Safety by Design: In the workplace
Learners apply scientific ideas and design thinking to develop draft actions or early design ideas that aim to reduce workplace injuries and risks.
Overview
Through this innovation activity, learners build on their understanding of science and workplace hazards to design a visual algorithm that maps out a process for managing workplace safety. Learners then apply this process to create an initial draft plan or prototype that responds to a selected workplace hazard.
Instructions
What you'll need
- "Designing for Safe Workplaces" Slideshow
Per student:
- "Workplace Hazards" Briefing Sheets
- "Scientific Ideas" Briefing Sheets
Per group:
- Steps in Designing for Workplace Safety
- Sample Visual Algorithm
Selecting a Design Focus
If learners have engaged with the other activities in this unit, they will have already identified and examined more than one workplace hazard. Have them select one that will allow them to apply scientific ideas and design steps in a meaningful way. Otherwise, provide them with the Workplace Hazards Briefing Sheets and invite them to select one for this activity.
- Slide 2 - Invite learners to briefly share their selected hazard with a partner or small group and explain their reasoning. Prompt their thinking with questions such as:
- What makes this hazard important to address?
- What makes this hazard challenging to manage safely?
- Explain that learners will use this selected hazard to guide their thinking as they design and apply a process for improving workplace safety.
Designing for Innovation
- Slide 3 - Show students a simple, unrelated example of a visual algorithm (e.g., planning a task or solving an everyday problem). Explain that a visual algorithm (sometimes called a flow chart or design process) shows a sequence of thinking steps used to manage a situation. Ask learners, “What do you notice about how the steps are shown and connected?” Explain that in science and engineering, visual algorithms are often used to represent a design or problem-management process.
- Explain that learners will now design a visual algorithm to help guide thinking about how to respond to a workplace hazard. Introduce the following criteria for a useful visual algorithm in this context:
- puts the steps in a clear, logical order
- shows where science and safety ideas guide decisions
- includes steps to understand the hazard before choosing a solution
- considers how solutions work for different users and situations
- Slide 4 - Provide learners with Steps in Designing for Workplace Safety, a set of scrambled steps related to responding to workplace safety concerns. Invite learners to work in groups of three to four to use the descriptions in each step to design a visual algorithm that would be most helpful for addressing a workplace hazard.
- Learners will cut out the steps to physically move them around as they design. Emphasize that there is more than one reasonable way to organize the steps.
- Once all groups have completed their visual algorithms, invite learners to do a “walk-about” to compare how different groups organized the steps. Encourage them to notice similarities, differences, and alternative ways the steps might be sequenced or grouped. Ask learners to identify:
- one step they think is most critical for improving workplace safety, and
- one step they think could be revised, reordered, or combined with another step.
- Invite learners to briefly explain their thinking within their group or to a partner.
- If helpful, share the Visual Algorithm Sample and ask learners to compare it with their own design and with those of other groups. Encourage them to revise their visual algorithm if warranted and to offer constructive suggestions for improving the sample. Remind them to use the criteria to guide their thinking.
Applying the Visual Algorithm
- Slide 5 - Encourage learners to apply their selected workplace hazard to the visual algorithm they designed. Explain that learners will use scientific ideas as evidence to guide decisions at each step of their design process.
- If learners completed Risk to Resilience: Science-Driven Workplace Safety, ask them to refer back to their Scientific Ideas and Workplace Hazards worksheet and the science facts they identified as most helpful. Remind learners to use these scientific ideas as evidence as they work through each step of the algorithm.
- If learners did not complete this activity, provide the Scientific Ideas Briefing Sheets connected to the selected hazard. Ask learners to identify which scientific ideas are most helpful for understanding the hazard and reducing risk, and to use these ideas as evidence as they work through the algorithm.
- Encourage learners to work independently as they apply the hazard to the algorithm. As learners move through the steps, provide guidance in the form of questions or suggested alternatives, such as:
- Which scientific ideas are best informing this step?
- What evidence supports this decision?
- How does this step help reduce risk?
- Who might still be at risk with this design? Does this solution work equally well for people with different body sizes, strengths, abilities, or experiences?
- When learners reach the final step in the algorithm, provide materials (e.g., chart paper, recycled materials, modelling materials) and invite them to create a draft plan or a prototype that shows how their ideas could improve safety. Emphasize that this is an early design, not a finished product.
- Slide 6 - Once drafts or prototypes are complete, invite learners to pair up to share their work. Ask partners to provide feedback by identifying:
- two highlights (effective or interesting elements of the design) and
- two helpful suggestions for revisions or additions.
- Remind learners to use the criteria for a helpful visual algorithm as they explain and give feedback on their designs.
- Suggestions may focus on safety, clarity, or how well the design works for different users.
- Encourage learners to use this feedback to reflect on how effectively their design follows the steps in the visual algorithm and addresses the selected hazard.
- Invite learners to revise their draft or prototype based on peer feedback and their own reflection on how effectively their design improves workplace safety.
Modify or extend this activity
- If time permits, learners can revise their drafts or prototypes and create final products
- For some students, consider providing samples of current safety practices and invite students to add to or revise the current practice or device
Curriculum Fit
Chemistry 11, Physics 11, and ADST 10–12, particularly in applied science, safety, and design contexts.
