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Article
Publication date: 23 July 2024

Hongying Niu, Xiaodong Yang, Jiayu Zhang and Shengyu Guo

Construction fall-from-height accidents are not only caused by a single factor but also by the risk coupling between two or more factors. The purpose of this paper is to…

Abstract

Purpose

Construction fall-from-height accidents are not only caused by a single factor but also by the risk coupling between two or more factors. The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively analyze the risk coupling relationships between multiple factors and identify critical factors in construction fall-from-height accidents.

Design/methodology/approach

A cause analysis framework was established from the perspective of human, machine, material, management and environmental factors. The definition, the classification and the process of risk coupling were proposed. The data from 824 historical accident reports from 2011 to 2021 were collected on government websites. A risk coupling analysis model was constructed to quantitatively analyze the risk coupling relationships of multiple factors based on the N-K model. The results were classified using K-means clustering analysis.

Findings

The results indicated that the greater the number of causal factors involved in risk coupling, the higher the risk coupling value and the higher the risk of accidents. However, specific risk coupling combinations occurred when the number of their coupling factors was not large. Human, machine and material factors were determined to be the critical factors when risk coupling between them tended to pose a greater risk of accidents.

Originality/value

This study established a cause analysis framework from five aspects and constructed a theoretical model to quantitatively analyze multi-factor coupling. Several suggestions were proposed for construction units to manage accident risks more effectively by controlling the number of factors and paying more attention to critical factors coupling and management and environmental factors.

Details

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

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 April 2021

Shengyu Guo, Yujia Zhao, Yuqiu Luoren, Kongzheng Liang and Bing Tang

Knowledge discovery related to unsafe behaviors promotes the performance of accident prevention in construction. Although numerous studies on accident causation models have…

Abstract

Purpose

Knowledge discovery related to unsafe behaviors promotes the performance of accident prevention in construction. Although numerous studies on accident causation models have discussed the correlations of unsafe behaviors with various factors (e.g., unsafe conditions), limited research explores correlations between unsafe behaviors within accidents. The purpose of this paper is mining strong association rules of unsafe behaviors from historical accidents to clarify this kind of tacit knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study was adopted as the research approach, in which accident records from building and urban railway construction in China were selected as data resources. The groups of unsafe behaviors extracted from accident records were expressed by the definitions of unsafe behaviors from safety regulations and operating procedures. Frequent Pattern (FP)-Growth algorithm was used for association rule mining, and the critical correlations between unsafe behaviors were represented by the effective strong rules.

Findings

The findings identify and distinguish correlations between unsafe behaviors within construction accidents. In building construction, workers and managers should pay attention to preventing unsafe behaviors related to personal protective equipment and machines and equipment. In urban railway construction, workers should especially avoid unsafe behaviors of inadequately dealing with environmental factors.

Practical implications

Tacit knowledge is transferred to explicit knowledge as the critical correlations between unsafe behaviors within accidents are determined by the effective strong rules. Additionally, the findings provide practice guidance for safety management, to collaboratively control unsafe behaviors with strong correlations.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the body of safety knowledge in construction and provides a further understanding of how construction accidents are caused by multiple unsafe behaviors.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 29 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2022

Lijia Shao, Shengyu Guo, Yimeng Dong, Hongying Niu and Pan Zhang

The construction collapse is one of the most serious accidents since it has several attributes (e.g. accident type and consequence) and its occurrence involves various kinds of…

Abstract

Purpose

The construction collapse is one of the most serious accidents since it has several attributes (e.g. accident type and consequence) and its occurrence involves various kinds of causal factors (e.g. human factors). The impact of causal factors on construction collapse accidents and the interrelationships among causal factors remain poorly explored. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to use association rule mining (ARM) for cause analysis of construction collapse accidents.

