NIOSH Prevention Through Design Plan for the National Initiative Now Posted for Public Comment

Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 245-0645
May 22, 2009

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has issued, for public comment, the draft Prevention through Design (PtD) Plan for the National Initiative. NIOSH currently leads a nationwide initiative called Prevention through Design (PtD). PtD addresses occupational safety and health needs by eliminating hazards and minimizing risks to workers throughout the life cycle of work premises, tools, equipment, machinery, substances, and work processes including their construction, manufacture, use, maintenance, and ultimate disposal or re-use. The Plan outlined in this technical report establishes goals for the successful implementation of PtD. This comprehensive approach, which includes worker health and safety in all aspects of design, redesign and retrofit, will provide a vital framework for saving lives and preventing work-related injuries and illnesses.

The framework for the PtD initiative was developed through stakeholder input at the Prevention through Design Workshop in July 2007. The stakeholders represented all eight National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) industry sector groups, and offered their assessment of the needs, challenges and opportunities for the PtD National Initiative. The output from the workshop was used to develop a strategic plan that highlights actions and milestones to institutionalize the PtD concept throughout the United States. NIOSH, in collaboration with the PtD organizational partners and Council members developed the draft goals, performance measures, activities and timeframes contained in the draft Plan.

The draft Plan is available at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/review/public/160/. NIOSH invites stakeholders to review the draft Prevention through Design Plan for the National Initiative, offer comments, and identify areas where stakeholders can make an impact, either within their business or organization, or on behalf of the National Initiative. Comments are being accepted until August 21, 2009.

NIOSH is interested in stakeholder opinions about the relevance of the goals and the value of the activities to achieve the goals in the draft Plan. NIOSH is also interested in identifying motivators, enablers and barriers to PtD implementation. In addition, NIOSH is interested in elements of the Plan stakeholders are planning to implement or have already implemented as well as the success of those implementation efforts.

To learn more about the PtD Initiative and how to get involved go to http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/ptdesign/.