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1 – 10 of over 5000Ahmed Yousry Akal and Amr Metwally El-Kholy
This work affords a practical checklist that specifies the civil engineering trades-related hazards and offers a safety indicator to identify the safety level of a construction…
Abstract
Purpose
This work affords a practical checklist that specifies the civil engineering trades-related hazards and offers a safety indicator to identify the safety level of a construction project concerning the hazards of the civil engineering trades.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology depends on reviewing the archival works, visiting the construction sites, utilizing the direct observation and preliminary hazard analysis methods and conducting semistructured interviews to pinpoint and validate the checklist of the civil engineering trades-related hazards. Additionally, a questionnaire-based survey with the rank sum weight technique has been employed to assemble and analyze the data required to build the safety indicator.
Findings
Relying upon the used methodology, 70 hazards under the trades of general environment, earth, demolition, excavation, concrete, dewatering, waterproofing insulation and scaffolding have been pinpointed and validated. This is in addition to the safety level indicator of the civil engineering trades-related hazards (SLICETH), which indicates high viability during its validation in five national and international projects.
Originality/value
The value of this work lies in its ability to tackle the gap existing in the safety management knowledge regarding the notion of the hazards of the civil engineering trades and their influences on the safety performance of the construction projects. As a result, it offers a complete knowledge to the academics and the practitioners for confronting the negative impacts of the civil engineering trades-related hazards. Consequently, it helps in enhancing the safety performance level in the sites of the construction projects.
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Dehai Liu, Weijun Xu, Hongyi Li, Weiguo Zhang and Weiguo Wang
The purpose of this paper is to understand the root cause of a large number of quality problems in the current Chinese construction market.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the root cause of a large number of quality problems in the current Chinese construction market.
Design/methodology/approach
Information economics theory is used to analyze the cause of construction quality problems related to the specific case of the Wenchuan earthquake of China.
Findings
The single low price competition in the construction tender market leads to the serious adverse selection and moral hazard behavior of bidding firms. The main solution to this problem is the introduction and improvement of an independent inspection/supervision mechanism.
Originality/value
The paper systematically analyzes the evaluation method of the lowest price winning bidding policy, which is the fundamental cause of adverse selection and moral hazard problems in the Chinese construction market.
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Helen Lingard, Tracy Cooke, Nick Blismas and Ron Wakefield
The research aims to explore the interaction between design decisions that reduce occupational health and safety (OHS) risk in the operation stage of a facility's life cycle and…
Abstract
Purpose
The research aims to explore the interaction between design decisions that reduce occupational health and safety (OHS) risk in the operation stage of a facility's life cycle and the OHS experiences of workers in the construction stage.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected from three construction projects in Australia. Design decisions were examined to understand the reasons they were made and the impact that they had on OHS in the construction and operation stages.
Findings
The case examples reveal that design decisions made to reduce OHS risk during the operation of a facility can introduce new hazards in the construction stage. These decisions are often influenced by stakeholders external to the project itself.
Research limitations/implications
The results provide preliminary evidence of challenges inherent in designing for OHS across the lifecycle of a facility. Further research is needed to identify and evaluate methods by which risk reduction across all stages of a facility's life cycle can be optimised.
Practical implications
The research highlights the need to manage tensions between designing for safe construction and operation of a facility.
Originality/value
Previous research assumes design decisions that reduce OHS risk in one stage of a facility's life cycle automatically translate to a net risk reduction across the life cycle. The research highlights the need to consider the implications of PtD decision‐making focused on one stage of the facility's life cycle for OHS outcomes in other stages.
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Kishor Bhagwat and Venkata Santosh Kumar Delhi
Construction safety management (CSM) has been intensively researched in the last four decades but hitherto mostly aimed at understanding root causes of accidents, recommending…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction safety management (CSM) has been intensively researched in the last four decades but hitherto mostly aimed at understanding root causes of accidents, recommending preventive measures and evaluating their implications. However, a systematic effort to present a comprehensive picture of construction safety research is hardly witnessed. Therefore, the study aims to investigate construction safety research contributors, ontologies, themes, evolution, emerging trends and future directions using quantitative and qualitative content analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 877 journal articles were extracted using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and Scopus literature database and were analyzed using VOSviewer and Nvivo tools to present a comprehensive picture of the CSM body of knowledge.
Findings
The study observed rapid growth in construction safety research with contributions from various countries, organizations and researchers. This study identified 3 research levels, 8 project phases, 10 project types, 6 research instruments and 19 research data sources along with their usage in the research domain. Further, the study identified 13 emerging research themes, 4 emerging research trends and an observed paradigm shift from reactive to proactive CSM approach.
