WILLIAM S. DESTER and DAVID I. BLOCKLEY
The construction industry has a poor safety record. There is a common perception that this is because it is an inherently dangerous industry. It is suggested that the industry…
Abstract
The construction industry has a poor safety record. There is a common perception that this is because it is an inherently dangerous industry. It is suggested that the industry would be better characterized as one with a poor safety culture and that attempts to improve the safety record will not be fully effective until the safety culture is improved. The relationship between unsafe behaviour and safety culture is discussed together with the difficulties of assessing and managing safety culture. Some of the influences on safety culture in construction are described. The initiative to develop an improvement in the safety culture of construction needs to come from within the industry through a genuine commitment to safety.
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Weiguang Jiang, Lieyun Ding and Cheng Zhou
Construction safety has been a long-term problem in the development of the construction industry. An increasing number of smart construction sites have been designed using…
Abstract
Purpose
Construction safety has been a long-term problem in the development of the construction industry. An increasing number of smart construction sites have been designed using different techniques to reduce injuries caused by construction accidents and achieve proactive risk control. However, comprehensive smart construction site safety management solutions and applications have yet to be developed. Thus, this study proposes a smart construction site framework for safety management.
Design/methodology/approach
A safety management system based on a cyber-physical system is proposed. The system establishes risk data synchronization mapping between the virtual construction and physical construction sites through scene reconstruction design, data awareness, data communication and data processing modules. Personnel, mechanical and other risks on site will be warned and controlled.
Findings
The results of the case study have proved the management benefits of the system. On-site workers gradually realized that they should enter the construction site based on the standard process. And the number of people close to the construction hazard areas decreased.
Research limitations/implications
There are some limitations in the technology of smart construction site. The modeling speed can be faster, the data collection can be timelier, and the identification of unsafe behavior can be integrated into the system. Construction quality and efficiency issues in a virtual construction site will also be solved in further research.
Practical implications
In this paper, this system is actually applied in the mega project management process. More practical projects can use the management ideas and method of this paper to ensure on-site safety.
Originality/value
This study is among the first attempts to build a complete smart construction site based on CPS and apply it in practice. Personnel, mechanical, components, environment information will be displayed on the virtual construction site. It will greatly promote the development of the intellectualized construction industry in the future.
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Franck Taillandier, Cédric Baudrit, Claudio Carvajal, Benjamin Delhomme and Bruno Beullac
Civil engineering structures are regularly confronted with failures that can lead to catastrophic consequences. It is important, after a failure, to be able to identify the origin…
Abstract
Purpose
Civil engineering structures are regularly confronted with failures that can lead to catastrophic consequences. It is important, after a failure, to be able to identify the origin and the sequence of factors that led to it. This failure analysis by experts, called forensic engineering investigation, generally leads to the drafting of an expert report. These reports do not inform on the processes that guided the experts to a conclusion and the uncertainties involved. This paper aims to propose a new methodological approach to formalize the opinions of experts in forensic engineering.
Design/methodology/approach
The research consists in combining abstract argumentation with the theory of imprecise probabilities to take into account epistemic and stochastic uncertainties to support forensic engineering investigation.
Findings
A model and a tool to support forensic analysis are presented. An application on the collapse of the Brumadinho dam highlights the interest of the chosen approach.
Originality/value
This work is the first use of the abstract argument framework in civil engineering, and so in forensic engineering. Furthermore, it provides an innovative model based on imprecise probability for AAF.
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David John Edwards, Jahangir Akhtar, Iain Rillie, Nicholas Chileshe, Joseph H.K. Lai, Chris J. Roberts and Obuks Ejohwomu
The advent of Industry 4.0 has engendered opportunities for a coalescence of digital technologies that collectively enable driverless vehicles to operate during the construction…
Abstract
Purpose
The advent of Industry 4.0 has engendered opportunities for a coalescence of digital technologies that collectively enable driverless vehicles to operate during the construction and use of a highway. Yet, hitherto scant research has been conducted to review these collective developments and/or sample construction practitioner opinion on them. This study aims to present a systematic review of extant literature on the application of driverless technologies in civil engineering and in particular, the highways infrastructure sector and offers insight into the limitations of associated barriers to full adoption, namely, current technological development processes, legal deficiencies and societal concerns. In so doing, this work presents a vignette of contemporary developments augmented by a critical analysis from practitioners’ perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach
A mixed philosophical methodological approach is adopted for this inductive research study. Interpretivism is used to critically analyse the literature and post-positivism to perform content analysis of the literature and synthesis of the discourse with practitioners. A total of 44 related papers published between 1998 and 2019 have been included in this study. Emergent themes identified from literature are then discussed in some further detail, namely, 1) automation and robotics; 2) case studies and simulations; and 3) safety and ergonomics). A focus group is then held with leading industrialists to discuss their experiences of advanced driverless technology applications in practice. Based upon a culmination of emergent evidence, a conceptual model of prevailing barriers is then developed to further elucidate upon the challenges facing the highways infrastructure sector.