Design/methodology/approach

An accident analytic framework is developed to determine the accident attributes and causal factors, and then ARM is introduced as the method for data mining. The data are from 620 historical accident records on government websites of China from 2010 to 2020. Through the generated association rules, the impact of causal factors and the interrelationships among causal factors are explored.

Findings

Collapse accident is easily caused by human factors, material and machine condition and management factors. Furthermore, the results show a close interrelationship between many causal factors and construction scheme and organization. The earthwork collapse is greatly related to environmental condition and the scaffolding collapse is greatly related to material and machine condition.

Practical implications

This study found relevant knowledge about the key causes for different types of construction collapses. Besides, several suggestions are further provided for construction units to prevent construction collapse accidents.

Originality/value

This study uses data mining methods to extract knowledge about the causes of collapse accidents. The impact of causal factors on various types of construction collapse accidents and the interrelationships among causal factors are explained from historical accident data.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 31 March 2015

Ho-fung Hung

From the sixteenth to eighteenth century, China underwent a commercial revolution similar to the one in contemporaneous Europe. The rise of market did foster the rise of a nascent…

Abstract

From the sixteenth to eighteenth century, China underwent a commercial revolution similar to the one in contemporaneous Europe. The rise of market did foster the rise of a nascent bourgeois and the concomitant rise of a liberal, populist version of Confucianism, which advocated a more decentralized and less authoritarian political system in the last few decades of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). But after the collapse of the Ming Empire and the establishment of the Qing Empire (1644–1911) by the Manchu conquerors, the new rulers designated the late-Ming liberal ideologies as heretics, and they resurrected the most conservative form of Confucianism as the political orthodoxy. Under the principle of filial piety given by this orthodoxy, the whole empire was imagined as a fictitious family with the emperor as the grand patriarch and the civil bureaucrats and subjects as children or grandchildren. Under the highly centralized administrative and communicative apparatus of the Qing state, this ideology of the fictitious patrimonial state penetrated into the lowest level of the society. The subsequent paternalist, authoritarian, and moralizing politics of the Qing state contributed to China’s nontransition to capitalism despite its advanced market economy, and helped explain the peculiar form and trajectory of China’s popular contention in the eighteenth century. I also argue that this tradition of fictitious patrimonial politics continued to shape the state-making processes in twentieth-century China and beyond.

Details

Patrimonial Capitalism and Empire
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-757-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 May 2024

Jingxian Wang

This research aims at explaining the phenomenon of the “black children” (heihaizi), a very little-known generation who lived with concealment under the one-child policy in China…

Abstract

This research aims at explaining the phenomenon of the “black children” (heihaizi), a very little-known generation who lived with concealment under the one-child policy in China. The one-child policy was officially introduced to nationwide at the end of 1979 by permitting per couple to have one child only, later modified to a second child allowed if the first was a girl in rural China in 1984. It was officially replaced by a nation-wide two-child policy and most existing research focused on the parents’ sufferings and policy changes. The term “black children” has been mainly used to describe their absence from their family hukou registration and education. However, this research aims at expanding the meaning of being “black” to explain the children who were concealed more than at the level of family formal registration, but also physical freedom and emotional bond. What we do not yet know are the details of their lived experiences from a day-to-day base: where did they live? How were they raised up? Who were involved? Who benefited from it and who did not? In this way, this research challenges the existing scholarship on the one-child policy and repositions the “black children” as primary victims, and reveals the family as a key figure in co-producing their diminished status with the support of state power. It is very important to understand these children’s loss of citizenship and human freedom from the inside of the family because they were concealed in so many ways away from public view and interventions. This research focuses on illustrating how their lack of access to continued, stabilized, and reciprocally recognized family interactions framed their very idea of self-worth and identity.

