Safety professionals know hazards are controlled most cost-effectively before they are constructed, but the engineering process can be intimidating. This paper details procedures for integrating safety into the design process.
The evolution of a project, from design through construction and the initiation of operations, can be an intimidating process, even to most engineers. Projects are always understaffed, underfunded, and aggressively scheduled. This means there is never enough people, enough money, nor enough time to do the job "right," but there always is enough of all three to do it over when the project doesn't work. The old cliche that 90% of the job gets done in the last 10% of the allotted time lends credence to the "never enough" problem. But somehow, projects are completed. This paper begins with an overview of the design process. Few engineers and even fewer safety engineers know or understand the design process. The safety engineer first must understand the design process in order to understand how safety can be efficiently incorporated and reduce project cost in the near and long term.
The design process begins with the first idea for a project and does not end until achieving full production rate, occupation, or product deployment. The efforts involved in this process can be divided into eight phases. Different aspects of the same project may progress through the phases at different times, hence the design phases appear to overlap. Figure 1 is a flowchart depicting the design process, and explained below.
The Preliminary or Conceptual Design Phase begins with the first idea for a project and continues until the decision to pursue the idea. Included in this phase is definition of design parameters, initial systems definition, preliminary layouts, and a design review that may be a part of a project review or may serve as the project review.
Defining parameters for the project continues throughout the project, but the most significant parameters, the basis for the entire project, are defined during this phase. Parameters include operations duration, production rates, performance, and cost. All parameters ultimately result in a cost definition. Cost constrains a project or the approach to part of a project. Schedule is an important part of a project that also results in a cost. The cost is to the organization funding the project and encompasses both project cost and lost sales or increased operating expense pending project completion. Thus, schedules are shortened during negotiations, and financial penalties can be included in the contract for delayed deliveries or operations. Penalties and delayed payments for schedule delays are the usual reasons for "hurry-upitis" at the end of a project.