Science for Citizens 11
Big Ideas
- Scientific knowledge and technological design influence human health, safety, and quality of life.
- Evidence-based reasoning supports informed decision-making about personal and community issues.
Content
- Application of scientific ideas to workplace safety challenges
- Consideration of risks, benefits, and limitations of safety strategies
- Use of structured processes to guide decision-making
- Awareness of how safety solutions may affect different people and situations
Supporting connections
- Forces, energy transfer, materials, electricity, systems, and human factors as they relate to workplace hazards
- Inclusive design considerations in safety planning
Curricular Competencies
Questioning and Predicting
- Ask questions to clarify how scientific ideas apply to workplace hazards and safety decisions.
Processing and Analyzing Data and Information
- Use scientific information and prior learning to support decisions within a design process.
- Identify cause-and-effect relationships related to workplace hazards and risk reduction.
Evaluating
- Use criteria and evidence to assess the effectiveness of safety strategies.
- Consider who may still be at risk and how designs may work differently for different users or situations.
Applying and Innovating
- Apply scientific ideas within a structured process to propose a draft plan or prototype that improves workplace safety.
- Transfer learning from earlier activities to a new, applied context.
Communicating
- Explain design decisions using appropriate scientific and safety-related language.
- Provide and respond to peer feedback focused on clarity, safety, and effectiveness.
Science 10
Big Ideas
- Scientific understanding can be applied to explain everyday phenomena and inform decisions.
Content
Supporting connections
- Forces, energy transfer, materials, electricity, systems, and human factors as they relate to workplace hazards
- Inclusive design considerations in safety planning
Curricular Competencies
Questioning and Predicting
- Ask questions to clarify how scientific ideas apply to workplace hazards and safety decisions.
Processing and Analyzing Data and Information
- Use scientific information and prior learning to support decisions within a design process.
- Identify cause-and-effect relationships related to workplace hazards and risk reduction.
Evaluating
- Use criteria and evidence to assess the effectiveness of safety strategies.
- Consider who may still be at risk and how designs may work differently for different users or situations.
Applying and Innovating
- Apply scientific ideas within a structured process to propose a draft plan or prototype that improves workplace safety.
- Transfer learning from earlier activities to a new, applied context.
Communicating
- Explain design decisions using appropriate scientific and safety-related language.
- Provide and respond to peer feedback focused on clarity, safety, and effectiveness.
Assessments
In this activity, opportunities for assessment in the form of guidance are built into the instructional practices.
- Use learners’ selection of a workplace hazard and their explanations to assess understanding of factors that contribute to workplace injuries and the relative importance of addressing particular hazards.
- Use the collaborative construction of a visual algorithm to assess learners’ understanding of a structured problem-management process and their ability to work collaboratively and productively with others.
- Use peer feedback and critique of drafts or prototypes to assess learners’ understanding of how science informs safer workplace design and their ability to communicate ideas clearly.
Teaching Notes
These teaching notes contain more information on the following topics:
- Selecting a design focus
- Designing for innovation
- Applying the visual algorithm
Selecting a Design Focus
If students have not engaged in Activity 1 or Activity 2, consider providing one or two briefing sheets from those lessons to ensure sufficient background knowledge.
Designing for Innovation
If the construction of the visual algorithm is taking too much time, provide students with a copy of the sample completed algorithm and move more quickly to applying the algorithm to their selected workplace hazard.
Applying the Visual Algorithm
Remind students that chemical, electrical, or mechanical hazards can involve varied approaches to increasing workplace safety, such as educating people about potential harm, motivating behavior change, redesigning workplace flow, modifying existing devices, or combining materials to create new solutions.
Inclusive design considers whether safety solutions work for all workers, not just some. For example, PPE, controls, signage, or workflows may be less effective if they are designed around a narrow range of body sizes, strengths, or abilities. Where appropriate, prompt learners to consider who a design might unintentionally exclude and how it could be adapted to reduce risk for more people.
Encourage learners to treat the criteria as tools they can reuse when designing, explaining, and giving feedback, not as a checklist to complete once.
Support student voice and agency by encouraging designing safety systems that support worker voice. Workplace safety should not depend solely on individuals speaking up. As learners design and apply their visual algorithms, encourage them to consider how safety systems, tools, or designs can reduce reliance on personal confidence, experience, or authority by making risks visible, actions safer, and concerns easier to communicate.
Career Connections
This activity supports the Career Life Education curriculum by helping students explore how workplace safety, well-being, and professional behavior connect to real-world careers.
Through this activity, students consider:
- Strategies for maintaining well-being in personal and work life, including attention to workplace safety
- Appropriate workplace behavior and workplace safety
- ways to contribute to community and society through work, taking cultural influences into consideration
Safety-Related Careers at BC Hydro
The concepts explored in this activity relate to a range of safety-focused and operational roles at BC Hydro, including:
- Occupational Health and Safety Advisor
- Safety Program Specialist
- Field Safety Officer
- Electrical Safety Officer
- Power System Operator
- Substation or Transmission Technician
- Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) Specialist
- Compliance and Risk Management Specialist
These careers involve identifying hazards, following safety procedures, protecting workers and communities, and supporting safe, reliable electricity delivery across British Columbia.
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