Safety performance framework at construction site for self-regulation by building developers

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud ◽  
Mohd Hamdan Ahmad ◽  
Yahya Mohd Yatim ◽  
Yakubu Aminu Dodo
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Response Feedback ◽  
Distinct Approach

PurposeThis study proposes a self-regulatory framework to enhance safety performance at the construction stage among building developers.Design/methodology/approachExtant literature identified 137 potential factors that influence the construction safety performances of building developers. Focus group discussions and interviews were conducted with 11 panels of experts and professionals. The Relative Importance Index (RII) was used to analyse the response feedback described in a similar paper. In this study, the survey tool used was set up with 40 variables grouped into eight latent variables in the framework, which were agreed and certified as “extremely important” by the panel. Based on random sampling, data were collected from 229 valid respondents. Structural equation modelling (SEM) technique using Smart PLS software was then used to analyse the respondent's feedback.FindingsThe results show that safety administration and processes, effective communication of safety behaviour, significantly influenced safety performance on a construction site with β values of 0.330 and 0.431 along with t values of 3.005 and 2.547 at p < 0.1, respectively. These factors, among others, provide a distinct approach to understanding and improving on-site construction safety. The study findings will potentially benefit building professionals and other stakeholders by improving awareness of safety practices.Research limitations/implicationsThe study may not have covered all possible factors that influence the construction safety performance of building developers. Also, the generalizability and transferability of the research outcome to the construction industry wide use is also limited when reference is made to the characteristics of the research respondents and/or participants. In addition, validation of the framework by five professionals is rather small.Practical implicationsTheoretically, the framework through the identified factors provide a distinct approach to understanding and improving on-site construction safety through voluntary adherence to self-regulatory standard where there are no enforceable laws and regulations to promote safety. The study findings will potentially benefit building professionals and other stakeholders by improving awareness of the health and safety practices of the construction industry.Originality/valueMany research efforts have developed frameworks and models for construction safety. However, the particularity of these frameworks to countries other than Nigeria requires similar research to be conducted to enhance the safety performance of building developers.

Is the construction site a safer place under the USACE or local government guidelines? The case of Afghanistan

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Hashim Ibrahimkhil ◽  
Laith Hadidi
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Infrastructure Projects ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to assess the safety level of construction sites in Afghanistan following the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) safety practices and compare this with other construction sites in Afghanistan that follow local government safety guidelines. The USACE oversees and funds many infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, and these projects are supposed to follow the same standards implemented in the USA, including safety standards. The local government of Afghanistan also funds infrastructure projects in Afghanistan; however, these do not follow USACE best practices. This research explores the question of whether the USACE standards provide a safer construction site. The effect of the USACE standards on safety practices in construction projects is also investigated in the Afghanistan construction industry.Design/methodology/approachA literature review and other safety checklists were used to develop a safety checklist containing 104 items (questions) in 17 categories. Subsequently, the checklist was used to assess the safety performance of 57 construction projects (25 USACE projects, and 32 governmental projects). Utilizing quantitative analysis, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient (Rho) and Mann–Whitney tests were carried out for correlation and statistical disparity between USACE and governmental projects.FindingsThe safety performance level of Afghan government projects was found to be poor in relation to other developing countries, while in USACE projects it was excellent. In addition, fire prevention, safety administration, PPE, heavy equipment, and handling and storage of materials for all types of contractors were the most overlooked aspects of Afghan Government projects.Practical implicationsThe findings clearly demonstrate the deficiencies in construction sites observed during this study and also support the adoption of USACE standards in Afghanistan projects.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the safety of construction sites in Afghanistan. The study also demonstrates the benefits of adopting international standards (USACE) to improve the safety of construction sites in a developing country such as Afghanistan. The findings provide evidence of the safety of the Afghanistan construction industry compared to other developing countries. These findings will contribute to the Afghan Government's efforts to track injury statistics.

