The concept of “safety by design” employs a logical approach to avoid problems that beset the modern operating room.

Just a few examples are:

• If there are no wires on the floor, no one will trip over them, or inadvertently disconnect equipment to disrupt the surgeon’s activities
• If there is no X-ray box in the room, then an X-ray cannot be put up backwards, and wrong site surgery events can be avoided by the surgical staff
• If there is nothing hanging from the ceiling, then line-of site will never be interfered with
• If there is nothing hanging from the ceiling, then the opportunities for break of scrub and inadvertent loss of sterility are avoided
• If the circulating nurse never has to leave the room to search for equipment, then the surgeon will always have help when a complication occurs or worsens
• If locating equipment is instantaneous, then delay-of-case complications can be avoided
• If the room can be sterilized, then concerns for infestation of surfaces by superbugs can be eliminated

“Safety by design” builds automatic excellence into the infrastructure of the operating room, so that surgical staff is freed to concentrate on the problem at hand. Safety by design is utilized in the aerospace and airline industries intensively, as well in automotive and industrial design. Optimus believes that it is time for the healthcare industry to emulate these principles as well, for the benefit and well being of both patients and staff.