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Article
Publication date: 20 February 2024

Xiaobo Shi, Yan Liu, Kunkun Ma, Zixin Gu, Yaning Qiao, Guodong Ni, Chibuzor Ojum, Alex Opoku and Yong Liu

The purpose is to identify and evaluate the safety risk factors in the coal mine construction process.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose is to identify and evaluate the safety risk factors in the coal mine construction process.

Design/methodology/approach

The text mining technique was applied in the stage of safety risk factor identification. The association rules method was used to obtain associations with safety risk factors. Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) were utilized to evaluate safety risk factors.

Findings

The results show that 18 safety risk factors are divided into 6 levels. There are 12 risk transmission paths in total. Meanwhile, unsafe behavior and equipment malfunction failure are the direct causes of accidents, and inadequate management system is the basic factor that determines the safety risk status.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the limitation of the computational matrix workload, this article only categorizes numerous lexical items into 18 factors. Then, the workshop relied on a limited number of experts; thus, the findings may be potentially biased. Next, the accident report lacks a universal standard for compilation, and the use of text mining technique may be further optimized. Finally, since the data are all from China, subsequent cross-country studies should be considered.

Social implications

The results can help China coal mine project managers to have a clear understanding of safety risks, efficiently carry out risk hazard identification work and take timely measures to cut off the path of transmission with risks identified in this study. This helps reduce the economic losses of coal mining enterprises, thus improving the safety standards of the entire coal mining industry and the national standards for coal mine safety policy formulation.

Originality/value

Coal mine construction projects are characterized by complexity and difficulties in construction. Current research on the identification and assessment of safety risk factors in coal mine construction is insufficient. This study combines objective and systematic research approaches. The findings contribute to the safety risk management of China coal mine construction projects by providing a basis for the development of safety measures.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 November 2022

Olatoyese Zaccheus Oni, AbdulLateef Olanrewaju and Soo Cheen Khor

Contrasted with some other industries, the construction industry has been linked with the most noteworthy accident occurrence rate, the majority of which has been related to poor…

2256

Abstract

Purpose

Contrasted with some other industries, the construction industry has been linked with the most noteworthy accident occurrence rate, the majority of which has been related to poor health and safety practises. This paper therefore sets out to conduct a comprehensive review of the critical success factors that can aid sustainable health and safety practises on construction sites in Malaysia.

Design/methodology/approach

The review focussed heavily on published reports, drawn between the years 2000 and 2022. The Scopus database was used for gathering the articles reviewed for this study.

Findings

After reviewing various literature studies, a total of 106 critical success factors were identified. All these factors were then categorised under the three pillars of sustainability. A total of 48 factors were grouped under the economic factors, 37 factors were grouped under the social factors and the remaining 21 factors were grouped under the environmental factors.

Originality/value

This paper conducted a comprehensive review of the critical success factors for bridging sustainability and health and safety. This study will help in developing a sustainable health and safety model that can drastically reduce the accident rate on the construction site.

Details

Frontiers in Engineering and Built Environment, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2634-2499

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 October 2021

Narendrasinh Jesangbhai Parmar and Ajith Tom James

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the safety performance measurement of belt conveyor systems.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the safety performance measurement of belt conveyor systems.

Design/methodology/approach

A structural methodology of graph theory and matrix approach is used for developing a framework for safety performance measurement of belt conveyor systems.

Findings

The development of a framework for safety performance measurement of belt conveyor systems is essential for ensuring plant safety. For this, safety performance factors, including design and operating contextual factors of belt conveyor systems, are identified. The factors along with their interrelations are modeled using digraph. An equivalent matrix of the digraph provided safety performance function (SPF) of belt conveyor systems, leading to the development of a safety performance index (SPI).

Practical implications

The developed framework will enable the designers for evaluating and comparing alternative designs of conveyor systems from the safety viewpoint. The plant operators can make inferences from the SPI to identify the weak contextual factors in the plant and develop action plans for its mitigation.

