Enhanced Safety, Health and Environmental Outcomes Through Improved Design

By R Trethewy and M Atkinson

Enhanced safety, health and environmental (SHE) outcomes through better design involve eliminating or minimising risks in the preliminary planning stages of a product.

Better design provides a foundation for improved outcomes in the development, use and maintenance of a product, such as plant and equipment, or a building).

The many stakeholders who contribute to the design process must critically review its SHE implications in order to improve the design outcomes. The client, or end user, must be actively involved in the review to ensure that operational requirements and maintenance issues - which are intrinsically known to the client - are considered by other design stakeholders. For example, SHE implications inherent in the design of a building project may be present during its construction, use, maintenance and demolition, that is, during its complete life cycle.

(Journal of Occupational Health and Safety Australia and New Zealand, vol. 19, no. 5, October 2003)