Awareness of the prevention through design (PtD) concept among design engineers in the Philippines

Abstract The “Prevention through Design” (PtD) concept considers construction safety during the design process. Several countries are currently practising PtD, including the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and the USA, which is still not the case in the Philippines. The study presented in this paper aimed to indicate the current level of awareness of the PtD concept among the structural engineers and purposed to generate a basis of initiatives to introduce or improve the understanding and adoption of PtD in the Philippines. A knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) questionnaire was distributed to survey respondents selected through a snowball sampling method, consisting of structural engineers currently working in the Philippines. Sixty-one (61) structural engineers responded and were analysed in this study. Results indicated that PtD was relatively a new concept for most structural engineers in the Philippines. Similarly, the designers’ knowledge of the concept was still low. However, structural engineers viewed PtD as necessary and its implementation as essential in the construction industry. Despite the known concerns in the PtD implementation, structural engineers favoured the adoption of the concept. The paper also discussed challenges and key drivers for implementing PtD in the Philippines based on the questionnaire results and supporting literature reviews. The findings and methodology presented in this paper could serve as a baseline for a larger sample size covering other design trades, such as architectural, electrical, and mechanical design services leading to the broader adoption of PtD in the Philippines. Furthermore, the framework of this study could also apply to other countries with similar contexts.