Findings
Research into driverless technologies within the highways infrastructure sector has received relatively scant academic attention. Hitherto, most advancements made have stemmed from multidisciplinary teams consisting of engineering, information technology and social scientist researchers. There is insufficient supporting evidence of civil engineering and construction academics input into developments made – suggesting that prototype products often fail to adequately consider practical applications in the highways infrastructure sector at the design and use case stage. This view is substantiated by feedback from leading industry experts who participated in unstructured telephone interviews. Their feedback suggests that practical applications of products have been beset with problems, thus creating a perception that advanced technologies are largely “unusable” within the highways infrastructure sector and so are unsuitable for large-scale (and particularly bespoke) industrial applications.
Originality/value
This research critically synthesises the prevailing scientific discourse within extant literature on driverless technologies implemented but also garners practitioner feedback from leading UK industrialists on their applications in practice. Hitherto, this combined analysis approach has been rarely used in spite of it having significant advantages of tacit knowledge reflection on technologies used, where such can be used as a basis for further informed discourse and/or development. Moreover, this work culminates in a conceptual model that acts as a catalyst for future research investigations.
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“Consumerism”, for want of a better description, is given to the mass of statutory control (which shows no sign of declining) of standards, trading justice to the consumer, means…
Abstract
“Consumerism”, for want of a better description, is given to the mass of statutory control (which shows no sign of declining) of standards, trading justice to the consumer, means of redress to those who have been misled and defrauded, advice to those in doubt; and to the widespread movement, mostly in the Western world, to achieve these ends.
– The purpose of this survey is to find a significant sample of reference resources for electrical engineering as they are presented in subject-specific LibGuides.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this survey is to find a significant sample of reference resources for electrical engineering as they are presented in subject-specific LibGuides.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey is based on a detailed observation and collection of sources designated as Reference Resources in LibGuides, titles found were compiled and organized.
Findings
The results are substantial; they offered a body of specialized resources, which includes e-book collections, dictionaries, handbooks, encyclopedias and other resources that are important to electrical engineering students and researchers.
Research limitations/implications
A considerable amount of resources were found; nevertheless, they represent the resources found in a randomly selected sample of LibGuides; therefore, the result is limited to the group of libraries selected.
Practical implications
The results of this survey are valuable to subject librarians interested in comparing resources with a pool of libraries and to discover titles that can be of interest to their collections.
Originality/value
The work is original, as this is the first paper publishing the results of a survey of electrical engineering guides.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) as a work of art and the role of the bridge in shaping community identity and discourse. Particular attention…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the Golden Gate Bridge (GGB) as a work of art and the role of the bridge in shaping community identity and discourse. Particular attention is focussed on the discourse surrounding mental illness and suicide, which perpetuate the problem of suicides involving the bridge as a means and mechanism of death. An analysis of the person who attempts or completes suicide is also performed.
Design/methodology/approach
Multiple research articles, writings, and a cinematic production are drawn on to frame the argument in terms of Michel Foucault's adaption of Pantopticism Theory and Jacques Lacan's Mirror Theory, which includes the concepts of the Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic.
Findings
The GGB is a major factor in shaping the discourse on mental illness and suicide in the San Francisco community. The influences the GGB exerts combines with and exacerbates a culture of stigma, which perpetuates negative discourse and increases the risk of suicides in those already vulnerable.
Research limitations/implications
The research for this paper was performed at a distance and was conducted, with the exception of one personal communication, by literature search and application to theory. Ethnographic research would be a logical next step to study the phenomenon further.
