Construction hazard prevention through design (PtD) in capital projects holds the promise to eventually reduce exposure of construction workers to safety and health hazards, and hence minimize accidents, morbidity, and fatalities. The absence of prevention through design accounts for more than 2/3 of the fatalities in the US construction sector. In countries where PtD is common practice the construction fatality rate is at least four times less than in the US. Despite its potential, the awareness and implementation of PtD by design and engineering professionals is scarce. In addition, substantial gaps in PtD knowledge still exist. In order to address these shortcomings, we propose a 5-year PtD Workshop Initiative. A total of one kickoff workshop and five annual PtD workshops will be offered. Each workshop will be completed in a single day. Each of the five PtD workshops will be tentatively offered at a premiere meeting, networking, and knowledge sharing and advancement annual venue attended by highly influential construction stakeholders. The proposed sequence of workshop themes is: 1) current and future state of the art research and practice; 2) training and education; 3) incentives, barriers, and liability; 4) benefits, costs, and lifecycle costs; and, 5) advanced design technologies and PtD. Post-workshop dissemination will enable a broader impact of workshop content and outcomes. Six graduate instruction modules on PtD themes will be produced and disseminated at no cost. The hypothesis of this proposal is that the engagement of compelling stakeholders can overcome the scarce PtD adoption among industry organizations. Our goal is to improve the well being of the US construction workforce. To that end, we propose a 5-year PtD Workshop Initiative.
The Aims of such Initiative are: 1.
Aim 1 : To drive the implementation of PtD at large industry organizations. We will inform and engage highly influential stakeholders at large client / owner, designer, and contractor organizations. We will measure the cumulative engagement of these organizations with PtD during the 5-year effort. 2.
Aim 2 : To advance knowledge in PtD. We will collect information for the effective demonstration of concepts and strategies. We will query stakeholder participants. We will identify and analyze information and research gaps. We will evaluate the number, quality, and broader impacts of knowledge contributions. 3.
Aim 3 : To promote the instruction of PtD in construction management and construction engineering programs at US colleges and universities. We will design and disseminate six graduate instruction modules. We will cumulatively track the programs including the PtD modules in their curriculum. The PtD Workshop Initiative will contribute to overcome current limitations of scarce awareness and implementation by engaging highly influential stakeholders and US colleges and universities, and provide deeper and broader insights into specific aspects of PtD themes, knowledge that is partially lacking and that promises to yield novel insights into the effective and efficient prevention of safety and health hazards.
The 5-year PtD Workshop Initiative will contribute to overcome current limitations of scarce awareness and implementation of prevention through design (PtD) in the US construction sector by engaging highly influential stakeholders in construction, and promises to eventually reduce exposure of construction workers to safety and health hazards, and hence minimize accidents, morbidity, and fatalities. The PtD Workshop Initiative will also result in deeper and broader insights into specific aspects of PtD themes, knowledge that is partially lacking and that promises to yield novel insights into the effective and efficient prevention of safety and health hazards in construction. The PtD Workshop Initiative will serve as a platform to promote collaboration and synergies among practitioners, consultants, and researchers, and instruction of PtD at US colleges and universities.
