Towards proactive safety in design: a comparison of safety integration approaches in two design processes

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to optimize understanding of how safety and, more generally, human factors are considered at design stage in an industrial context. The practical aim is to provide assistance during early design stages to improve design process quality. Integration of safety integration in design is studied in two different industrial contexts; specifically, the printing sector and waste incineration and handling plants. The method links analysis of operating situations and analysis of design processes in both sectors. Cognitive analysis of safety integration methods at design stage allows us to offer a description of two safety integration approaches (“direct” and “indirect”) used by a group of designers. The first (direct) approach is associated with safety requirements. The second (indirect) approach is conditioned by experience, occupation, status and initiatives of each designer. While the first approach is necessary and the second attempt to integrate certain ergonomic criteria, both appear to be deficient in an operating situation (unknown risks, partial barriers, no daily work feedback, etc.). From a cognitive standpoint, activity strongly related to safety integration presents a number of characteristics similar to the design activities described by numerous authors. However, safety integration in design is a specific activity because there is no objective at the early design stages. Safety is in fact grafted onto the project during design and especially during development. A truly proactive safety philosophy and methodology is needed to take into account both the difficulties and requirements of a daily operating situation and integration of overall human factors in an industrial situation-based design. A number of factors are introduced in this context.