This work presents the results of a case study and describes an important area within the field of construction safety management, namely behavior-based safety (BBS). This paper adopts and develops a ...management approach for safety improvements in construction site environments. A rigorous behavioral safety system and its intervention program was implemented and deployed on target construction sites. After taking a few weeks of safety behavior measurements, the project management team implemented the designed intervention and measurements were taken. Goal-setting sessions were arranged on-site with workers' participation to set realistic and attainable targets of performance. Safety performance measurements continued and the levels of performance and the targets were presented on feedback charts. Supervisors were asked to give workers recognition and praise when they acted safely or improved critical behaviors. Observers were requested to have discussions with workers, visit the site, distribute training materials to workers, and provide feedback to crews and display charts. They were required to talk to operatives in the presence of line managers. It was necessary to develop awareness and understanding of what was being measured. In the process, operatives learned how to act safely when conducting site tasks using the designed checklists. Current weekly scores were discussed in the weekly safety meetings and other operational site meetings with emphasis on how to achieve set targets. The reliability of the safety performance measures taken by the company's observers was monitored. A clear increase in safety performance level was achieved across all categories: personal protective equipment; housekeeping; access to heights; plant and equipment, and scaffolding. The research reveals that scores of safety performance at one project improved from 86% (at the end of 3rd week) to 92.9% during the 9th week. The results of intervention demonstrated large decreases in unsafe behaviors and significant increases in safe behaviors. The results of this case study showed that an approach based on goal setting, feedback, and an effective measure of safety behavior if properly applied by committed management, can improve safety performance significantly in construction site environments. The results proved that the BBS management technique can be applied to any country's culture, showing that it would be a good approach for improving the safety of front-line workers and that it has industry wide application for ongoing construction projects.
This paper reviews the literature on safety culture, placing particular focus on research undertaken from 1998 onwards. The term
culture is clarified as it is typically applied to organizations, to ...safety, and particularly to construction safety. Some clarification in terms of positive safety culture, safety culture models, levels of aggregation and safety performance is provided by presenting appropriate empirical evidence and its theoretical developments. In general, safety culture is thought to influence employees’ attitudes and behavior in relation to an organization’s ongoing health and safety performance. Implications for future research in the area are addressed, as in recent years safety culture has become the focus of much attention in all industries, including the construction industry.
This work discusses empirical research aimed at why construction workers engage in unsafe behavior. Interviews were conducted in Hong Kong with workers who had been accident victims. Both Chinese and ...non-Chinese operatives recorded their safety experiences when working on construction sites. Participants’ information such as age, experience and work environment was documented. Seven individual accidents and resulting injuries as reported by the injured operatives are described. Work-in-progress is briefly reported in an attempt to acquire and disseminate knowledge as to why operatives performed work in an unsafe behavior at construction sites. In-depth semi-structured interviews provided a rich data base allowing a grounded theory approach to be adopted to identify emerging themes during data analysis. The findings indicated that workers were involved in unsafe behavior because of: a lack of safety awareness; to exhibit of being ‘tough guys’; work pressure; co-workers’ attitudes; and other organizational, economic and psychological factors. The results substantiate the significant role of management; safety procedure; psychological and economic factors; self-esteem; experience; performance pressure; job security; and education as well as safety orientation and training. The influences of these factors on the safety behavior of workers are discussed along with implications of the research for management of the construction industry.
Risk management in construction projects Iqbal, Shahid; Choudhry, Rafiq M.; Holschemacher, Klaus ...
Technological and economic development of economy,
01/2015, Letnik:
21, Številka:
1
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Risk management is an important field of construction industry and has gained more importance internationally due to the latest researches carried out on a large scale. However, this relatively new ...field requires more attention to bring some benefit. Construction projects are facing a number of risks which have negative effects on project objects such as time, cost and quality. This study is based on findings of a questionnaire-based survey on risk management in construction projects in Pakistan, reporting the significance of different type of risk, ultimate responsibility for them and the effectiveness of some most common risk management techniques practiced in the industry. Two types of risk management techniques were considered: preventive techniques which can be used before the start of a project to manage risks that are anticipated during the project execution; and remedial techniques that are used during the execution phase once a risk has already occurred. The study revealed that financial issues for projects, accidents on site and defective design are the most significant risks affecting most of construction projects. As further reported, the contractor is responsible for management of most risks occurring at sites during the implementation phase, such as issues related to subcontractors, labour, machinery, availability of materials and quality, while the client is responsible for the risks such as financial issues, issues related to design documents, changes in codes and regulations, and scope of work. Further reported results of the analysis demonstrate that the production of proper schedule by getting updated data of the project and guidance from previous similar projects are the most effective preventive risk management techniques while close supervision and coordination within projects are the most effective remedial risk management techniques. It may be concluded that the most significant risks must be managed with greater effort to reduce/eliminate their effects on the project. As the study concludes, preparation of a proper schedule and good coordination during the implementation stage are very important as they may help project managers to focus on critical areas for better management of projects in Pakistan.
