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1 – 10 of over 49000Juliet Owusu-Boadi, Ernest Kissi, Ivy Maame Abu, Cecilia Dapaah Owusu, Bernard Baiden and Caleb Debrah
The construction business is widely recognised for its inherent complexity and dynamic nature, which stems from the nature of the job involved. The industry is often regarded as…
Abstract
Purpose
The construction business is widely recognised for its inherent complexity and dynamic nature, which stems from the nature of the job involved. The industry is often regarded as one of the most challenging industries globally in terms of implementing environmental, health and safety (EHS) practices. However, in the absence of EHS, the construction industry cannot be considered sustainable. Therefore, this study aims to identify the trends, knowledge gaps and implications of EHS research to enhance construction activities and knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopted a science mapping approach involving bibliometric and scientometric analysis of 407 construction EHS publications from the Scopus database with the VOSviewer software. The study is based on journal articles from the Scopus database without restriction to any time range.
Findings
The main focus of construction EHS research identified in the study includes sustainability-related studies, risk-related, environmental issues, EHS management, integrated management systems studies, health and safety related and EHS in the construction process. Some emerging areas also identified include productivity, design, culture, social sustainability and machine learning. The most influential and productive publication sources, countries/regions and EHS publications with the highest impact were also determined.
Research limitations/implications
Documents published in the Scopus database were considered for analysis because of the wider coverage of the database. Journal articles written in English language represent the inclusion criteria, whereas other documents were excluded from the analysis. The study also limited the search to articles with the engineering subject area.
Practical implications
The research findings will enlighten stakeholders and practitioners on the focal knowledge areas in the EHS research domain, which are vital for enhancing EHS in the industry.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review-based study is the first attempt to internationally conduct a science mapping on extant literature in the EHS research domain through bibliometric and scientometric assessments.
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Kwanhatai Thongpalad, Sushil Koirala and Anil Kumar Anal
Safe food from animal origins rely on preventive measures adopted at the farm level. However, farmers' awareness on the food safety risk is limited, affecting their on-farm…
Abstract
Purpose
Safe food from animal origins rely on preventive measures adopted at the farm level. However, farmers' awareness on the food safety risk is limited, affecting their on-farm activities. Thus, this study was conducted to assess and compare the farmers' perceptions on food safety issues and risks caused by the management and practices at layer farms.
Design/methodology/approach
Farmers from 143 farms certified by National Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standard and 59 non-GAP farms were interviewed using a structured questionnaire for risk perception evaluation. Their level of perceived risk was compared using a scoring system.
Findings
The food safety hazards in eggs seem to be fairly recognized by both groups of farmers. GAP farmers demonstrated a higher risk of food safety incidences caused by inappropriate management and practices in farms than non-GAP farmers (p < 0.001). Although the results did not confirm the strong connection between risk perception and risk reduction behavior, these findings are beneficial to the food safety policy implementers to evaluate the critical issues for risk communication and for knowledge dissemination activities. The influence of other internal and external factors on farmers' food safety-related behavior should be further investigated.
Research limitations/implications
The impact limitation was identified due to the restriction of scope on a specific population and region. The target respondents did not cover all scales, especially the backyard and smallholder farmers nor other rearing systems, such as free-range productions.
Originality/value
The knowledge regarding the food safety practices by egg producing farmers in Thailand is limited. Notably, this study contributes to the literature in elucidating the preventive behavior of food handlers and all stakeholders in the Thai food supply chain. The implementations of food safety preventive measures by two groups of farmers, GAP-certified and non-GAP-certified farmers, will guide policymakers to intervene more successfully regarding the appropriate changes needed.
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C.J. Griffith, K.M. Livesey and D. Clayton
The concept of food safety organizational culture, whilst largely ignored in the past, is attracting increasing interest. The purpose of this paper is to examine a possible…
Abstract
Purpose
The concept of food safety organizational culture, whilst largely ignored in the past, is attracting increasing interest. The purpose of this paper is to examine a possible framework for assessing a business's food safety culture.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature on health and safety culture and organizational culture is examined and relevant components applicable to food safety are identified and discussed.
Findings
A total of six possible groupings including: food safety management systems and style; food safety leadership; food safety communication; food safety commitment; food safety environment and risk perception were identified as “culture” factors that could contribute to food safety performance. These can form the basis for assessing food safety culture and how this may be done practically along with the creation of a positive food safety culture are discussed. Management is traditionally talked about in food safety but a distinction is drawn between this and food safety leadership.
Originality/value
For the first time a method for, and the potential benefits from, assessing food safety culture is presented and this will be of value to auditors, environmental health practitioners and industry. Utilizing the suggestions in the paper could help improve compliance with third‐party hygiene standards, and reduce the risk of food poisoning.
