As all those with an interest in safety management know, it is far easier to eliminate hazards and risks in the design stage than later down the track. Sadly, however, it appears that design deficiencies are still contributing to work-related fatalities in Australia in significant numbers. Australia’s Safe Work Australia has recently released the Safe Work Australia Report: Work-related fatalities associated with unsafe design of machinery, plant and powered tools 2006-2011.
As part of our occupational health safety and security team’s infographic series, we present ‘Safety by design’: an infographic highlighting key statistics from the Report.
In this latest infographic we make some practical suggestions for organisations to adopt in implementing safety in design principles. We also provide recommendations for future study by Government and academics now that safety in design as a broad concept is better understood.