be required

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A 1996 paper by Professor John Smallwood showed that 50% of general contractors interviewed identified poor design features as affecting safety.

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Pre-punched steel for perimeter protection

US Army Maneuver Center HQ Expansion, Ft Benning Ga

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Warrior in Transition Barracks… Ft Bragg NC and Ft Benning GaTrue design build project with full time design manger PE employed by contractor

Incorporated directly by input from builder…Worker access / egressConstruction live load staging on elevated levelsMaterial staging and crane padsHoist beams in elevator shaftsRoof anchorages

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DfCS Example: Residential Roofs

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DfCS Examples: Prefabrication

Steel stairs

Concrete Wall Panels

Concrete Segmented Bridge

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DfCS Examples: Roofs

Skylights Upper story windows and roof parapets

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End user

• Based on occupancy –Patient handling systems–Non-skid floor surfaces–Sprinkler systems –Diking for hazardous materials –Avoid costly retrofit

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DfS…. Or retrofit?

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Whitepaper… some highlights • Owner

– Decreased costs• Short term • Long term

• General Contractor– Improved worker and workplace safety– Enhanced productivity

• Architect – Anchorage points – Dialog with Contractors

• Legal– Statue of repose – Limiting liability

• Insurance / Risk Management– Fall from elevation controls – Amortization – Control of overall cost of risk

• Academia– Teach it! J

Get started basic checklist… • Use preplanning

– low-hanging fruit • Feedback from builders and end users

– Hazard identification (assembly at ground level) – PM (location of items at roof level) – Anchorage points – Punched steel – Live loads?

• Building (construction materials) and ground condition (crane pad)

– Parapet – Design underground utilities to be placed using trenchless

technology1

– End user

1 Weinstein, “Can Design Improve Construction Safety”, 2005F

DfCS checklist continued…

– Specify primers, sealers and other coatings that do not emit noxious fumes or contain carcinogenic products2

– Design cable type lifeline system for storage towers3

– Provide at least two means of egress on large maintenance platforms or walkways.

– Worker access / egress to upper levels during construction

– Use red dye concrete to encase underground utility or electrical duct runs.

2 Gambatese, “Viability of Designing for Construction Worker Safety”, 20053 Behm, “Linking Construction Fatalities to the Design for Construction Safety Concept”, 2005 F

More considerations…

– Laydown – material staging areas – Construction loads verses end user live loads– Design the slope, width, height, turning radius, and surface

treatment of traffic surfaces with consideration of the anticipated size, weight, and maneuverability of the construction equipment.

– Emergency vehicles should have access to all parts of the plant and construction site. Provide, if possible, two controlled intersections at access points to the site.

– Group roof openings together to create one larger opening rather than many smaller openings.

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Example of the Need for DfCS

• Worker electrocuted when his drill rig got too close to overhead power lines.

• Design engineer specified groundwater monitoring wells were to be dug directly under power lines.

• Design engineer could have specified wells be dug away from power lines and/or better informed the employer of hazard posed by wells’ proximity to power lines through the plans, specifications, and bid documents.

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DfCS ResourcesDesign for Construction Safety - Look for 2 to 4 hour course for Design Professionals.www.designforconstructionsafety.org

Construction Industry Institute databasewww.construction-institute.org/scriptcontent/more/rr101_11_more.cfm

United Kingdom Health & Safety Executive designer guideswww.hse.gov.uk/construction/designers/index.htm www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/Publications/OHS/SafetyGuides/chairsafetyindesigntool.htm

ABET. 2011. Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, 2010-11 Review Cycle. www.abet.org/forms.shtml

Behm, M. 2008. Rapporteur’s Report: Construction Sector. Journal of Safety Research, 39, 127-130. Brauer, R. L. 2006. Safety and Health for Engineers, 2nd Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

US Department of Labor- OSHA- Alliance Program Construction Roundtablehttp://www.osha.gov/dcsp/alliances/roundtables/roundtables_construction.html

NIOSH Prevention through Designhttp://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/PTD/ The Construction (Design and Management Regulations 2007http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2007/320/contents/made

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Continued…American Society of Safety Engineerhttps://www.asse.org/cartpage.php?link=standards Chair New South Wales Government (Australia)www.workcover.nsw.gov.au/Publications/OHS/SafetyGuides/chairsafetyindesigntool.htm Christiansen, W. C. and Manuele, F. A. (Eds.). 1999. Safety through Design. Itasca, IL: NCS Press. Christiansen, W. C. 2003. Safety through Design: Helping Design Engineers answer 10 Key Questions.

Professional Safety, 48(3), 32-39. Christiansen, W. C. 2010. Safe Designs: A Challenge to SH&E Professionals. Professional Safety, 55(4), 29-34. Manuele, F. A. 2008. Prevention through Design (PtD): History and Future. Journal of Safety Research, 39, 127-

130. NIOSH. 2007. NIOSH Safety and Health Topic: Prevention through Design. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services, CDC. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topic/ptd

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Questions?

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