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Masoumeh Nabizadeh, Mohammad Khalilzadeh, Sadoullah Ebrahimnejad and Mohammad Javad Ershadi
The activities of the oil industry from discovery to distribution of oil products have adverse effects on human and environment. Thus, the companies that are active in this…
Abstract
Purpose
The activities of the oil industry from discovery to distribution of oil products have adverse effects on human and environment. Thus, the companies that are active in this industry should identify and manage their risks. The purpose of this paper is to prioritize the identified risks based on different measures such as cost, occurrence, etc. Then, selecting the most important corrective actions using goal-programming approach is another objective of this study.
Design/methodology/approach
To identify the health, safety and environment (HSE) risks, the Fuzzy Delphi method was used. The failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and fuzzy Vlse Kriterijumsk Optimizacija Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) methods covering the deficits of FMEA were used to rank the HSE risks. Unlike similar researches, in the proposed FMEA–VIKOR method, the risk priority number was not calculated. In addition to severity, occurrence and detection, the parameters such as time, cost and quality, being considered for ranking the risks, were weighted by the Eigenvector method. Then, a fuzzy goal-programming model was developed for determining the best solutions of risk response.
Findings
The research findings indicated that the most important risks include fire and blast because of tank and pipeline, leakage of connections and pipelines and industrial waste. Also, the most important risk responses include using and strengthening the alarm and fire extinguishing systems, using fiberglass tanks to prevent pipeline corrosion, using modern technology to have more efficient oil refining.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this paper is using hybrid approach of FMEA–VIKOR for risk ranking by considering different measures such as time, cost and quality besides severity, occurrence and detection. Providing a fuzzy goal-programming framework for determining the main risk responses is another value for this research.
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Jackson Sekasi and Habeeb Solihu
Railway-level crossings (RLCs) are the point of intersection between rail and road users and are therefore hotpots of road-rail user conflict and catastrophic collisions. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Railway-level crossings (RLCs) are the point of intersection between rail and road users and are therefore hotpots of road-rail user conflict and catastrophic collisions. The purpose of this study is to assess the risks associated with RLCs and suggest probable reduction measures. Through questionnaires and visual inspection, the authors identify the safety risks, hazards and hazardous events at some railway crossing of Addis Ababa light rail transit (AA-LRT) north-south (N-S) route. The identified risky events are then categorized based on As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP) principle and generic risk ranking matrix. The authors then examine existing safety management measures at railway crossing and assess the need for additional safety management. Five major crossings on the 16.9 km (10.5 mi) N-S line, starting from Menelik II Square to Kality, were considered for the study. This study is carried out by data collection from about 145 stakeholders and the application of statistical data and risk analysis methods. The major findings of this study and the recommendations for improvement are suggested.
Design/methodology/approach
The research followed a case study approach. Through questionnaires and visual inspection, the authors identify the safety risks, hazards and hazardous events at some railway crossing of AA-LRT N-S route. The identified risky events are then categorized based on ALARP principle and generic risk ranking matrix. Collected data was then analyzed using SPSS to deduce relationships.
Findings
The study findings reveal human factors as the greatest cause of accidents, injury or death. About 22% of hazards identified by category are human factors, whereas 20% are because of technical problems. Intolerable risks stand at 42%, whereas the tolerable risks are at 36% according to risk classification results as per the ALARP model. Because the process of risk management is a long-term cycle, its importance should not be missed at any time.
Research limitations/implications
Because of design considerations of RLCs and the difference in generalized human behaviors for people of a given region, the results are limited to AA-LRT RLCs. This study opens a discourse for detailed evaluations, qualitative and quantitative analysis into the categorized identified hazards. There is also room for additional research into the performance of RLCs aimed at formulating standard necessary features that should be included on RLCs for proper risk control especially in emerging economies.
Originality/value
The research paper is original and has not been submitted for consideration to other journals.
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Harvey S. James, Michelle Segovia and Damilola Giwa-Daramola
The authors review the small but growing literature linking cognitive biases to food safety problems and foodborne illness outbreaks.
Abstract
Purpose
The authors review the small but growing literature linking cognitive biases to food safety problems and foodborne illness outbreaks.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a search of peer-reviewed articles utilizing empirical methods published since the year 2000 focusing on food safety or foodborne illnesses/outbreaks and cognitive biases.
Findings
The authors find that most research is conducted at the consumer side of the food system, with few studies examining the potential problems that can arise in the production and processing of food. The authors also observe that most research tends to focus on a few cognitive biases.
Originality/value
This is the most comprehensive study to date examining insights from the literature on cognitive biases and the related discipline of behavioral economics to the specific problem of foodborne illness outbreaks and food safety problems.
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Fernanda Cagnin, Maria Celia Oliveira, Alexandre Tadeu Simon, André Luis Helleno and Matheus Phelipe Vendramini
Due to the warming at the automotive market in the last years and consequently the growth of vehicle production has been moved and placed emphasis on the segment. In recent years…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to the warming at the automotive market in the last years and consequently the growth of vehicle production has been moved and placed emphasis on the segment. In recent years, some have known, for example, as the earthquake that struck Japan in 2011 was able to disrupt the suppliers of the country. Due to these events, supply chain risk management has become essential to the supply chain operations success. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the supplier’s systematic selection at the automotive industry compared with the identified models in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study applied at the automotive to propose a method for selecting suppliers considering the risk management.
