More Updates From The Safety 2014 Conference

Last week I gave you some thoughts about my trip to Safety 2014, the annual conference of American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE). This week I have a few more thoughts to share.

A “hot topic” in the safety industry, for those who work in industrial safety, is what is called Prevention through Design (PtD). That is the concept where possible safety problems are designed out of the equipment before that system is installed. You don’t need a guard on a machine if there is no possible way for the worker to be injured on the machine. You eliminate the potential before it is a problem.

The following is a story shared during one of the conference’s small group sessions.

During World War II, a US statistician was dispatched to England to make a study of the damage to bombers that returned from missions over Europe. The goal was to determine where additional armor should be installed to improve the survivability of the planes and aircrew, with minimal impact on plane weight (which of course influences the distance the plane could fly and the bomb capacity.) So the statistician conducted an extended survey, plotting on graphs where all the holes were on the aircraft that returned to England.

At the end of his study, the statistician presented his report. Looking for the summary, his superior asked, “So we should put armor on those places where there are the most holes?” 

The statistician’s reply; “No, we should put armor on the places where there are no holes, because when a plane is hit in those places, it doesn’t come back.”

By using Prevention through Design you identify where the flaws in the system are in advance of sending the plane (the workers) on the mission, and really, even before the equipment is finished. That way, you have reduced the need for armor because you have engineered out the hazards.

In the US, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has made Prevention through Design a national initiative to prevent or reduce occupational injuries, illnesses and fatalities through the inclusion of prevention consideration in all designs that impact workers.

Prevention through Design encompasses all of the efforts to anticipate and design out hazards to workers in facilities, work methods and operations, processes, equipment, tools, products, new technologies and the organization of work. The focus is on workers who execute the designs or have to work with the products of the design. The initiative has been developed to support designing out hazards, the most reliable and effective type of prevention.

At Martin, we we have specifically developed a wide variety of safety products and accessories designed to protect workers from hazards and risks, we have expanded our training and service products to include safety precautions and best practice procedures to ensure the safety of employees running conveyors.