22 April 2004 - Research Recommends "Radical Change Amongst the Design Community"
The conduct of HSE-funded research that analysed designer involvement Peer review of analysis of specialist group reports on causes of construction accidents, RR218 (Habilis Ltd), has led the author to beliefs that there exists an 'enormous importance of the need for radical change amongst the design community'.
There are still many in the design community who remain unconvinced that designers through their work can help others improve health and safety performance, even under increasing pressure on designers to design structures that are safer and healthier to build, maintain and demolish.
The study, involving incident review, concludes that:
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nearly 50% of all accidents in construction could have been prevented by designer intervention
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over 1 in 6 of all incidents are at least partially the responsibility of the lead designer through lost preventive opportunity.
The study recommends that:
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the design community should learn more about modern methods of construction
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the manner in which designers can intervene effectively needs to be more clearly expressed in industry standard documentation and training.