Findings
These results indicate that the organization has established criteria for suppliers selection, this systematic aims to identify the potential risks in the supply chain before the supplier award the project but it’s also the current practice can be improved using as reference the comparative method as applied in this study.
Originality/value
The risk management, a few discussed topic but on the rise among researches, show that the companies, especially those inserted in the automotive segment has been used different techniques for selecting suppliers to focus in a better supply chain control. Establish criteria for selecting suppliers means identifying in advanced the potential risks that the suppliers may offer to the organization during the supply to avoid any interruptions to supply.
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Ammar Chakhrit and Mohammed Chennoufi
This paper aims to enable the analysts of reliability and safety system to assess the criticality and prioritize failure modes perfectly to prefer actions for controlling the risks…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to enable the analysts of reliability and safety system to assess the criticality and prioritize failure modes perfectly to prefer actions for controlling the risks of undesirable scenarios.
Design/methodology/approach
To resolve the challenge of uncertainty and ambiguous related to the parameters, frequency, non-detection and severity considered in the traditional approach failure mode effect and criticality analysis (FMECA) for risk evaluation, the authors used fuzzy logic where these parameters are shown as members of a fuzzy set, which fuzzified by using appropriate membership functions. The adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system process is suggested as a dynamic, intelligently chosen model to ameliorate and validate the results obtained by the fuzzy inference system and effectively predict the criticality evaluation of failure modes. A new hybrid model is proposed that combines the grey relational approach and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to improve the exploitation of the FMECA conventional method.
Findings
This research project aims to reflect the real case study of the gas turbine system. Using this analysis allows evaluating the criticality effectively and provides an alternate prioritizing to that obtained by the conventional method. The obtained results show that the integration of two multi-criteria decision methods and incorporating their results enable to instill confidence in decision-makers regarding the criticality prioritizations of failure modes and the shortcoming concerning the lack of established rules of inference system which necessitate a lot of experience and shows the weightage or importance to the three parameters severity, detection and frequency, which are considered to have equal importance in the traditional method.
Originality/value
This paper is providing encouraging results regarding the risk evaluation and prioritizing failures mode and decision-makers guidance to refine the relevance of decision-making to reduce the probability of occurrence and the severity of the undesirable scenarios with handling different forms of ambiguity, uncertainty and divergent judgments of experts.
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Javad Barabady, Tore Markeset and Uday Kumar
The purpose of this paper is to review, discuss and further develop the production assurance (PA) concept; and to define and describe a typical production assurance program (PAP…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review, discuss and further develop the production assurance (PA) concept; and to define and describe a typical production assurance program (PAP) and its elements.
Design/methodology/approach
An explorative literature study covering PA and dependability concept was carried out on contemporary literature. During the course of the study, meetings and discussions with a number of experts in Sweden and Norway were performed. Different types of data and examples from the oil and gas industries are used to illustrate and support the discussions.
Findings
This paper indicates that the concept of PA helps the decision maker to estimate whether a production plant is able to meet customer requirements, as it provides information about the production plant's delivery capacity, production rate and ability to deliver according to design or customer demands. PAP can provide a basis for effective production control.
Research limitations/implications
The material analysed was mainly related to the oil and gas industry. However, the findings and discussion can be transferred to other areas of application, such as mine production plants and chemical process plants.
Practical implications
A PAP is a valuable tool for production plant managers and engineers, not only for documenting a production plant's performance, but also for providing decision support for the development and optimization of the production plant to improve the plant's performance and reduce risk and uncertainties.
Originality/value
In this paper the concept of dependability is extended to include capacity performance and customer requirements or market demand, which provides a measure for delivery assurance or plant production performance in relation to customer requirements. This paper also develops a generic PAP to achieve a high level of delivery assurance.
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Jennifer Kerr, Paul Rouse and Charl de Villiers
– This paper aims to examine how three different organisations integrate sustainability reporting into management control systems (MCS).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how three different organisations integrate sustainability reporting into management control systems (MCS).
Design/methodology/approach
A case study examination of sustainability reporting integrated into MCS in three New Zealand organisations.
Findings
The integration of sustainability reporting into MCS holds advantages for organisations to operationalise sustainability objectives, broaden stakeholder accountability as well as intensify interactions with stakeholders, formalise organisation beliefs and improve communication of sustainability measures internally. While frameworks such as the balanced scorecard (BSC) can facilitate implementation of sustainability reporting, some organisations may choose to fully integrate the latter into their management control system.
Originality/value
Sustainability reporting is sometimes seen as an external reporting philosophy that can be managed as a separate project. The authors show it can be integrated into MCS, either entirely or through tools such as the BSC. The authors develop a framework that may be useful in future studies to locate our case organisations.
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