Enhanced Safety, Health and Environment Outcomes Through Improved Design

Improved safety, health and environment outcomes through better design are about eliminating or minimising risks in the preliminary planning stages of a product. Better design provides a foundation for improved outcomes in the development, use and maintenance of a product like plant and equipment or a building. Improved outcomes in design require the many stakeholders who contribute to the design process to critically review its safety, health and environment implications. Therefore, the client, or end user, must be actively involved in the review to ensure that operational requirements and maintenance issues, intrinsically known to the client, are considered by other design stakeholders. For example, safety, health and environment implications inherent in the design of a building project may exist in its construction, use, maintenance and demolition, i.e. its complete lifecycle. Similar implications exist for the design of other products such as plant or equipment, e.g. its manufacture through to decommissioning.