Identification and ordering of safety performance indicators using fuzzy TOPSIS: a case study in Indian construction company

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arpit Singh ◽  
Subhas C. Misra ◽  
Vinod Kumar ◽  
Uma Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Fuzzy Topsis ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Safety Equipment ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Order Assignment ◽  
Topsis Technique

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose a practical framework to measure the safety performance of workers in the Indian construction industry. The key safety performance indicators are identified and ordered on the premise that the higher order assignment of an indicator implies a strong indication of an effective safety performance.Design/methodology/approachVarious indicators of safety performance in the construction industry were identified from extant literature review combined with author's personal viewpoint. The identified variables were inquired for appropriateness for the Indian construction scenario by consultation with experts. Fuzzy Technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) technique was considered for the ranking of the indicators from most to least important.FindingsThe most important highlight of the study was the importance of the role of management by participating in informing workers about the safety rules and compliance toward safety measures. Proper and timely safety training to the workers and equipping them with sophisticated safety equipment for daily activities is perceived to be highly important in ensuring a safe and healthy workplace environment. Controlling the absenteeism rate reduces the burden of extra work on the employees, thereby, encouraging safe work-related behavior.Originality/valueSenior management should make safety induction programs compulsory at the time of joining of the employees. The guidelines for safety practices, rules and information about the safety equipment should be properly documented and arranged in safety manuals. Periodical drills involving visual demonstration of the safety practices should be followed to ensure safety at workplace.

Managerial implications for construction practices as a consequence of using a psychological contract of safety

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Tanvi Newaz ◽  
Marcus Jefferies ◽  
Peter Rex Davis ◽  
Manikam Pillay
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Psychological Contract ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Discriminant Validity ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Quantitative Methodology ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Content Type

PurposeDespite many studies that aim to argue, develop and position the concept of psychological contracts, few have explored how a psychological contract may be applied to safety in the construction industry. A psychological contract of safety (PCS) describes an individual's conceptualized belief that relates to mutual safety obligations, drawn from explicit or implicit promises of associated workers or its supervisor. This study investigates safety practices on construction sites through the lens of the widely applied and researched psychological contract theory emanating from a business paradigm.Design/methodology/approachThe process of validating a PCS scale within the construction industry required the collection of data from a mega-construction project in Sydney, Australia. A quantitative methodology was used to collect data from 352 construction workers through a survey instrument designed to reveal their perception of procedures, policies and practices. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to ensure data reliability and data validity of the survey findings together with goodness of fit of PCS model.FindingsThe findings showed the presence of a PCS in a construction safety setting examined. A two-factor model underlying aspects, namely employer and employee obligations was recommended since the four-factor model, including relational and transactional components of both parties' safety obligations, could not be validated due to the discriminant validity associated with the particular constructs.Originality/valueConceptualizing the extant PC theory as a framework from which to leverage safety management initiatives brings a new approach to construction safety studies, revealing the influential role of supervisors in interpreting safety practices. The research aimed to identify safety obligations, which are influential in the development of PSC scale, further the research provides an explanation as to how a PCS may be contextualized in the construction industry.

scholarly journals Applications of drones for safety inspection in the Gulf Cooperation Council construction

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tariq Umar
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Industrial Sectors ◽  
Safety Improvement ◽  
Semistructured Interviews ◽  
Important Barrier ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Purposeconstruction industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries is at the peak as the region is in the stage of developing its infrastructures. Apart from some positive sign of this boost, several other issues have also been developed in the region. One of such issues is the safety of workers at the construction sites. This article, based on a variety of applications of drones in other industrial sectors, considers the use of drones for construction safety improvement in the GCC countries. This article aimed to investigate the safety-related applications of drones considering technical features and barriers and enablers for safety-related tasks.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research approach using both qualitative and quantitative methods was adopted to achieve the aims and objectives of this research. Data were collected through a systematic literature review, semistructured interviews and using a structured questionnaire. A total of 37 relevant research items and 10 interviews were held with construction safety professionals, and 92 responses collected from the safety managers through a structured questionnaire was used to derive the conclusion of this research. The collected data were processed and analyzed using the Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) program. Descriptive analyses were carried out in which means and importance factors were calculated.Findings25.92% of participants confirmed that they or their company had used the drone in different activates. The most common application of drones reported by the respondents was photography for marketing purposes followed by surveying application and quality inspections. The camera movability was the top-rated technical feature required for safety-related inspections. Similarly, “Working near the corner or edge of unprotected opening” was the top-rated application of drone for safety-related tasks. The safety concerns of using drones at job sites were rated as the most important barrier by the participants. Technical challenges associated with the use of drones for safety improvement was rated as the second most important barrier by the participants.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough, the research presented in this article is based on the GCC construction industry, however, since the data collected through systematic review and semistructured interviews are not a regional base, therefore the finding of this research could also be useful in other regions. Further research however, needs to be conducted to reduce the implications of the barriers identified in this paper so that the drone can be effectively used for safety improvement in construction not only in the GCC region but also in other countries.Practical implicationsOnce the GCC construction industry will be able to overcome the challenges associated with the application of drones in safety improvement, the safety managers will be able to monitor the site more effectively which could be helpful to improve the safety performance of the construction organization.Social implicationsImproved safety performance in not only in the greater interest of the construction organizations as they can reduce the costs associated with poor safety but can also avoid the delay caused by construction accidents. Similarly, improved safety performance reduces the accidents at construction sites, and thus reduces injuries and disabilities caused by such accidents, making the construction workers a useful part of the society. The application of drones in safety-related tasks is one of the key solutions that can lead us to improved safety performance.Originality/valueAlthough, the use of drone technology has revolutionized a number of industrial sectors due to its variety of applications, the application in construction particularly in the GCC region is still very limited. As noted in the results of this research, only 21 participants (25.92%) expressed that they or their company had used the drone in different activates. This means that the industry is not getting the full advantage of the available drone technology. The results of this research will enable construction industry stakeholders to know the challenges associated with the application of drones for safety improvement and to develop strategies to overcome these challenges.