Details

More than Just a ‘Home’: Understanding the Living Spaces of Families
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83797-652-2

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 December 2021

Hemaid Alsulami, Suhail H. Serbaya, Ali Rizwan, Muhammad Saleem, Yassine Maleh and Zobia Alamgir

In a country like Saudi Arabia, where the construction industry is witnessing an impressive growth in the post-oil era, it is important to examine the occupational health and…

Abstract

Purpose

In a country like Saudi Arabia, where the construction industry is witnessing an impressive growth in the post-oil era, it is important to examine the occupational health and safety behaviors of construction workers (CWs).

Design/methodology/approach

The present study aims to investigate the impact of emotional intelligence (EI) on workers' stress and safety behaviors. Data were collected from CWs (n = 265) at a major construction site in the city of Jeddah. Two questionnaires comprising 25 and 32 questions were used to measure their EI and stress levels, respectively. Furthermore, structured interviews were conducted with the managers and supervisors to inquire about the safety behavior of their respective workers. Descriptive statistics, simple and companion regression were used for data analysis.

Findings

The findings indicate that EI plays an important role to enhance the safety behaviors of the CWs besides reducing their workplace stresses. Furthermore, workers' stress levels are found to negatively impact their safety behaviors, indicating that any reduction in occupational stress can reciprocally enhance their safety compliance. The findings are further discussed with the concerned stakeholders to recommend a seven-point therapeutic role of EI for the safety of CWs.

Originality/value

Results of the study can be used by managers and supervisors of the Saudi construction industry to reduce workplace accidents and improve the productivity of their organizations.

Details

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 30 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0969-9988

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2015

Wanxia Zhao and Yonghua Zou

The purpose of this paper is to examine green university initiatives in the context of China, using Tsinghua University, which is China’s green university pioneer, as a case…

2294

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine green university initiatives in the context of China, using Tsinghua University, which is China’s green university pioneer, as a case study.

Design/methodology/approach

The research method used for this paper is a case study based on participant observation and document analysis. The approach to data collection includes the examination of archive records, yearbooks and statistical information regarding Tsinghua University.

Findings

This paper finds that Tsinghua’s green university initiative is a response to Tsinghua’s strategy of establishing a word-class university, with a goal of bearing more responsibility in promoting a sustainable society. Tsinghua employs one principle (green university) and three dimensions (green education, green research and green campus) to frame its green university initiative. Tsinghua’s green university initiative has earned many achievements, but it has also faced many challenges, such as ignoring social justice, fragmented coordination efforts and the lack of effective communication and assessment mechanisms.

Practical implications

As a leading university and the pioneering green university in the country, Tsinghua University is very influential with regard to the development of green universities in China. Many other universities have designed their own programs based on Tsinghua’s experiences in the green university initiative. As such, Tsinghua’s experiences provide reference values to other universities in China.

Originality/value

This paper comprehensively examines the evolution, framework, achievements and challenges of the green university initiative of Tsinghua University. It helps the audience to know how China’s universities understand and practice education for sustainable development.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 May 2013

Fung Kwan, Yanrui Wu and Shuaihe Zhuo

This paper aims to contribute to the pool of studies of rural underemployment in China. It is devoted to the conceptualization and measurement of surplus labour.

2667

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to contribute to the pool of studies of rural underemployment in China. It is devoted to the conceptualization and measurement of surplus labour.

Design/methodology/approach

The agricultural labour requirement function is estimated by the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) with China's prefecture‐level data. Surplus labour or inefficient labour is obtained by subtracting the required labour from the actual labour participated in agriculture.

Findings

The authors' analysis indicates that the existing size of agricultural surplus labour in rural China is still significantly large with the continued practice of the household registration system and China's WTO membership. However, the size has been decreasing over the last decade.

Research limitations/implications

Quality of data might affect the authors' estimates.

Practical implications

The phenomenon of the coexistence of surplus agricultural labour and shortage of workers in non‐agricultural production in urban China was discussed in line with the authors' research findings, as this has important impacts on the policies of rural industrialization in China.

Social implications

This paper further argues that China is probably experiencing the second stage of the Lewis‐Fei‐Ranis dualistic economic framework.