AbstractRisk management is a relatively new field in the construction industry of Pakistan, but it is gradually gaining prominence because of increased construction activity and competitiveness. This ...is an empirical survey-based study of risk management in the construction industry of Pakistan. It reports the findings of the importance of risks, their current management techniques, the existing status of risk management systems of the organizations, and barriers to effective risk management from the perspective of key stakeholders. The analysis of the results reveals that financial and economic factors, followed by quality, are the most important risks, and the industry generally tries to avoid or transfer these risks. Results indicated that the risk management system and practices of most of the organizations are reactive, semipermanent, informal, and unstructured with nonexistent and limited committed resources to deal with risks. Nonetheless, the results of interviews indicate that there is awareness about risk management and a desire to learn from past mistakes. The study concludes that the major barriers to effective risk management are the lack of a formal risk management system and the lack of a mechanism for joint risk management by the parties. Insights and discussions are given in the analysis, which are valuable to planners, project managers, supervisors, and other stakeholders. Finally, this work can be used in exploring mechanisms for joint risk management by prospective stakeholders.
Safety management is important throughout the world specifically on building projects, which are prone to accidents due to their unique operations, dynamic and ever-changing nature. In every country, ...contractors implement safety management systems (SMSs) to avoid accidents and comply with applicable laws, regulations and to provide safe work environments for their workers. Nonetheless, accidents still happen on many building projects in the country. The objective of this work is to measure safety management as perceived on building projects by employing a proactive approach in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to improve site safety. A survey instrument is utilized to gather data from building projects. Another questionnaire is used to conduct interviews with the key managers on the same projects. Analysis of the questionnaire survey is performed after entering the data into SPSS software by applying factor analysis and multiple linear regression. Factor analysis extracted two significant factors, including “management commitment, employee involvement, and safety training”—factor 1, and “project safety plan, safety committee, and safe use of equipment”—factor 2, which proactively measure the implementation of safety management on the building projects. The safety model obtained by multiple regression analysis identifies two significant contributors to the performance of the SMS. Analysis of the interviews complemented and validated the results of the questionnaire survey. The findings provide in-depth understanding of proactively measuring safety management on building projects for the construction industry practitioners to make project sites safer.
Measuring Safety Climate of a Construction Company Choudhry, Rafiq M; Fang, Dongping; Lingard, Helen
Journal of construction engineering and management,
09/2009, Letnik:
135, Številka:
9
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Safety climate can benefit contractors, specialty contractors, and owners of industries by providing them with the knowledge of attitudes and perceptions that can help to consistently achieve better ...safety performance. The objective of this research was to determine safety climate that would enhance safety culture and positively impact perceived safety performance on construction projects. A safety climate questionnaire survey was conducted on the construction sites of a leading construction company and its subcontractors in Hong Kong. Approximately, 1,500 hard copy questionnaires were distributed and the response rate was excellent, resulting in 1,120 valid questionnaires being collected from 22 construction projects. By means of factor analysis, two underlying safety climate factors were extracted, accounting for 43.9% of the total variance. Multiple regression analysis confirmed that these climate factors, “management commitment and employee involvement” and “inappropriate safety procedure and work practices” were significant predictors of workers’ perceptions of safety performance. The findings indicated that the relationship between perceived safety performance and “inappropriate safety procedure and work practices” was inversely correlated. The results suggest that safety climate can be used as an effective measure of assessing and improving site safety for projects under construction. The findings of this study and the methodology might be useful for research at other construction sites in other regions and countries. This work provides useful information for project managers and safety practitioners who desire to improve safety climate and safety performance on construction sites.
