Carol K.H. Hon, Jimmie Hinze and Albert P.C. Chan
The repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) sector has been expanding in many developed cities. Safety problems of the RMAA sector have attracted the attention…
Abstract
Purpose
The repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) sector has been expanding in many developed cities. Safety problems of the RMAA sector have attracted the attention of many governments. This study has the objectives of comparing the level of safety climate of workers, supervisors and managers in the RMAA sector; and explaining/predicting the impact of safety climate on injury occurrence of workers, supervisors and managers.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey was administered to RMAA contracting companies in Hong Kong.
Findings
When comparing the safety climate perception of workers, supervisors and managers in the RMAA sector, the supervisors group had the lowest mean safety climate score. Results showed that a positive workforce safety attitude and acceptance of safety rules and regulations reduced the workers' likelihood of having injuries. A reasonable production schedule led to a lower probability of supervisors being injured. Management commitment and effective safety management reduced the probability of managers being injured.
Originality/value
This study revealed variations of safety climate at the different levels in the organizational hierarchy and their varying influence on safety performance of the RMAA sector. Safety of RMAA works could be improved by promulgating specific safety measures at the different hierarchy levels.
Details
Keywords
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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Mostafa Dadashi Haji and Behrouz Behnam
It is a well-accepted note that to enhance safety performance in a project by preventing hazards, recognizing the safety leading indicators is of paramount importance.
Abstract
Purpose
It is a well-accepted note that to enhance safety performance in a project by preventing hazards, recognizing the safety leading indicators is of paramount importance.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, the relationship between safety leading indicators is determined, and their impacts on the project are assessed and visualized throughout the time of the project in a proactive manner. Construction and safety experts are first interviewed to determine the most important safety leading indicators of the construction industry, and then the relationships that may exist between them are identified. Furthermore, a system dynamics model is generated using the interviews and integrated with an add-on developed on the building information modeling (BIM) platform. Finally, the impacts of the safety leading indicators on the project are calculated based on their time of occurrence, impact time and effective radius.
Findings
The add-on generates a heat-map that visualizes the impacts of the safety leading indicators on the project through time. Moreover, to assess the effectiveness of the developed tool, a case study is conducted on a station located on a water transfer line. In order to validate the results of the tool, a survey is also conducted from the project's staff and experts in the field. Previous studies have so far focused on active safety leading indicators that may result in a particular hazard, and the importance of the effects that safety leading indicators have on another is not considered. This study considers their effects on each other in a real-time manner.
Originality/value
Using this tool project's stakeholders and staff can identify the hazards proactively; hence, they can make the required decisions in advance to reduce the impact of associated events. Moreover, two other potentially contributions of the presented work can be enumerated as: firstly, the findings provide a knowledge framework of active safety leading indicators and their interactions for construction safety researchers who can go on to further study safety management. Secondly, the proposed framework contributes to encouragement of time-based location-based preventive strategies on construction sites.