Weighted responsibility in occupational safety management in the construction industry—case study

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was carried out to develop appropriate questionnaire items as research instruments. This study has developed and certified the instruments of safety management commitment and safety administration through the EFA study. It is applied in the context of occupational safety and health management (OSH) of construction industry. This study was divided into two constructs namely Safety Management Commitment (SMC) and Safety Administration (SA) to measure safety attitude. Safety administration construct was measured by safety programs and safety monitoring. Whereas, safety management commitment construct was measured by safety planning and safety management. This study was conducted to evaluate the contractor’s safety management attitude to the safety culture at the construction site. About 100 respondents were selected through simple random sampling to fill out the survey. Based on the reliability test, this study has set an instrument consist of eight items to develop two components for the construct of safety management commitment. While, for the construct of safety administration consist of six items for two components. This setting is based on the internal reliability value (Alpha Cronbach) for measurement of the instrument. The procedure is described in detail to carry out an EFA analysis to develop the instrument’s construct of SMC and SA. For the future, researchers can develop a study by applying instruments thoroughly in various fields of research. Keywords: Safety management commitment, safety administration, occupational safety, construction industry

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Safety concerns in China’s construction industry

Proceedings of Petersburg Transport University ◽

10.20295/1815-588x-2021-1-143-152 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 143-152

Author(s):

Tang Zhongsheng ◽

Keyword(s):

Organizational Structure ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Management ◽

Residential Buildings ◽

Practical Importance ◽

Method Comparison ◽

Residential Building ◽

Construction Safety ◽

Construction Site

Objective: To study the main problems of labor process safety in the construction industry drawing on the example of the construction of residential buildings. To identify the main factors affecting the construction safety conditions. To propose a new organizational structure for workforce to improve safety management at the construction site. Methods: Analysis, synthesis, statistical method, comparison method, and legal analysis method were applied. Results: It has been established that the growth rate of China’s construction sector surpasses its regulatory framework, which needs to be changed as soon as possible. The state needs to make a concerted effort to unify labor safety standards at construction sites. Five factors were identiﬁed that affect the safety conditions during the construction of a residential building: human, construction equipment, environment, construction management and technical. As a result of the study, a new organizational structure for the working personnel has been proposed, based on strengthening supervision both by the management and among the workers in order to change safety conditions management at the construction site. A detailed analysis of the incidents that occurred in 2018 made it possible to identify the most frequent accidents related to construction safety, as well as their types. Construction failures are mainly attributed to management rather than technical aspects. Practical importance: The results obtained can become the basis for further research on occupational safety in China’s construction industry, training and lecture materials. The proposed organizational structure of the working personnel will enable construction companies to carry out construction projects most efﬁciently while observing all labor protection standards. It is necessary to update the legal framework in the ﬁeld of working conditions safety.

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BARRIERS TO THE ADOPTION OF NEW SAFETY TECHNOLOGIES IN CONSTRUCTION: A DEVELOPING COUNTRY CONTEXT

Journal of Civil Engineering and Management ◽

10.3846/jcem.2022.16014 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 120-133

Author(s):

Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap ◽

Canwin Guan Ying Lam ◽

Martin Skitmore ◽

Nima Talebian

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Safety Culture ◽

Data Security ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

New Technologies ◽

Safety Management ◽

Safety And Health ◽

Construction Safety Management ◽

Technological Limitations

The adoption rate of new technologies is still relatively low in the construction industry, particularly for mitigating occupational safety and health (OSH) risks, which is traditionally a largely labor-intensive activity in developing countries, occupying ill-afforded non-productive management resources. However, understanding why this is the case is a relatively unresearched area in developing countries such as Malaysia. In aiming to help redress this situation, this study explored the major barriers involved, firstly by a detailed literature review to identify the main barriers hampering the adoption of new technologies for safety science and management in construction. Then, a questionnaire survey of Malaysian construction practitioners was used to prioritize these barriers. A factor analysis further identified six major dimensions underlying the barriers, relating to the lack of OSH regulations and legislation, technological limitations, lack of genuine organizational commitment, prohibitive costs, poor safety culture within the construction industry, and privacy and data security concerns. Taken together, the findings provide a valuable reference to assist industry practitioners and researchers regarding the critical barriers to the adoption of new technologies for construction safety management in Malaysia and other similar developing countries, and bridge the identified knowledge gap concerning the dimensionality of the barriers.

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BIM Approach in Construction Safety—A Case Study on Preventing Falls from Height

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings12010073 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 73

Author(s):

Fernanda Rodrigues ◽

João Santos Baptista ◽

Débora Pinto

Keyword(s):

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Management ◽

Construction Safety ◽

Incidence Rates ◽

Design Phase ◽

Construction Process ◽

Safety Planning ◽

Economic Sectors ◽

Safety Measures

The construction industry has one of the highest occupational accident incidence rates among all economic sectors. Currently, building information modelling (BIM) appears to be a valuable tool for analysing occupational safety issues throughout the construction life cycle of projects, helping to avoid hazards and risks and, consequently, increasing safety. This work investigates BIM methodology and the application of related technologies for building safety planning and demonstrates the potential of this technology for the integrated implementation of safety measures during the design phase and construction site management. The first step consisted of a literature review on applying BIM-related technologies for safety in the design and planning phases. Following this, to show the potentialities of construction simulation, a case study based on BIM 4D to prevent falls from height was developed. With BIM 4D, it is possible to follow the construction process over time, giving the construction safety technicians, designers, supervisors and managers the capability to analyse, in each phase, the potential risks and identify which safety measures should be implemented. BIM can effectively integrate safety measures from the design phase to the construction and use phase and enable integrated safety planning within construction planning, leading to reliable safety management throughout the construction process.