One in every five occupational deaths occurs in the construction sector. A proactive approach for improving on-site safety is identifying and analyzing accident precursors, such as near-misses, that ...provide early warnings of accidents. Despite the importance of near-misses, they are frequently left unreported and unrecorded in the construction sector. The adoption of modern technologies can prevent accidents by automated data collection and analysis. This study aims to develop near-miss detection metrics to facilitate the automated detection of near-misses through sensors. The study adopted a mixed method approach including both qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, a quantifiable definition of near-misses was developed from the literature. Hazards, accidents, and the causes of accidents were identified. Through empirical and statistical analyses of accidents from the OSHA repository, combinations of unsafe acts and conditions responsible for a near-miss were identified. The identified factors were analyzed using a frequency analysis, correlation, and a lambda analysis. The results revealed twelve significant near-misses, such as A1—approach to restricted areas and C2—unguarded floor/roof openings, A5—equipment and tool inspection was incomplete and C8—unsafely positioned ladders and scaffolds, A2—no or improper use of PPE and C2—unguarded floor or roof openings, etc. Lastly, measurable data required by sensors for autonomous detection of near-misses were determined. The developed metric set the basis for automating near-miss reporting and documentation using modern sensing technology to improve construction safety. This study contributes to improving construction safety by addressing the underreporting of near-miss events. Overall, the developed metrics lay the groundwork for enhancing construction safety through automated near-miss reporting and documentation. Furthermore, it helps for the establishment of safety management schemes in the construction industry, specifically in identifying near-misses. This research offers valuable insight into developing guidelines for safety managers to improve near-miss reporting and detection on construction sites. In sum, the findings can be valuable for other industries also looking to establish or assess their own safety management systems.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a capacity building project on construction health and safety that is recently completed in Pakistan. The major objectives of this ...project are: first, to benchmark the current state of construction health and safety practices in Pakistan and to identify the data needs for continuous performance measurement; second, to develop health and safety guidelines; third, to develop adequate educational and training material; and finally, to improve the existing regulatory infrastructure for worker health and safety. Design/methodology/approach – Mixed-methods approach is adopted for data collection which included site observations, surveys, semi-structured interviews, and case studies. The methodology consists of following major tasks: first, literature review and study of best practices; second, investigation of existing safety practices and development of guidelines; third, educational and training programs for construction professionals and educators; and finally, development of a strategic framework for continuous improvement in construction safety culture, laws, and practices. Collected data were analyzed using various qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods. Findings – The enforcement of health and safety regulations on construction sites is very limited in Pakistan. Procedures for formulating, implementing, and monitoring safety rules and regulations are weak, and the implementation of safety management systems does not occur on most construction sites. The paper presents a detailed plan to improve the health and safety culture, laws, and practices in Pakistan. Practical/implications – Detailed proposals for improving existing construction health and safety laws and regulations are prepared for relevant regulatory and statutory bodies and ministries in Pakistan. From an educational perspective, comprehensive health and safety training material are developed and training workshops are conducted in major cities of Pakistan. Over 1,000 construction professionals benefited from these workshops. Social/implications – The project helped in raising awareness about construction health and safety in Pakistan. Originality/value – The project benchmarked existing health and safety practices in Pakistan. It identified data needs for continuous monitoring of health and safety performance and provided a mechanism for collecting such data. The project produced international standard health and safety training material that can fulfill the local needs. The project deliverables are extremely helpful for other developing countries in the region.
AbstractSubcontracting on construction projects is a common and well-established practice. Contractors enlist the services of subcontractors to achieve certain objectives, including obtaining cost ...reductions, securing access to specialized services, and risk sharing. Nonetheless, subcontracting on a project can introduce certain associated problems that can affect construction management and construction quality. This research explored exclusively the subcontracting practices in the construction industry of Pakistan, identified the main problem areas, examined the overall satisfaction with the quality of service provided by subcontractors, and focused on ways to improve the quality of construction affected by subcontracting. A questionnaire survey was conducted to investigate the extent and involvement of construction firms in subcontracting, reasons for subcontracting, and the selection criteria of subcontractors. Additionally, interviews were conducted with researchers, professionals, and experts in the industry. The results reveal the widespread use of subcontracting and sub-subcontracting in the construction industry, primarily done to save time and money. Results show that the substandard quality of work of subcontractors is the main problem area. Conversely, the use of direct labor was found to be an unprofitable proposition because of the high degree of uncertainty, fluctuations in construction workload, and higher administrative overhead costs. Results show that 53% of the respondents are satisfied with their current subcontracting experiences, whereas 47% of the respondents want positive changes to be made in subcontracting arrangements. To rectify flaws in the existing subcontracting system, the following remedies were noted: (1) reduce the number of layers or tiers of subcontracting to effectively manage the communication gap between prime contractor and subcontractor; (2) establish mandatory subcontractor registration, prequalification, and performance evaluations; (3) adopt a standardized form of contract between contractors and subcontractors; and (4) develop the infrastructure for the technical training of subcontractors to improve construction quality. Further insights and discussion are presented in the paper. The findings of this research will help subcontractors to improve their performance and assist stakeholders in the successful execution of a quality project through the judicious employment of subcontractors.
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