Practical implications
Theory developed from this paper could be used in determining a relevant course of action for adding to existing suicide prevention efforts in the San Francisco Area and any other community with a prominent icon, such as the GGB, that may be exerting a negative influence on the suicide rates of that area.
Social implications
An awareness of how art, culture, and psychology interact would increase awareness of the creation of a stigmatized environment and perhaps precipitate a change in the underlying negative discourse.
Originality/value
This paper takes a fresh look at the phenomenon of violent death by suicide where a physical object/icon (the GGB) is used as a means to die. The particular theories and approach used to explain the interactions that intensify the suicide death rate have never been combined and interwoven in such an interdisciplinary way to seek an explanation.
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This paper aims to provide graduate students, researchers, governmental and independent agencies with an overview on the stages and management of technological disasters.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide graduate students, researchers, governmental and independent agencies with an overview on the stages and management of technological disasters.
Design/methodology/approach
The technological disasters are a subject of concern to the researchers, the academicians, the governmental and independent agencies. The disasters, which involve major hazard installations (MHIs), are known as technological disasters. The information has been collected from several sources such as the technical, and general articles, internet web sites, and internal reports. The technological disaster definition and stages have been reviewed. This paper presents an overview on the technological disaster management cycle.
Findings
Technological disasters consist of three stages. The stages are classified into pre‐, during and post‐disaster stages. Disaster management is a collective term encompassing all aspects of planning for and responding to disasters, including both pre‐disaster and post‐disaster activities. Disaster management cycle is an open‐ended process. The four phases comprising the cycle begin and end with mitigation. The stages are not mutually exclusive – there is an overlap. The stages of disaster management can be operative concurrently, because those stages are interrelated; they are not independent entities with one stopping and the next following.
Originality/value
This paper presents an overview on the technological disaster definition and stages. It provides the MHIs management and the related authority with a background on the technological disaster management cycle. It motivates the members of the MHIs, particularly managerial staff, and the emergency planners to continually improve the control of MHIs. It provides the background and basis for further research in disaster and disaster management.
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Fatma Pakdil and Karen Moustafa Leonard
Lean systems thinking was widely studied using relevant variables, but there is a dearth of published theoretical or empirical evidence about the cultural aspects of lean…
Abstract
Purpose
Lean systems thinking was widely studied using relevant variables, but there is a dearth of published theoretical or empirical evidence about the cultural aspects of lean processes. The lack of conceptual development is one of the motivations for this study. Do organizational cultural variations correlate with the success and effectiveness of lean processes? What organizational infrastructures are required for effective lean implementation and continuation? The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Examining literature in the area of lean production and lean management, the authors sought current literature at the intersection of organizational culture and lean processes, particularly implementation and sustainability, but found little relating to the topic. Therefore, using the Competing Values Framework taxonomy, the authors examine this intersection, relying on related research in the areas.
Findings
In this paper, a brief discussion of lean processes in relation to organizational culture leads to propositions that identify the various cultural dimensions and their purported effect on lean implementation and sustainability. A model of this interaction is developed. Those quadrants of the Competing Values Framework that might be useful in developing research directions for the future are identified.
Research limitations/implications
Future research directions include the measurement of organizational culture in firms that have implemented lean processes. This would be a step toward looking at the effect that the different quadrants in the Competing Values Framework have on various elements of lean efforts. This would take a significant amount of work, because the manufacturing industry, the leader in implementing and sustaining lean processes, may have institutionalized particular organizational cultures. It would be an interesting step forward in the understanding of how lean processes are operationalized across different firms and industries. However, there are multiple ways to examine culture; the authors believe this method allows the capture of the entire spectrum.
Practical implications
Knowing which dimensions influence lean effectiveness and the way that they wield that influence allows managers to develop the firm’s organizational culture to one that will support implementing and sustaining lean efforts. The challenge to implement and sustain lean processes lies in the need to identify the organizational culture infrastructure that will allow this system that was first used by Japanese firms to operate well in other organizational contexts. The values and norms that underlie lean processes may create conflict with the culture that already exists within the organization; such divergence retards adoption and performance.
Originality/value
There is a lack of research at the critical intersection of organizational culture and lean implementation/sustainability. Culture is key to making the changes required of lean implementation and in sustaining the drive toward lean production and management. The paper begins to fill that gap.