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A Review of Safety Issues among Small Grade Contractors in Construction Industry

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201926605008 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 266 ◽

pp. 05008

Author(s):

Noorhayatie Yusof ◽

Mohd Saidin Misnan

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Management ◽

External Resources ◽

Safety Issues ◽

Safety Practice ◽

Health Officer ◽

External Resource ◽

Safety And Health ◽

Information Statistic

The construction industry is one of the largest industries in Malaysia. There were too many factors that contribute to construction project success. Construction industry comprises different participants including clients, consultants, and contractors (as construction business) that perform different roles from conception in order to complete the project. The contractors in Malaysia were categorized into seven Grades of contractors starting from contractor G1 to G7. These categories were graded based on a number of employees and the value of the project. In Malaysia, G1 to G4 contractors (small grade contractors) are the highest company were registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). Unfortunately, small grade contractors are widely exposed to the highest rate of accidents or risky compared to medium and large grade contractors (G5-G7) in this industry. In order to adequately clarify the issues on this safety matter, this paper has discussed the problems faced by small grade contractors that influence the implementation of safety practice in a construction site. The objective of study is to identify the problems in small grade contractors in order to implement safety practice on site. This study was focused on small grade contractor in Malaysia. The data for this study were supported by previous studies are reported in the journal; statistic of accidents in the construction industry by Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH); contractor information; statistic of contractors are registered under CIDB; safety book; and internet sources. This study had found that the small grade contractors have some issues related to safety practice whereas they did not have proper standard of safety (general safety act and regulation); they cannot appoint Safety Health Officer (SHO) to handle the site safety; have limited external resource; and also small grade contractors have financial constraints. Based on this review, it can be concluded that small grade contractors have more lacking in safety management and consequently, the rate of accidents still higher in the construction industry. However, safety management in small grade contractors can be improved with support by external resources such as researcher, large grade contractor, government, and pressure from authorities.

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Preliminary Human Safety Assessment (PHSA) for the Improvement of the Behavioral Aspects of Safety Climate in the Construction Industry

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings9030069 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (3) ◽

pp. 69 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Mario Fargnoli ◽

Mara Lombardi

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Climate ◽

Safety Management ◽

Practical Training ◽

Safety Behavior ◽

Behavioral Aspects ◽

Unsafe Behavior ◽

First Results ◽

Management Issues

Occupational safety in the construction industry still represents a relevant problem at a global level. In fact, the complexity of working activities in this sector requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond normative compliance to guarantee safer working conditions. In particular, empirical research on the factors influencing the unsafe behavior of workers needs to be augmented. Thus, the relationship between human factors and safety management issues following a bottom-up approach was investigated. In particular, an easy-to-use procedure that can be used to better address workers’ safety needs augmenting the company’s safety climate and supporting safety management issues was developed. Such an approach, based on the assessment of human reliability factors, was verified in a real case study concerning the users of concrete mixer trucks. The results showed that the majority of human failures were action and retrieval errors, underlining the importance of theoretical and practical training programs as a means to improve safety behavior. In such a context, information and communication activities also resulted beneficially to augment the company’s safety climate. The proposed approach, despite its qualitative nature, allows a clearer understanding of workers’ perceptions of hazards and their risk-taking behavior, providing practical cues to monitor and improve the behavioral aspects of safety climate. Hence, these first results can contribute to augmenting safety knowledge in the construction industry, providing a basis for further investigations on the causalities related to human performances, which are considered a key element in the prevention of accidents.

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Towards Effective Safety Cost Budgeting for Apartment Construction: A Case Study of Occupational Safety and Health Expenses in South Korea

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13031335 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 1335

Author(s):

Kanghyeok Yang ◽

Kiltae Kim ◽

Seongseok Go

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Management ◽

Occupational Injuries ◽

Occupational Safety And Health ◽

Occupational Accidents ◽

Accident Risk ◽

Safety And Health

The construction industry has experienced a lot of occupational accidents, and construction work is considered one of the most dangerous occupations. In order to reduce the number of occupational injuries from construction, the South Korean government legislated the occupational safety and health expense law, requiring companies to reserve a reasonable budget for safety management activities when budgeting for construction projects. However, safety budgets have not been spent based on the risk of accidents, and a large amount of the safety budget is spent either in the beginning or late stages of construction projects. Various accident risk factors, such as activity types, previous accident records, and the number of workers on a construction site, need to be considered when determining the safety budget. To solve such problems, this study investigated the expenditure trends of occupational safety and health expenses for 10 apartment construction projects in South Korea. This study also proposed an accident risk index that can be incorporated with the project costs, schedule, the number of workers, and historical accident records when budgeting for the safety costs. The results from the case study illustrate the limitations of the current planning strategy for safety expenditures and demonstrate the need for effective safety budgeting for accident prevention. The proposed safety cost expenditure guideline helps safety practitioners when budgeting for the occupational safety and health expenses while considering accident risk and the characteristics of safety cost expenditures in practice. The outcome of this research will contribute to the development of regulations for the budgeting of safety costs and help to prevent occupational injuries by providing a reasonable budget for safety management activities in an apartment construction project.

