Prevention Through Design - Examples in Construction

In the last issue of Thoughts from the Field, I discussed Prevention Through Design (PTD), which is a a term sometimes used by a project’s design team to reference the practice of intentionally designing in elements in a facility or structure that make it safer for the building occupants and facility management team. A common example is designing better access into a space that might otherwise be classified as a confined space.?

I also discussed how PTD can be utilized to provide safer conditions for the #construction team during the building phase of a project, and used an example of designing elements into a building’s skylights to make it safer for all of the trades working on the roof, while enhancing the building’s performance. In this issue, I will continue that discussion of how to incorporate PTD to keep the building crews safe on residential construction projects, where we see greatly reduced use of fall protection and other PPE.?

One of the general truths about construction is that if the designer puts something on the plans, that’s what’s going to get built. Another general truth is that one trade is not going to be thinking about building-in non-mandated elements to protect the trades that come after they leave, unless specifically directed to do so (and even then you better plan on inspecting to make sure it was done). The result is that each trade goes blissfully about their task trying to be productive while meeting the project specifications, maybe thinking about keeping themselves safe, but completely oblivious to hazards they may be causing for any other trade. This is especially true in residential construction, where builder oversight is often not what it should be.?

In production housing construction, it is common to use the same building plans over and over again. Tract home builders tend to have a limited series of home plans that get repeated with some simple option changes from buyer to buyer. In this scenario, the repetitiveness creates a real opportunity for the builder to take control of some safety elements on the project while having a positive impact on productivity and quality. Lets take a look at a few opportunities.?

On a recent project walk with a builder, the first and glaringly obvious issue that jumps out is fall protection.

• Stairs with no guardrails
• Landings with no gates or feature to prevent people from accidentally backing up and falling down the stairs
• Unprotected sides and edges
• 2nd?and 3rd?floor door openings that open onto nothing because the balcony is not yet constructed
• Window openings that are hazards because the bottom of the opening is too low to serve as a guard rail
• And of course no one seems to have any idea where to tie off on the roof

In fact, it was difficult to find any multistory residential construction projects that were safe to walk into. The moment we walked in, we were exposed to struck-by hazards from the trades working above and kicking debris over the edges, and the moment we set foot on the stairs, we were exposed to fall hazards.?

Sometimes, there had already been an attempt to remedy these conditions with a poorly built guard rail system tacked onto some of the wall studs, or a temporary stair rail built at the wrong height. If not, the superintendent would find one of the trades and tell them they need to add some guard rails, which is generally easy to do in the wood framed homes. There is always scrap lumber everywhere and its easy to nail up. But they almost always do it wrong. It’s a little safer, but still not technically correct, even though all the effort had been expended. The next step was to take it down and re-build, and now we are doing re-work on temporary work elements. It’s crazy.?

Builders need to do two things:

1. Recognize the limited knowledge of the people being sent to their jobs – I don’t like it, but I can’t solve it overnight and neither can you
2. Seize the opportunity you have to direct work without even having to be on site

The trade contractors do know how to put things together. They do know how to follow the plans.?

Rather than just leave it up to them, which we know is not working and is unlikely to just magically get better, tell them what to do in the construction plans. Identify needed safety elements and add them onto the plans. If the superintendent tells them to a build a guardrail on the stairs, they will do it, but it probably won’t be correct. It will look okay, but they may nail the rail to the outside of the uprights instead of the inside, the heights will probably vary, there may or may not be a mid rail, etc.?

“…now we are doing re-work on temporary work elements - its crazy!”

However, if you pull in the architect and the framer and sit down with them once to create some actual details, then add those to the framing drawings, that’s what they will build. They will plan on it. They will have correct materials. And they will do it only once. The details can be designed to provide the proper strength, and to be removed later to accommodate the final finishes and preserve quality. Do this with guardrails at unprotected edges and include toe boards, add details for a top rail to guard window openings and work with the team to create details that are easy to remove when the windows are being installed.?

Oh, and please don’t forget the roof tie off points! Seriously, just design in some permanent tie off points. Add them to the structural plans, specify the materials and components, and have them inspected. Make all the trades aware of these anchor points (it’s still their responsibility to use them, train their own employees, and provide personal fall arrest systems) and include them in homeowner documentation. This is done all the time on commercial projects that provide anchor points on the roof. If you aren’t comfortable handing them off to the homeowner, then remove them or cut them off, but if you leave them and provide documentation, the future maintenance crews will benefit from PTD as well.??

The repetitive nature of the production home building industry creates an incredible opportunity for prevention through design. Since the Home Builder often controlls everything from the design through procurement and onto the building phase, there is an easy path to add these details. Start seizing these opportunities today! Start noting these safety deficiencies in the homes you currently have under construction and start creating details to eliminate them. Once you start phasing these into the construction drawings you will begin to benefit from PTD; and safety, quality, and productivity will all benefit.

Do you know someone in the industry that could benefit from the advice and information in this article? Please share this with them! Do you have more examples or suggestions for prevention through design? Share them here in the comments.

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