Originality/value

The authors' paper is probably the first to use prefecture data and SFA for panel data study of surplus agricultural labour in China. The analysis is essential to the understanding of the rural labour market during its rapid transition.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2015

CK Cheung and Lucia Lin Liu

In recent years, the concept of subculture has been fiercely criticized, with some scholars even claiming that it is no longer relevant in a multi-cultural world (Muggleton, 2000;…

Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, the concept of subculture has been fiercely criticized, with some scholars even claiming that it is no longer relevant in a multi-cultural world (Muggleton, 2000; Chaney, 2004; Stahl, 2004). However, the authors argue that by revisiting the Chicago School tradition and reconceptualizing subculture on the basis of acknowledging its limitations and its potential, subculture theory remains applicable in the context of contemporary China. Through an eight-month ethnographic study of a group of deviant students in a secondary school in urban China, the purpose of this paper is to contend that the subculture of these young people from lower-class backgrounds is a means to negotiate their space and power in a failing school system situated in a drastically transforming society full of diversified yet often conflicting values.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, the authors undertook an ethnographic study to follow a group of deviant students for eight months, trying to understand their everyday lives and the process of their identity construction. The research was conducted in Xiamen, a coastal city located in the southeast part of mainland China. Unlike large metropolitan areas such as Beijing and Shanghai, where most studies have been conducted so far, Xiamen represents one of the medium-sized cities, which are the majority in China. After a process of sampling among 11 classes from five schools in different tiers, the authors chose one class in Grade 2 at a medium-level secondary school called “Central Park Secondary School” as a pseudonym. The authors stayed in the field for the main study and the authors also paid another visit to the school to follow up on students’ recent development.

Findings

In this study, a group of problem students identified with each other and shared the same problems and situations, and collectively formed a subcultural group, from within which they could challenge the authority of teachers and parents and negotiate power in the school; for example, reaching a truce with teachers so that they could have an easier time at school until they graduated. Their subculture and resistance may seem like a self-defeating practice, because what they learned at school and the qualifications they obtained could only assure them laboring jobs and reproduce their lower class status. However, this subculture offered an alternative way to safeguard their happiness and healthy development, which in this case is psychological well-being and better interpersonal skills.

Practical implications

This paper could provide the teachers and school administrators with a new perspective to look at some of their students’ poor performance and disruptive behaviors. With a deeper understanding of their “deviant” students, the teachers may develop more pertinent measures to help their students.

Originality/value

This paper argues that, through revisiting the Chicago School tradition and reconceptualizing subculture on the basis of acknowledging its limitations and potential, subculture theory remains applicable in the context of contemporary China.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 4 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 15 October 2021

Bangxi Li, Chong Liu, Feng Zhao and Yanghua Huang

In the current literature, there is little systematic research on the relationship among adjustment of the income distribution, change in economic structure and improvement of…

Abstract

Purpose

In the current literature, there is little systematic research on the relationship among adjustment of the income distribution, change in economic structure and improvement of macroeconomic efficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper expands Marx's reproduction schema into the “Marx–Sraffa” three-department structure table comprising fixed capital, general means of production and means of consumption and employs China's input–output table from 1987 to 2015 to portray the relationship between income distribution and macroeconomic efficiency under investment-driven growth.

Findings

This paper calculates the wage–profit curve of China's economy and evaluates the space of macroeconomic efficiency improvement in China based on the deviation between actual and potential income distribution structure.

Originality/value

The results show that there is a downward trend of the profit rate, which meets Marx's theoretical prediction, and the decline in the profit rate is mainly attributed to an increase in the organic composition of capital arising from the rapid growth of fixed capital investment under extended growth. The analysis of macroeconomic efficiency shows that the space for improving macroeconomic efficiency is extremely limited under traditional growth pattern and that China must transform its economic development pattern and foster new economic growth drivers.

Details

China Political Economy, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-1652

Keywords

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