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Stakeholders Awareness of Safety Leadership Through Construction Safety Management System in Indonesia

Applied Research on Civil Engineering and Environment (ARCEE) ◽

10.32722/arcee.v3i01.3945 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 3 (01) ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Desiderius Viby Indrayana ◽

Akhmad Suraji

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Management System ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Management ◽

Workplace Safety ◽

Construction Safety ◽

Accident Rate ◽

Safety Management System ◽

Safety Leadership ◽

Construction Safety Management

Construction workplace safety has become serious issues among global companies. Improvement on occupational safety and health has been carried out. However, construction still becomes a sector with the highest accident rate. Particularly in Indonesia, construction contributes to 32% of accident rate followed by transportation, forestry, and mining. Main driver to improve safety performance is safety leadership as the frontline part of Construction Safety Management System (CSMS). Since it is a non-technical aspect, stakeholders’ awareness is doubtful. Therefore, this study aims to describe Indonesia construction stakeholders’ awareness of safety leadership as part of CSMS. Questionnaire was distributed to 693 respondents comprises of government, planners, consultants, private contractors, and State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) contractors. The result was analyzed with descriptive statistic to reveal the stakeholders’ level of awareness. SOE contractor has the highest awareness of safety leadership. It is considered as obvious finding since SOE contractor becomes dominant in Indonesia’s construction industry. The majority of big-classified contractors are SOE. Meanwhile, contractors’ BOD is the lowest. The BOD commonly uses managerial leadership to run the company rather than safety leadership. However, the safety leadership should be owned by every stakeholder in construction industry whether they are in high or low management level.

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Development of Framework for Estimating Fatality-Related Losses in the Korean Construction Industry

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18168787 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (16) ◽

pp. 8787

Author(s):

Jaehyun Lee ◽

Jaewook Jeong ◽

Jayho Soh ◽

Jaemin Jeong

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Safety Management ◽

Financial Loss ◽

Analysis And Evaluation ◽

Construction Companies ◽

Project Participant ◽

Questionnaire Surveys ◽

The Cost ◽

Framework Development

The number of fatalities in the construction industry is highest among all industries; thus, various losses in the form of fatalities in construction represent a significant factor for safety management. If a fatality occurs, it is important to estimate the overall loss, as a significant financial loss occurs for each project participant. However, in studies of the cost of accidents involving a fatality conducted abroad, the framework cannot be applied as it is because insurance types, systems, and legal cost systems differ by country. Therefore, we developed a framework for calculating the fatality loss considering various aspects of labor, industry, and regulations in Korea. This was done in four steps: (i) data collection and criteria selection; (ii) proposed framework development; (iii) conduct of questionnaire surveys for the case study; and (iv) analysis and evaluation of the case study. As a result of the data analysis after the case study of general construction companies, the total fatality loss was estimated to be 2,198,260 USD/person. The contributions of this study are the development of a framework composed of newly discovered items that can acquire reliable data in consideration of the properties of the construction industry.

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Building Information Modelling (BIM) to Enhance Occupational Safety in Construction Activities: Research Trends Emerging from One Decade of Studies

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings10060098 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 98 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Mario Fargnoli ◽

Mara Lombardi

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Occupational Safety ◽

Safety Climate ◽

New Technologies ◽

Safety Management ◽

Construction Safety ◽

Dynamic Visualization ◽

Building Information Modelling ◽

Information Modelling ◽

Building Information

In recent years, the use of new technologies is rapidly transforming the way working activities are managed and carried out. In the construction industry, in particular, the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is ever increasing as a means to improve the performances of numerous activities. In such a context, several studies have proposed BIM as a key process to augment occupational safety effectively, considering that the construction industry still remains one of the most hazardous working sectors. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the recent research addressing the use of BIM to improve construction safety. A systematic review was performed considering journal papers that appeared in literature in the last decade. The results showed that the most viable and promising research directions concern knowledge-based solutions, design for safety improvement through BIM solutions, transversal applications of BIM, and dynamic visualization and feedback. The findings of this study also indicated that more practical BIM applications are needed, especially focusing on safety training and education, the use of BIM to augment safety climate and resilience, and the development of quantitative risk analysis to better support safety management. Overall, the study provided a comprehensive research synthesis augmenting knowledge on the role of BIM-based tools in construction safety, which can be considered a reference framework to enhance workers’ safety by means of these new technologies.

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