The health, safety, and welfare (HSW) of building users is generally assumed to be among the highest of priorities for every design project. Unfortunately, over the years, design educators and practitioners have had few factual and theoretical tools to transform this professional goal into reality. This paper addresses a partial solution to this shortcoming. First, it reviews a simple theoretical framework for defining relationships between public HSW and the designed environment, one emphasizing the potential “threats” posed by “components” of the built environment. It then cites and summarizes key literature related to each category of HSW threats. This combination of a fundamental body of literature and a theoretical framework with which to organize and act upon it should be an important contribution to enhanced HSW accountability in design.
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