Prevention through Design (PtD): Current State of Implementation in the Design Industry

Abstract

A Growing number of studies indicate that designers possess the ability to impact on-site safety. Multiple countries across the globe have already included safety within the realms of designers. However, such a change is yet to be observed within the US, due to multiple reasons. Thus, this study aimed to identify knowledge, perceptions, and implementation patterns of PtD in the design industry. For this study, an electronic survey was emailed to 3,950 architectural firms. Complete responses from 69 architectural firms were accounted for the initial analysis. Preliminary results indicate that majority of respondents were small architectural firms (less than 5 full time employees) with 21 - 50 years of experience and yielded an annual revenue of less than one million dollar. Additionally, the majority of respondents were involved in private projects and mostly within the commercial sector. The study found that only 8.7% of the respondents were familiar with PtD and 11.9% of the firms were familiar with PtD. The study also indicated that even though respondents were in favor for creation of standard PtD implementation guidelines, they were averse to regulatory guidelines. The study also showed that despite the owners being perceived as one of the most receptive stakeholders for PtD, they were also perceived to lack the knowledge