Edited by Rowena Davis

Part 3:

Incentives

Adoption of safety by design programs provides many financial rewards. Money saved by considering safety at the time of design can decrease the bottom-line cost of construction. The preparation of a bid proposal for a construction project is a speculative process. The contractor’s bid includes a profit margin that is above the net cost. The involvement of engineers to examine safer construction methods and employ the use of safety appliances and safer design could reduce costly compliance with worker safety requirements. An example of this type of construction is when the roof trusses and decking are assembled on the ground of a worksite as a fall protection measure. After work is complete, finished roof sections are lifted into place by crane. This safer construction method saves costs by reduction of man hours and fewer personal protective devices for employees, such as the fall safety compliance cost of safety lines and body harnesses. Relocation of powerlines by burying them before construction begins provides unobstructed use of a crane for lifting the roof sections and other materials into place. Further alteration of the design could provide a parapet around the edge of the flat roof, which eliminates the need for temporary parameter guarding. Costs can be dramatically reduced by the involvement of project engineers who estimate the cost, persons responsible for purchase of components, and construction management personnel who ensure that design and build projects include safety as part of their value. When the price of a project is $1,000,000 including a 7% profit, the net price is $930,000. If the net costs of such a project were reduced to $750,000 through the application of safer design measures, the 7% profit margin would be $52,500, resulting in a bid price of $802,500. This reduced bid price provides an effective, competitive design and build construction cost compared to what was initially a $1,000,000 project.

The cost of component features of a design and build project provides another opportunity for safety savings. Consider employer costs of annual hearing examinations and ear protection for the exposure of 100 people to an air compressor which operates at 95 Db and costs $10,000 when compared to an air compressor which operates at 80 Db and costs $50,000. Though the quieter compressor costs more at the initial output, the savings accrued by the elimination of the hearing examinations, disability claims, and hearing protectors could exceed $40,000 in the next 15 years. If the machine has a life cycle of 30 years, the next 15 years would see spending another $40,000 on corrective action to counteract the danger created by the noise of the inexpensive air compressor. In this example, the initial output of $50,000 to purchase a safe air compressor represents a savings of $40,000 over a 30 year period. As illustrated, application of these integrations at the time of design would save a project literally thousands of dollars.