Interactive effects of leader justice and support for safety on safety performance

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Kaufman and ◽  
Konstantin P. Cigularov ◽  
Peter Chen ◽  
Krista Hoffmeister ◽  
Alyssa M. Gibbons ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Justice ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fair Treatment ◽  
Leader Support ◽  
Safety Interventions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the main and interactive effects of general and safety-specific leader justice (SSLJ) (i.e. fair treatment) and leader support for safety (LSS) on safety performance. Design/methodology/approach – Two independent samples of construction workers rate their leaders with regards to fair treatment and support for safety and report their own safety performance in a survey. Findings – In both studies, LSS significantly moderated relationships of both general and SSLJ with safety performance. In Study 1, the strength of relationship between general leader justice and safety performance increases while LSS is increased. Similar pattern was found for the relationship between SSLJ and safety performance in Study 2. Practical implications – Safety interventions targeting leadership should consider training for leader safety practices that are perceived as supportive and fair. Originality/value – The research is unique in its examination of leader justice in a safety-specific context and its interactive effects with LSS on safety performance. The present research helps to extend the reach of organizational justice theory's nomological network to include safety.

scholarly journals Investigating the Relationships between Safety Climate and Safety Performance Indicators in Retrofitting Works

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Alaa Nadhim ◽  
Carol K.H. Hon ◽  
Bo Xia ◽  
Ian Stewart ◽  
Dongping Fang
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Latent Variables ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Safety Climate ◽  
Structural Model ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
The Relationship

Retrofitting works has become increasingly important in the construction industry, as it plays an effective role in providing solutions to maintain, upgrade or change the functions to the existing or aged buildings. Very often, safety issues of retrofitting works are underestimated because there may be unreported accidents in small projects and there is no separate classification of accident statistics for the retrofitting works within the construction industry. As safety climate is widely regarded as a contributing factor to safety performance, the aim of this research was to examine the relationship between safety climate and safety performance in retrofitting works context. The safety climate questionnaire NOSACQ-50 has been employed to measure safety climate in retrofitting works. Field patrols were undertaken to distribute the safety questionnaires to the local worksites that undertake retrofits in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. 264 valid questionnaires were collected. SEM was employed to examine the existence and strength of the relationship between safety climate and safety performance. PLS-SEM was utilised to estimate the parameters of the structural model. The model has exposed a positive relationship between safety climate and safety performance in retrofitting context. This research was the first to examine the relationship between the second order latent variables. A positive relationship (0.60 with 36 percent of explained variance) was found between safety climate and safety performance.

scholarly journals Variety of Accident Causes in Construction Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 02006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idris Othman ◽  
Rafe Majid ◽  
Hisham Mohamad ◽  
Nasir Shafiq ◽  
Madzlan Napiah
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
The World ◽  
Entire World ◽  
Construction Works