Research limitations/implications
The comprehensive study on the emerging themes and findings on proactive CSM has strategic implications to practice to incorporate safety. The identified future directions can assist researchers in bridging the existing gaps and strengthening emerging research trends.
Originality/value
The study presents a comprehensive picture of the CSM body of knowledge using the content analysis approach that was absent in past literature and opened future research avenues.
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Karim Farghaly, William Collinge, Mojgan Hadi Mosleh, Patrick Manu and Clara Man Cheung
With the rapid development of digital information and modelling software applications for construction, questions have arisen about their impact on construction safety. Meanwhile…
Abstract
Purpose
With the rapid development of digital information and modelling software applications for construction, questions have arisen about their impact on construction safety. Meanwhile, recognition that designers can help reduce risks involved in construction, operation and maintenance via a prevention through design (PtD) approach (also known as design for safety) highlights the significance of digital technologies and tools to PtD. Thus, this paper aims to provide a systematic review of a wide range of digital technologies for enhancing PtD.
Design/methodology/approach
A five-stage systematic literature review with coding and synthesis of findings is presented. The review covers journal articles published between 2000 and 2020 related to the applications of various digital technologies, such as building information modelling (BIM), 4D, databases, ontologies, serious games, virtual reality and augmented reality, for addressing safety issues during the design phase in construction.
Findings
Analysis of the articles yielded a categorisation of the digital applications for PtD into four main areas: knowledge-based systems; automatic rule checking; hazard visualization; and safety training for designers. The review also highlighted designers’ limited knowledge towards construction safety and the possibility to address this by using gaming environments for educating designers on safety management and using artificial intelligence for predicting hazards and risks during design stage in a BIM environment. Additionally, the review proposes other directions for future research to enhance the use of digital technologies for PtD.
Originality/value
This paper contextualises current digital technology applications for construction health and safety and enables future directions of research in the field to be identified and mapped out.
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Hilary Omatule Onubi, Nor'Aini Yusof and Ahmad Sanusi Hassan
This study aims to assess the impact of adopting selected green construction site practices on the health and safety performance of the construction projects. The impact of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the impact of adopting selected green construction site practices on the health and safety performance of the construction projects. The impact of storm-water management, energy management and construction waste management on projects health and safety performance was also examined.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted to collect information from Class A contractors in Nigeria, and 168 usable responses were received. The data were analysed using the partial least squares (PLSs) structural equation modelling technique.
Findings
The findings indicate that energy management and waste management practices have significant effects on the health and safety performance of the construction projects, while storm-water management has no effect.
Practical implications
Project and site managers need to take into consideration the skill set of their workforce when attempting to adopt new innovative construction strategies the workers are unfamiliar with in a changing construction environment. There is also a need for more training of workers on generic and specific green skills to avoid health and safety challenges on site.
Originality/value
The findings of this study make significant contribution to the debate on the health and safety performance of green projects, as only a few studies have been conducted on this topic. The empirical relationships between the constructs of energy management, waste management, storm-water management and health and safety performance are unique in the context of other related studies and have advanced the body of existing knowledge.
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Anuoluwapo Ajayi, Lukumon Oyedele, Juan Manuel Davila Delgado, Lukman Akanbi, Muhammad Bilal, Olugbenga Akinade and Oladimeji Olawale
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the use of the big data technologies for health and safety risks analytics in the power infrastructure domain with large data sets of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight the use of the big data technologies for health and safety risks analytics in the power infrastructure domain with large data sets of health and safety risks, which are usually sparse and noisy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study focuses on using the big data frameworks for designing a robust architecture for handling and analysing (exploratory and predictive analytics) accidents in power infrastructure. The designed architecture is based on a well coherent health risk analytics lifecycle. A prototype of the architecture interfaced various technology artefacts was implemented in the Java language to predict the likelihoods of health hazards occurrence. A preliminary evaluation of the proposed architecture was carried out with a subset of an objective data, obtained from a leading UK power infrastructure company offering a broad range of power infrastructure services.
Findings
The proposed architecture was able to identify relevant variables and improve preliminary prediction accuracies and explanatory capacities. It has also enabled conclusions to be drawn regarding the causes of health risks. The results represent a significant improvement in terms of managing information on construction accidents, particularly in power infrastructure domain.
