Design-Based Safety

In the classic nursery rhyme, the skills of the butcher, the baker and the candlestick-maker are clearly defined. Protecting life, limb and property are generally ignored, however, with the belief that most people avoid dangerous hazards and that accidents will not happen. There is a lack of understanding that a hazard is usually dormant until a change of circumstance occurs and the hazard becomes armed and able to cause harm. When a hazard produces harm in terms of death, injury or damage, it is often identified only as an “accident,” and the existence of a hazard is ignored.