A Cross Sectional Study of the Perceptions of Large Contractors towards Prevention through Design

Abstract

With sustained fatalities and injuries of construction workers continuously over years, the construction industry within US requires a paradigm shift to occupational safety and health. The traditional practice of considering the workers’ safety during construction phase needs to be changed. Instead, Architects and Engineers (A/E) should be involved with responsibility of identifying and addressing imminent safety and health hazards during design phase. As per the concept of Prevention through Design (PtD) initiated by National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the responsibilities of workers’ safety should not rest completely with the contractors; A/E should play a critical role during design phase to improve workers’ safety and reduce health hazards downstream. The research employed cross-sectional method to identify attitudes of large contractors towards adoption of PtD. Survey method was employed for the study, and large contractors listed by Engineering News Record was used as the sample. While a majority of respondents realized the importance of considering safety during design phase, not all of them were familiar with the concept of PtD. While respondents identified lack of financial incentive and regulatory requirements as critical challenges, alternative project delivery methods were identified as motivations for adoption of PtD.