Impediments to Implementing Design for Construction Safety

Abstract

While many studies have indicated that design for construction safety (DFCS) has potential ability to function effectively to improve construction site safety, there is no clear evidence DFCS has been or will be widely implemented in the construction industry. The objective of this paper is to identify impediments to implementing DFCS through a comprehensive literature review. This paper reviewed widely current construction industry safety condition in Australia and DFCS concept and toolkits. Safety regulations between United States and Australia were compared as well. Six impediments were identified from both designers’ and contractors’ perspectives. This paper is part of “A toolkit for optimizing design for construction safety” project. Based on the identified impediments, potential ways for overcoming these barriers will be investigated in the next phase of the research project.