Originality/value

The paper is novel and employs graph theory and matrix approach for safety performance measurement. The methodology helps in the quantitative evaluation of the safety performance of belt conveyor systems.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 72 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 July 2018

Mohammad Tanvi Newaz, Peter Rex Davis, Marcus Jefferies and Manikam Pillay

Safety climate and its impact on safety performance is well established; however, researchers in this field suggest that the absence of a common assessment framework is a…

1588

Abstract

Purpose

Safety climate and its impact on safety performance is well established; however, researchers in this field suggest that the absence of a common assessment framework is a reflection of the state of development of this concept. The purpose of this paper is to propose a five-factor model that can be used to diagnose and measure safety climate in construction safety research and practice.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematic review was adopted, and following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, 574 articles were selected at the start of the study based on a developed review protocol for investigating safety climate factors. While examining the factor analysis of different studies, data reliability and data validity of the individual research findings were considered and frequency of factors uploaded was used to determine the significance as a quantitative measure to develop the ranking of safety climate factors.

Findings

The review identified that, from the established measures of safety climate in construction, there is little uniformity on factor importance. However, management commitment safety system role of the supervisor; workers’ involvement and group safety climate were found to be the most common across the studies reviewed. It is proposed these factors are used to inform a five-factor model for investigating safety climate in the construction industry.

Originality/value

The findings of this study will motivate researchers and practitioners in safety to use the five-factor safety climate model presented in this paper and test it to develop a common factor structure for the construction industry. The fact that the model is comprised of five factors makes it easier to be used and implemented by small-to medium-sized construction companies, therefore enhancing its potential use.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 25 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2013

Yury Matvienko

The purpose of this paper is to develop basic principles of deterministic structural integrity assessment of a component with a crack- or notch-like defect by including safety

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop basic principles of deterministic structural integrity assessment of a component with a crack- or notch-like defect by including safety factors against fracture and plastic collapse in criteria equations of linear and nonlinear fracture mechanics.

Design/methodology/approach

The safety factors against fracture are calculated by demanding that the applied critical stress should not be less than the yield stress of the material for a component with a crack or a notch of the acceptable size. Structural integrity assessment of the engineering components damaged by crack- or notch-like defects is discussed from view point of the failure assessment diagram (FAD). The methodology of the FAD has been employed for the structural integrity analysis and assessment of acceptable sizes of throw-thickness notch in a plate under tension and surface longitudinal notch-like defects in a pressure vessel.

Findings

Basic equations have been presented to calculate the safety factor against fracture for critical values of the stress intensity factor, crack tip opening displacement (CTOD), the J-integral and the FAD as well as to estimate an acceptable (safe) region for an engineering component with a crack- or notch-like defect of the acceptable size. It was shown that safety factors against fracture depend on both the safety factor against plastic collapse and employed fracture mechanics criterion. The effect of crack/notch tip constraint is incorporated into criteria equations for the calculation of safety factors against fracture.

Originality/value

The deterministic method of fracture mechanics is recommended for structural integrity assessment of a component with a crack- or notch-like defect by including safety factors against fracture and plastic collapse in criteria equations of linear and nonlinear fracture mechanics.

Details

International Journal of Structural Integrity, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9864

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 September 2020

Shang Zhang, Riza Yosia Sunindijo, Martin Loosemore, Shejiang Wang, Yajun Gu and Hongfei Li

The image of the construction industry in China, as in many other countries, is tarnished by its poor safety record. With the rapid development of subway systems in Chinese urban…

Abstract

Purpose

The image of the construction industry in China, as in many other countries, is tarnished by its poor safety record. With the rapid development of subway systems in Chinese urban areas, construction workers are being exposed to new risks which are poorly understood and managed. Subway construction projects are large scale and scattered over many construction sites, and involve numerous stakeholders and sophisticated technologies in challenging underground environments. Accident rates are high and have significant economic and social consequences for the firms and people involved. Addressing the gap in research about the safety risk in these projects, the purpose of this paper is to advance understanding of the factors influencing the safety of Chinese subway construction projects with the overall objective of reducing accident rates.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted with 399 subway construction professionals across five stakeholder groups. Follow-up interviews were also conducted with five experienced experts in safety management on subway projects to validate the results.