Originality/value
This study carries out a comprehensive literature review to advance the health and safety risk management in construction. It also highlights the inability of the conventional technologies in handling unstructured and incomplete data set for real-time analytics processing. The study proposes a technique in big data technology for finding complex patterns and establishing the statistical cohesion of hidden patterns for optimal future decision making.
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Amir Bahador Ketabi and Gholamreza Heravi
This study aimed to explain how a framework could be developed for (1) the preliminary estimation of project safety level (PSL) in current projects, (2) the estimation of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to explain how a framework could be developed for (1) the preliminary estimation of project safety level (PSL) in current projects, (2) the estimation of the maximum possible PSL using limited financial resources and (3) the estimation of the minimum financial resources required for reaching a specific PSL.
Design/methodology/approach
The data of 95 steel structural building projects were collected via a questionnaire to evaluate the proposed framework for the Iranian construction industry. Based on unofficial local construction statistics and literature reviews, six safety influential factors (SIFs) were selected to which a cost could be assigned. The costs associated with various levels were also determined for each SIF through literature reviews and expert interviews. A multiple linear regression (MLR) model was developed as a predictive model to determine PSL for future projects based on the data of previous projects. Moreover, linear programming (LP) was applied to take modeling constraints and project conditions into account.
Findings
The results demonstrated the impacts of all the factors on PSL and the model's potential for the preliminary estimation of PSL using SIFs. The results also indicated that a higher PSL could be achieved by optimizing the allocation of financial resources to each SIF.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by developing a step-by-step framework to identify an optimal safety cost allocation (OSCA) to achieve the maximum possible PSL using a limited safety budget and considering the data of similar projects. The main objective was to promote project safety, decrease construction site injuries and fatalities and help local construction industries exploit potential financial advantages.
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Chukwuma Nnaji, John Gambatese, Ali Karakhan and Chinweike Eseonu
Existing literature suggests that construction worker safety could be optimized using emerging technologies. However, the application of safety technologies in the construction…
Abstract
Purpose
Existing literature suggests that construction worker safety could be optimized using emerging technologies. However, the application of safety technologies in the construction industry is limited. One reason for the constrained adoption of safety technologies is the lack of empirical information for mitigating the risk of a failed adoption. The purpose of this paper is to fill the research gap through identifying key factors that predict successful adoption of safety technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 26 key technology adoption predictors were identified and classified using a combination of literature review and an expert panel. The level of influence for each identified safety technology adoption predictor was assessed and ranked using the Relative Importance Index. Analysis of variance was performed as well to assess the potential difference in perceived level of importance for the predictors when the study participants were clustered according to work experience and company size.
Findings
Statistical analysis indicates that 12 out of the 26 predictors identified are highly influential regarding technology adoption decision-making in construction. Technology reliability, effectiveness and durability were ranked as the most influential predictors. The participants who work for small companies and who had less than ten years of experience rated individual- and technology-related predictors significantly lower than the experienced participants working for medium and large companies.
Practical implications
The present study provides construction researchers and practitioners with valuable information regarding safety technology predictors and their magnitude, both of which are essential elements of a successful safety technology adoption process. Improved technology adoption can enhance workplace safety and minimize worker injuries, providing substantial benefits to the construction industry.
Originality/value
This study contributes to technology adoption knowledge by identifying and quantifying the influential predictors of safety technologies in relation to different organizational contexts. The study informs the need to develop an integrated conceptual model for safety technology adoption.
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Vigneshkumar Chellappa, Vasundhara Srivastava and Urmi Ravindra Salve
Construction workers’ health and safety (CWHS) research in India has not gained much attention among researchers. This study aims to review articles related to CWHS research in…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction workers’ health and safety (CWHS) research in India has not gained much attention among researchers. This study aims to review articles related to CWHS research in India using a science mapping approach.
Design/methodology/approach
A total number of 64 journal articles published between 2004 and 2019 were extracted from the Scopus database using keywords including “construction safety,” “occupational health,” “ergonomics in construction,” etc. VOSviewer software was used to examine the influential keywords, documents, sources and authors in the field of CWHS.
Findings
The study found that most of the current work focuses on safety management, safety climate, safety performance, musculoskeletal disorders and behavior-based safety. The result indicates no theoretical basis for the theories and learning methods for the existing studies.
Practical implications
The findings open up a research gap that researchers explore to enhance workers’ health and safety within the Indian construction environment.
Originality/value
The paper is the first article to provide a better understanding of current research in the field of CWHS in India by analyzing its growth through the science mapping approach.
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