Safety in Design: focus on maintainability (by Zoom)

Safe Design: A focus on maintainability - by Zoom

Design is an influence in the ultimate safety and health of workers in the industrial built environment. From doors that you can’t figure out whether to push or pull, changing a light bulb in an awkward spot, to stretching to open valves that need to be turned that you just can’t reach, workers struggle with the design of work. This presentation will focus generally on the principles of safe design in the WHS legislation. Professor Behm will explore the design obligations in the legislation and will provide examples of both poor design and good design. He will use a 2008 Supreme Court of Victoria Australian Lanello vs BAE case as an illustration.  The presentation examples will focus on maintainability of the built environment.

Michael  Behm, PhD CSP, is Professor Emeritus of Occupational Safety at East Carolina University in the US; in August he will be moving on to a similar position at Keene State College in New Hampshire.  Mike is an Executive Consultant for Art of Work, a consultancy in Melbourne Australia, and serves on their Board of Advisors. He has been awarded research fellowships at the Centre for Urban Greenery and Ecology in Singapore and RMIT University (AUS) both studying safe design of the built environment. Mike has served the US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health in various capacities including the Prevention through Design Council, Construction Sector Occupational Research Committee, and their Board of Scientific Counsellors.