Findings

It was found that the eight most critical factors perceived by stakeholders to influence safety risks on Chinese subway projects are: project management team; contractor-related factors; site underground environment; safety protection during the use of machines; safety management investment; site construction monitoring and measurement; hazard identification and communication; and use of machines in all stages. This indicates that in allocating limited project resources to improve the safety of subway projects, managers should focus on: developing safety knowledge and positive attitudes in leadership teams; formulating effective risk management systems to identify, assess, mitigate, measure and monitor safety risks on site; improving communications with stakeholders about these risks and effectively managing plant, equipment and machinery.

Originality/value

This research contributes a new multi-stakeholder perspective to the lack of safety research in Chinese subway construction projects. The research findings provide important new insights for policymakers and managers in improving safety outcomes on these major projects, producing potentially significant social and economic benefits for society and the construction industry.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 28 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 February 2019

Mohammad Tanvi Newaz, Peter Rex Davis, Marcus Jefferies and Manikam Pillay

Safety climate (SC) is considered a leading indicator of safety performance, but scholars suggest that a common SC assessment framework is yet to be developed. Following the…

Abstract

Purpose

Safety climate (SC) is considered a leading indicator of safety performance, but scholars suggest that a common SC assessment framework is yet to be developed. Following the debate between the importance of facet analysis and agent analysis, the purpose of this paper is to test a factor structure, developed by the authors in previous work and arising from their systematic literature review, highlighting the role of safety agents in a construction site setting.

Design/methodology/approach

Multi-level SC surveys were conducted at five construction sites in Sydney, Australia, collecting data from of 352 workers associated with a mega-construction project. While examining the factor analysis of different studies, data reliability and data validity of the survey findings were ensured and a goodness-of-fit of SC model was examined through structural equation modelling.

Findings

The systematic literature review of Newaz et al. (2018) suggested a five-factor model of: management commitment, safety system, role of the supervisor, workers’ involvement and group SC. However, empirical data indicated that the questionnaire used to measure “safety system” failed to pass scale reliability; thus, a four-factor model was proposed to develop an agent-specific SC factor structure in the construction industry.

Originality/value

The four-factor model indicates the role and level of influence of different safety agents to improve safety perceptions on construction sites. The findings of this study will encourage researchers in construction safety to use the simplified four-factor SC (agent-specific) model presented and test it to further develop a common factor structure for the construction industry. The fact that the model is comprised of four factors makes further implementation somewhat easier in the development of safety plans, and when considering the role of safety agents, therefore enhancing its potential value.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 December 2023

Guodong Ni, Qi Zhou, Xinyue Miao, Miaomiao Niu, Yuzhuo Zheng, Yuanyuan Zhu and Guoxuan Ni

New generation of construction workers (NGCWs) who were born in the 1980s and later have gradually become the main workforce of Chinese construction industry. They may behave…

Abstract

Purpose

New generation of construction workers (NGCWs) who were born in the 1980s and later have gradually become the main workforce of Chinese construction industry. They may behave differently when dealing with knowledge-related activities due to divergent characteristics caused by generational discrepancy. To provide a theoretical foundation for construction companies and safety managers to improve safety management, this research explores the factors and paths impacting the NGCWs' ability to share their safety knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on literature review, main factors that influence the safety knowledge sharing of the NGCWs were identified. Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory and Interpretive Structural Modeling were applied to identify the hierarchical and contextual relations among the factors influencing the safety knowledge sharing of the NGCWs.

Findings

The results showed that sharing atmosphere ranked first in centrality and had a high degree of influence and being influenced, indicating itself an extremely important influencing factor of safety knowledge sharing of NGCWs. Six root influencing factors were identified, including individual characteristics, work pressure, sharing platform, incentive mechanism, leadership support and safety management system.

