Design for Safety — Frequently Asked Questions

Design for Safety (DfS) is the practice of identifying and addressing foreseeable safety and health risks through design decisions, so that risks are eliminated or reduced before construction begins, rather than managed afterwards through site procedure alone.

A Design for Safety Professional (DfSP) is the person who facilitates and coordinates a project's DfS review process where appointed to do so — convening review meetings, maintaining the DfS Register, tracking design-risk actions and communicating residual risks.

The Developer is generally best placed to appoint the DfSP, and is recommended to do so directly rather than through another consultant or contractor, so the DfSP can represent the Developer's interests as the party with the greatest influence over project design.

As early as reasonably possible — ideally by concept design — so the review process can influence the design while it is still flexible, rather than being added after key decisions are already fixed.

A structured meeting, typically held at concept design, detailed design and pre-construction stages, where the Developer, Designers and Contractor identify foreseeable design risks and discuss how to eliminate or reduce them.

The Developer (or its representative), the relevant Designers for that stage (including specialist and temporary works designers where their design creates material risk), and the Contractor where construction-stage risks are being discussed.

No. The DfSP is not responsible for, and is not directly involved in, day-to-day safety and health at the construction site. Site safety and health management remains the responsibility of the Contractor and its appointed workplace safety personnel.

No. The DfSP facilitates the review process; Designers retain technical responsibility for their own designs and for reducing foreseeable risks through design.

Design Risk Records, meeting minutes or review notes, and residual design risks with any identified control measures — kept current through the project and handed to the Developer at completion. More on the DfS Register →

Yes, where a temporary works design — such as formwork, falsework or shoring — creates or controls a material risk. The temporary works designer should participate directly in the relevant review. More on temporary works →

A design change that affects risk — including a change to construction method, temporary works or access arrangements — should trigger a follow-up DfS review, and the DfS Register should be updated accordingly.

Yes. DfS review is intended to consider people who will later clean, maintain, alter or eventually demolish the structure, not only those involved during initial construction.

Send us your project type, stage and estimated construction value through our contact page or email pe@qp.sg, and we will confirm scope and respond with a project-specific proposal.