What are the best ways to design a new product or process with safety in mind?

1 Define safety goals

Before you start designing, you need to define what safety means for your product or process, and what are the specific goals and criteria that you want to achieve. For example, you may want to reduce the risk of human error, mechanical failure, environmental hazards, or legal liability. You may also want to comply with relevant standards, regulations, or best practices. Defining your safety goals will help you set clear and measurable objectives, and guide your design decisions throughout the project.

3 Apply ergonomic principles

Ergonomics is the science of designing products and processes that fit the human body and mind. It aims to optimize the interaction between humans and systems, and to enhance health, safety, and performance. You can apply ergonomic principles to various aspects of your design, such as the physical layout, the interface, the controls, the feedback, the instructions, or the training. Some of the ergonomic principles that you can use are: match the design to the user's abilities and expectations, simplify the tasks and reduce the workload, provide clear and consistent information and feedback, avoid unnecessary distractions and interruptions, ensure adequate lighting, ventilation, and temperature, and prevent fatigue, stress, and musculoskeletal disorders.

4 Conduct risk assessment

Risk assessment is the process of identifying, analyzing, and evaluating the potential hazards and harms that may arise from your product or process. You can use various tools and techniques to conduct risk assessment, such as hazard identification, fault tree analysis, failure mode and effects analysis, or risk matrix. You can also involve users, stakeholders, or experts in the risk assessment process, to get different perspectives and insights. Conducting risk assessment will help you prioritize the most critical and likely risks, and plan appropriate mitigation strategies.

5 Implement safety controls

Safety controls are the measures that you implement to reduce or eliminate the risks that you identified in the risk assessment. There are different types of safety controls, such as engineering controls, administrative controls, or personal protective equipment. Engineering controls are the most effective and preferred type of safety controls, as they involve designing out or isolating the hazards from the users. Examples of engineering controls are: using guards, barriers, locks, sensors, alarms, or automatic shut-off devices. Administrative controls are the rules, procedures, or policies that regulate the use of your product or process. Examples of administrative controls are: providing training, manuals, labels, signs, or warnings. Personal protective equipment are the devices that users wear or use to protect themselves from the hazards. Examples of personal protective equipment are: gloves, helmets, goggles, or earplugs.

6 Test and evaluate

The final step of designing with safety in mind is to test and evaluate your product or process, to check if it meets your safety goals and user needs, and to identify any issues or gaps that need improvement. You can use various methods to test and evaluate your product or process, such as usability testing, user feedback, inspections, audits, or simulations. You can also use various metrics to measure and quantify your safety performance, such as injury rates, error rates, satisfaction scores, or cost-benefit analysis. Testing and evaluating your product or process will help you validate your design, and ensure its safety, quality, and effectiveness.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?