Back in early 2009, USA Today cited a interesting study published in New England Journal of Medicine. This study found that using a checklist during surgery reduced the number of deaths by more than 40 percent. It further said that if all hospitals used the same checklist, they could save tens of thousands of lives and $20 billion in medical costs.
The checklist has nothing to do with high tech procedures, instead, it focuses on basic safety measures and only covers 19 points out of hundreds of steps.
The beauty of it: it only takes two minutes to go through this checklist!
This article re-affirms my belief about how crucial it is to do a design checklist on every project. As an engineer I am not at the same level in terms of pay or precision as that of a surgeon, but, I can argue, many lives depend on the soundness of my work.
I have to admit that I, more often than not, so focus in analysis and problem solving that I forget, or have no time, to do basic but essential detailing and checking.
Simple check such as "Did I specify control joints and corner reinforcing in the concrete walls ?", or, "Have all header beams been checked for the loads coming from above?" are easy to remember but many of us are not good at remembering all of them all the time.
We already know that a project's success or failure often hinges on this kind of simple check, not on the brilliance of a high powered design. Missing simple details and notes often lead to confusions, construction delay, and, worse, structural problems that are costly to fix and increase our exposure to litigation.
The study also says checklist can be simple and short. Longer may be even better in my opinion. My checklist, which was originally developed from ACEC/CASE quality control checklist, only takes a maximum of twenty minutes to complete and covers three primary areas: plan and details , designs and calculations.
I do hesitate sometimes to complete and "submit" to my checklist, especially when deadline looms near and there is not a moment to waste. But, skipping it is not really an option either given its benefits.
I would say it is twenty minutes well spent. And, my clients deserve that.
The checklist has nothing to do with high tech procedures, instead, it focuses on basic safety measures and only covers 19 points out of hundreds of steps.
The beauty of it: it only takes two minutes to go through this checklist!
This article re-affirms my belief about how crucial it is to do a design checklist on every project. As an engineer I am not at the same level in terms of pay or precision as that of a surgeon, but, I can argue, many lives depend on the soundness of my work.
I have to admit that I, more often than not, so focus in analysis and problem solving that I forget, or have no time, to do basic but essential detailing and checking.
Simple check such as "Did I specify control joints and corner reinforcing in the concrete walls ?", or, "Have all header beams been checked for the loads coming from above?" are easy to remember but many of us are not good at remembering all of them all the time.
We already know that a project's success or failure often hinges on this kind of simple check, not on the brilliance of a high powered design. Missing simple details and notes often lead to confusions, construction delay, and, worse, structural problems that are costly to fix and increase our exposure to litigation.
The study also says checklist can be simple and short. Longer may be even better in my opinion. My checklist, which was originally developed from ACEC/CASE quality control checklist, only takes a maximum of twenty minutes to complete and covers three primary areas: plan and details , designs and calculations.
I do hesitate sometimes to complete and "submit" to my checklist, especially when deadline looms near and there is not a moment to waste. But, skipping it is not really an option either given its benefits.
I would say it is twenty minutes well spent. And, my clients deserve that.
