Designing Safety Before Construction Begins: Reflections from the International Co-creation Workshop on DfOSH Practice

Ir. Ts. Muhammad Firdaus

Aug 5

4 min read

On 29 July 2026, I was honoured to participate as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in the International Co-creation Workshop on Design for Occupational Safety and Health (DfOSH) Practice, held at Dorsett Putrajaya Hotel. The workshop brought together representatives from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and occupational safety and health professionals from both Malaysia and the United Kingdom to discuss an important question:

How can Malaysia effectively integrate safety and health considerations into the earliest stages of project design?

The answer lies at the heart of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulation 2024 (CDM 2024), a legislative initiative that seeks to transform how safety is managed throughout the lifecycle of construction projects.

While construction safety has traditionally focused on site activities and operational controls, the workshop highlighted a growing international consensus that the most effective way to reduce risks is to eliminate or minimise them before construction even begins. In other words, safety should be designed into a project rather than managed only after hazards have been created.

This fundamental principle forms the basis of Design for Occupational Safety and Health (DfOSH).

Moving from Reactive Safety to Preventive Design

For decades, many construction projects have relied heavily on site-based safety management to control risks during execution. Although these measures remain important, global studies have consistently shown that a significant proportion of construction-related hazards originate from design decisions made during the early planning stages.

The choice of structural systems, material selection, construction methods, access requirements, maintenance considerations, and sequencing strategies can all influence safety outcomes long before workers arrive on site.

DfOSH seeks to address this challenge by encouraging designers, clients, and project stakeholders to proactively identify and mitigate risks during design development.

The philosophy is simple but powerful:

The safest hazard is the one that never reaches the construction site.

By embedding safety considerations into the design process, projects can achieve not only better safety performance but also improved constructability, productivity, quality, maintainability, and overall project outcomes.

An International Collaboration for Malaysia's Construction Industry

A major focus of the workshop was the presentation of a collaborative initiative between Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and the University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol.The initiative aims to develop a practical and industry-oriented framework for implementing CDM 2024 within the Malaysian construction environment.

What makes this project particularly significant is that it is not merely attempting to replicate an overseas model. Instead, it seeks to combine international best practices with local realities, regulatory requirements, industry culture, and implementation challenges specific to Malaysia.

The framework has been developed through collaboration between occupational safety and health experts from Malaysia and the United Kingdom, drawing upon decades of experience gained through the UK's CDM implementation journey.

Among the contributors is Nic Rigby, who played a substantial role in the development and implementation of the CDM framework in the UK. His involvement provides valuable insight into both the opportunities and challenges associated with introducing such a transformational system.

Developing a DfOSH Maturity Assessment Framework

One of the most interesting aspects of the proposed initiative is the development of a DfOSH Maturity Assessment Framework. During the workshop, considerable attention was given to the role of maturity assessment as a mechanism for evaluating organizational readiness and competency. The proposed framework is expected to enable clients and project owners to assess:

The competency of CDM professionals
Organizational maturity in managing design-related risks
Integration of safety and health considerations within design processes
Leadership commitment towards DfOSH implementation
Risk management practices during project planning and execution
Continuous improvement capabilities

The concept is particularly relevant because successful implementation of DfOSH depends on more than regulatory compliance alone. It requires organizations to develop a culture that values proactive risk management and collaborative decision-making throughout the project lifecycle.

A maturity framework can therefore provide a structured means of evaluating how effectively organizations have embedded DfOSH principles into their systems, processes, and professional practices.

Learning from the UK's CDM Journey

One of the highlights of the workshop was an insightful sharing session by Ray Coleman of Jacobs, who has been directly involved in the implementation of the CDM framework in the United Kingdom since its early stages. Ray provided a candid account of the challenges encountered during the introduction of CDM in the UK.

Interestingly, the framework was not universally welcomed when it was first introduced. Many clients, consultants, and project stakeholders initially resisted the changes. Concerns centred around increased responsibilities, additional costs, perceived administrative burdens, and uncertainty regarding implementation requirements.

These concerns are not unique to the UK.

In fact, they mirror many of the discussions currently taking place within Malaysia as stakeholders evaluate the practical implications of CDM 2024. However, Ray explained that industry perceptions began to change as organizations started to experience tangible benefits from the framework. As safety considerations became integrated into project design, stakeholders observed:

Reduced construction risks
Improved project planning
Better coordination among project teams
Enhanced communication between stakeholders
Fewer incidents on construction sites
Better project outcomes overall

Over time, CDM evolved from being viewed as an additional burden to becoming an integral component of good project management and responsible professional practice.His presentation served as a valuable reminder that meaningful industry transformation rarely occurs without challenges, resistance, or periods of adjustment.

The Triple Helix Approach to Innovation

Another notable feature of the proposed framework is the use of the Triple Helix Model of Innovation to evaluate its effectiveness following development.

The Triple Helix model brings together three essential pillars:

Academia

Researchers and SMEs contribute knowledge, research findings, and evidence-based approaches.

Industry

Practitioners provide practical insights, implementation experience, and feedback from real-world projects.

Government

Regulators and policymakers ensure alignment with national objectives, legislation, and public interests.

This collaborative model recognises that sustainable innovation rarely emerges from a single stakeholder group acting independently. Instead, meaningful and lasting change occurs when academia, industry, and government work together to co-create solutions. The workshop itself embodied this philosophy by creating an environment where participants could openly discuss implementation strategies, potential barriers, assessment methodologies, and industry expectations.

"The safest construction project is not the one with the most safety controls on site. It is the one where hazards have been thoughtfully designed out long before construction begins."