Research limitations/implications

The number of influencing factors of safety knowledge sharing of the NGCWs identified in this study is limited, and the data obtained by the expert scoring method is subjective. In future studies, the model should be further developed and validated by incorporating experts from different fields to improve its integrity and applicability.

Practical implications

The influencing factors identified in this paper can provide a basis for construction companies and safety managers to improve productivity and safety management by taking relevant measures to promote safety knowledge sharing. The research contributes to the understanding knowledge management in the context of the emerging market. It helps to answer the question of how the market can maintain the economic growth success through effective knowledge management.

Originality/value

This paper investigates the influencing factors of NGCWs' safety knowledge sharing from the perspective of intergenerational differences, and the 13 influencing factor index system established expands the scope of research on factors influencing safety knowledge sharing among construction workers and fills the gap in safety knowledge sharing research on young construction workers. Furthermore, this paper establishes a multi-layer recursive structure model to clarify the influence path of the influencing factors and contributes to the understanding of safety knowledge sharing mechanism.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 January 2023

Yongliang Deng, Zedong Liu, Liangliang Song, Guodong Ni and Na Xu

The purpose of this study is to identify the causative factors of metro construction safety accidents, analyze the correlation between accidents and causative factors and assist…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify the causative factors of metro construction safety accidents, analyze the correlation between accidents and causative factors and assist in developing safety management strategies for improving safety performance in the context of the Chinese construction industry.

Design/methodology/approach

To achieve these objectives, 13 types and 48 causations were determined based on 274 construction safety accidents in China. Then, 204 cause-and-effect relationships among accidents and causations were identified based on data mining. Next, network theory was employed to develop and analyze the metro construction accident causation network (MCACN).

Findings

The topological characteristics of MCACN were obtained, it is both a small-world network and a scale-free network. Controlling critical causative factors can effectively control the occurrence of metro construction accidents. Degree centrality strategy is better than closeness centrality strategy and betweenness centrality strategy.

Research limitations/implications

In practice, it is very difficult to quantitatively identify and determine the importance of different accidents and causative factors. The weights of nodes and edges are failed to be assigned when constructing MCACN.

Practical implications

This study provides a theoretical basis and feasible management reference for construction enterprises in China to control construction risks and reduce safety accidents. More safety resources should be allocated to control critical risks. It is recommended that safety managers implement degree centrality strategy when making safety-related decisions.

Originality/value

This paper establishes the MCACN model based on data mining and network theory, identifies the properties and clarifies the mechanism of metro construction accidents and causations.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2023

Olatoyese Zaccheus Oni, AbdulLateef Olanrewaju and Soo Cheen Khor

The construction industry has been recording a high number of accidents without any sign of abating, the majority of which have been linked to poor health and safety practices. To…

Abstract

Purpose

The construction industry has been recording a high number of accidents without any sign of abating, the majority of which have been linked to poor health and safety practices. To reduce this menace, this study aims to evaluate the factors affecting health and safety practices on construction sites to improve health and safety practices.

Design/methodology/approach

First, this study reviewed previous studies to derive the factors affecting health and safety practices on construction sites, and based on the literature review, the 50 factors identified were used in developing the questionnaire that was administered to construction professionals. The returned questionnaire was then analysed using fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

Findings

According to the FSE results, inadequate safety planning has the highest critical value, followed by management failure, inadequate safety promotion, safety ignorance, poor supervision and enforcement, a casual attitude towards safety and insufficient experience. The analysis showed that the overall criticality of the factors to the Malaysian construction industry is high, suggesting that if addressed, the health and safety practices of the industry will be improved.

Originality/value

The study provides a holistic approach to the factors affecting health and safety practices in the construction industry using a method that has not been used by previous researchers. The findings will furnish decision makers in the construction industry with practical approaches to adapt and reinforce in the industry to improve health and safety practices.

Details

Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1726-0531

Keywords

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