Construction Industry is a high risk industry and widely recognised as one of most hazardous occupation in the world. The statistic of accidents in Malaysia give us a picture that Malaysian construction industry is one of the dangerous sectors that need a drastic overhaul from the current site safety practices. This paper describes a review of the accident causes occurred in construction site by various researchers during the last twenty (20) years. This paper discusses the accident causes in Malaysia construction works and entire world. The data collected shows that variety of accident causes in construction industry either in Malaysia or other country.

scholarly journals The New Path to Improve Construction Safety Performance in China: An Evolutionary Game Theoretic Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (13) ◽  
pp. 2443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pi ◽  
Gao ◽  
Chen ◽  
Liu
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Evolutionary Game ◽  
Safety Information ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Theoretic Approach ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Evolutionarily Stable Strategies

Evidence shows that there are many work-related accidents and injuries happening in construction projects and governments have taken a series of administrative measures to reduce casualties in recent years. However, traditional approaches have reached a bottleneck due to ignoring market forces, and thus new measures should be conducted. This study develops a perspective of safety performance (SP) for construction projects in China and puts forward a conception of the safety information system by using several brainstorming sessions to strengthen the safety supervision of participants in the construction industry. This system provides rating information to the public, and bad performance contractors enter into a blacklist which will influence their economic activities. Considering the limited rationality of government and various contractors, this paper builds a reasonable evolutionary game model to verify the feasibility of the safety information system. The analysis results show that there is not a single set of evolutionarily stable strategies (ESSs), as different situations may lead to different ESSs. The efficiency of applying the safety information system (the blacklist) in the construction industry can be proved by reducing the government’s safety supervision cost and by enhancing construction safety at the same time.

scholarly journals An Effective Safety Handling System for Construction Industry in Kerala

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 3968-3972
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Construction Safety Management ◽  
Construction Works

The construction industry plays a prominent part in the progress of a country socially and economically. Nowadays construction industry has grown profit driven and the management focuses more on completing the projects on time neglecting safety of the workers. Construction works involving intricate works leading to accidents or injuries resulting in loss of life and body parts are rampant. So a proper safety management system is required to avoid accidents and improve safety at construction sites. Factors affecting safety at construction workplaces were identified and was surveyed through a quantitative questionnaire and analysed to form a basis for the total construction safety management model. The Total Construction Safety Management (TCSM) based on the PDCA modelling is proposed to improve safety at construction sites. This model can act as a guide to the present organizations and helps them to implement safety in quicker manner at construction site.

Planning, management and administration of HS contents with BIM and VR in construction: an implementation protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vito Getuli ◽  
Pietro Capone ◽  
Alessandro Bruttini
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Safety Training ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vr Training ◽  
Training Protocol

PurposeBuilding construction is considered a complex, dynamic and highly hazardous process, which embraces many factors that are potentially dangerous to workers. Many studies proved that the improvement of preventive and proactive measures – dynamically included in the building design, planning and construction – could reduce site accidents as well as increase the site productivity. In this context, process management models and information visualization techniques such as building information modeling (BIM) and virtual reality (VR) seem to be devoted to strongly contribute to the advancement of the current safety management practices. For these reasons, the presented contribution is based on the assumption that a more nuanced approach for construction worker's safety training is warranted and the authors propose a safety training protocol based on BIM-enabled VR activity simulations.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology comprised a safety training protocol based on BIM-enabled VR activity simulations. The protocol addresses three methodological issues: (1) Planning in terms of training typologies and related health and safety contents to be implemented in the VR construction site scenarios; (2) Management regarding the solution to integrate BIM and game technologies to deliver VR training experiences; (3) Administration in terms of definition of standardized rules to define a safety training schedule in a given construction project.FindingsThis work contributes to provide a standardized protocol for a viable integration of BIM and VR technologies for construction safety training in real projects.Practical implicationsThe VR training protocol was applied to a construction project based in Italy that served as case study for the development of the training sessions' contents and their implementation. This case demonstrated the feasibility of the protocol's implementation and pointed out the drawbacks and limitations on which further efforts need to be spent in order to take the proposed protocol from a prototypical stage to a maturity for its larger-scale adoption from the practitioners involved in construction safety training.Originality/valueThe research gives a contribution to reduce the currently existing knowledge gap regarding how BIM and VR can be simultaneously integrated in real projects for construction safety training by using standardized rules to be extensively reproduced in different construction projects. It uses a customized toolkit with a mobile smartphone solution to administer Safety Training Scenarios which increases its portability in construction site compared to PC-based VR solutions.

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