Incorporating Facility System Safety and Green Design

U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Safety Office
Published July 28, 2014
The Bassett Army Hospital facility manager spent $125,000 to install reels for accessing the ballasts in the lobby for future servicing of the lights, which are approximately 92 feet from the ground level. If reels had been designed in the conceptual phase and installed during construction, the cost would have been an estimated $25,000 - a savings of $100,000.

The Bassett Army Hospital facility manager spent $125,000 to install reels for accessing the ballasts in the lobby for future servicing of the lights, which are approximately 92 feet from the ground level. If reels had been designed in the conceptual phase and installed during construction, the cost would have been an estimated $25,000 - a savings of $100,000.

The Facility Systems Safety (FASS) program is designed to incorporate system safety into the facility design process.

The FASS process is used in the conceptual phase, planning stages, construction of facilities, and facility reduction (demolition) to examine the specifics of the hazards involved, the level of risk and the potential effectiveness of existing codes and standards, as prescribed in Military Standard 882E Standard Practice System Safety, AR 385-10 Army Safety Program, and DA Pam 385-16 System Safety Engineering and Management.

Following this discovery and analysis process, a decision is made to eliminate or reduce the risk through the use of controls set forth in codes and standards and specially designed controls. The FASS program has been structured to guide designers toward elimination and control of hazards during criteria development and design of facilities.

Over the last decade the terms LEED and green building have moved to the forefront with regard to new building construction. Green design priorities measure the performance in key areas such as sustainability, water and energy

efficiency, materials, indoor air quality, etc. Sometimes the same green initiatives that benefit the environment can unintentionally produce safety risks – especially to maintenance operations. Therefore, it is essential that facility system safety requirements be defined at the earliest possible time and can vary from project to project in scope and complexity. In other words, the system safety requirements must be tailored to a specific project and the effort expended should be commensurate with the degree of risk involved.

As an example, the facility manager at Bassett Army Hospital on Fort Wainwright, Alaska, spent $125,000 to install reels for accessing the light ballasts in the lobby for future servicing of the lights, which are approximately 92 feet from the ground level. If reels had been designed in the conceptual phase and installed during construction, the cost would have been an estimated $25,000 - a savings of $100,000.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the development and the implementation of the Facility System Safety Program Plan (SSPP). The purpose of the Facility SSPP is to tailor the designer’s plan for conducting the system safety process for a specific project from the concept design phase to the acceptance of the completed facility. The plan describes in detail how each applicable element of FASS is to be implemented. Each Facility SSPP will address the proposed approach to the requirement, the content, and format of the deliverables, and indicate the level of effort for each area. Each Facility SSPP will be an individually tailored approach based on the contract-specified requirements, the anticipated hazards, and the level of risk involved with the facility in question.

The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, is a Technical Center of Expertise for Facility System Safety for the Army.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2014 issue of the CP-12 Bulletin, the professional bulletin of Army Career Program 12, Safety and Occupational Health.