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With so many workplace accidents preventable by better designs, the American Society of Safety Engineers has launched an initiative to develop “Prevention Through Design” standards.
ASSE’s new Z790 Standards Initiative will include development of a standard called “Prevention Through Design (PTD): Guidelines for Addressing Occupational Risks in Design and Redesign Processes.”
Z790 will be “the first ASSE stand-alone standard the society will publish,” ASSE Vice President George Pearson said after the Board of Directors approved the plan.
“This is a major move for ASSE, as our members have been discussing and acting on this issue for many years,” said Pearson, who called PTD “a key issue” for the safety, health and environmental industries.
“Our members have produced key papers on this topic, held symposiums, participated in meetings with government agencies, developed the ASSE Prevention Through Design: an ASSE Technical Report, TR-Z790.001-2009, and will be host to a webinar on this topic in February."
PTD (also called safety through design) involves integrating hazard analysis and risk assessment early in the design and engineering stages and essentially designing those hazards out of the project.
About 40 percent of work-related fatalities are design related, ASSE says.
ASSE is reviewing the draft Z790 document and setting up stakeholder meetings. ASSE will process the standard through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) canvass process.
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