Addressing construction worker safety in the design phase: Designing for construction worker safety

Facility designers can positively influence construction site safety by integrating safety considerations into the design process. Although their potential influence on safety has been documented, designers typically lack knowledge of and limit their involvement in construction worker safety. This research effort involved the accumulation of suggestions for improving construction worker safety while in the design phase. Using these design suggestions, a design tool has been developed to assist designers in identifying project-specific safety hazards and to provide best practices to eliminate the hazards. Although use of the design tool is voluntary in the United States, it is one resource which can be used by designers to fulfill their obligations required by the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations in UK.