Ranking of Risks for Existing and New Building Works

Revista de la construcción, 2020

Construction sites represent complex environments with particular characteristics and high baseline levels of risk in which accidents are a main point of analysis in much of the studies in the literature. Despite the inertia behind this accident-based focus, though, there is criticism that such a reactive approach often involves unreliable information about the special characteristics of the construction site and that the use of lagging indicators is not appropriate. Current trends have taken proactive approaches and made use of analyses based on precursors or leading indicators, which aim to foresee safety issues before they turn into actual incidents. But these two focuses are not independent, and new proactive measures must be developed and rigorous empirical validation. The objective of the current work is to present a critical review that considers these two approaches based on a meta-classification of studies on health and safety on construction sites.

2011

The construction industry has the largest number of injuries compared to other industries. Thus, reducing accidents and determining construction risks are extremely important. One of the essential steps for construction safety management is hazard identification, since the most unmanageable risks are from unidentified hazards. This paper aims to rank the risk of construction hazards. To achieve this aim, the frequency and severity of accidents from the most common hazards at construction sites, were assessed. The data for this study were collected using a web survey. The questionnaire was sent to 300 safety professionals including safety managers, safety officers, and safety experts who were randomly selected from 20 countries. Of those, 76 completed responses were returned. The results reveal that there is no significant difference in severity and frequency of accidents between the studied countries. It was also found that a lack of safety-forward attitudes, a lack of awareness of safety regulations, poor safety awareness of project managers, and a lack of knowledge are the hazards with the most risk in construction projects. The outcome of this study can help organizations and managers prepare proper safety plans and also to increase the knowledge of partners in construction sites through training and awareness programs.

Advances in civil and architectural engineering, 2024

Sustainability encompasses environmental, economic, and social dimensions, with safety standing as a crucial facet within the construction industry's social sustainability framework. This study addresses this vital concern by comprehensively analyzing published research on prominent safety risk factors and effective mitigation measures in construction projects, considering their influence on the industry's sustainability. A systematic literature review spanning 2008 to 2023 examined 32 pertinent articles from reputable journals. The review revealed 25 identified safety risk factors and 20 corresponding effective measures. These were categorised into labour, environmental, technical, and financial risks, forming the basis for a network diagram illustrating their interrelationships and associated mitigation strategies. Moreover, the study introduced a sustainability criterion, evaluating the various safety risk factor categories, and highlighting labour and environmental risks as the most significant concerns among the factors assessed. Finally, the research proposes future research directions aimed at elevating safety and sustainability within construction projects.

Challenges, Opportunities and Solutions in Structural Engineering and Construction, 2009

Statistics indicate that the percentage of fatal industrial accidents arising from repair, maintenance, minor alteration and addition (RMAA) works in Hong Kong was disturbingly high and was over 56% in 2006. This paper provides an initial report of a research project funded by the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the HKSAR to address this safety issue. The aim of this study is to scrutinize the causal relationship between safety climate and safety performance in the RMAA sector. It aims to evaluate the safety climate in the RMAA sector; examine its impacts on safety performance, and recommend measures to improve safety performance in the RMAA sector. This paper firstly reports on the statistics of construction accidents arising from RMAA works. Qualitative and quantitative research methods applied in conducting the research are discussed. The study will critically review these related problems and provide recommendations for improving safety performance in the RMAA sector. 1.2 Safety performance of RMAA works Referring to Table 2, safety performance of the construction industry has been improved tremendously. Accident rates per 1000 workers fell from 247.9 in 1998 to 60.6 in 2007, representing a remarkable drop of 75.6% (Labour Department 2008b). However, we should note that the accident rate per 1000 workers has reached a plateau after 2003. The challenge to the industry would be how to further drive down accident rates to achieve continuous improvement in safety performance.

IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2020

Lack of designer’s knowledge of construction safety risks and HSE personnel’s knowledge of structural designs and means and methods of construction have been highlighted as significant barriers to the implementation of design for construction safety. These barriers often result in poor collaboration among designers and HSE personnel in addressing safety issues that lead to accidents and frequent work stoppages. This study explored the ability of HSE officers, engineers and superintendents to recognize and assess risk associated with constructing structural components of a building (foundation, columns, walls, beams and roofs). The objective was to determine how consensus is risk perceived among the three groups of field personnel. The paper used a quantitative methodology that evaluates safety risks related to performing construction activities to supports designers to carry out construction designs using a risk assessment–based approach. The methodology compares cumulative risks of...

2008

In Australia, an average 49 building and construction workers have been killed at work each year since 1997-98. Building/construction workers are more than twice as likely to be killed at work, than the average worker in all Australian industries. The 'Safer Construction' ...

Previous researches have demonstrated that decisions made during the pre-construction stage have a big influence on the construction worker safety. This paper introduces a systematic approach for dealing with health and safety risks during the pre-construction stage. The developed methodology helps designers to calculate the safety-related performance of their residential construction designs, providing a consistent basis for comparisons between them. In order to avoid a typical shortcoming in the evaluation of health and safety risks, indicators are based on quantitative data available in the 59 project documents. Significance limits are statistically obtained with the analysis of 25 new-start construction projects.

Safety Science, 2020

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries worldwide due to deadly fatalities and accidents recorded yearly. Though many countries have established and implemented safety programs, the situation does not seem to have been mitigated. This study aims at developing a risk assessment approach that can be used to enhance the safety performance of construction projects. The study has employed pair-wise comparisons and weighting-by-ranking surveys to establish risk scores and weights for the various construction accidents, and their potential causes. Data has been collected from safety professionals in 15 large construction sites across the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The study revealed that the type of accident with the highest risk score is "falling objects", while the most significant cause is excessive winds on the project site. The developed approach was applied on an ongoing car park construction project. Results showed that slips, trips and falls had the best safety performance. Furthermore, based on six sigma evaluation, the average project safety performance was at 2.33-sigma which implies that 228,739 accidents may occur in every million opportunities. The paper also provided recommendations to improve the safety performance of the case study.

Journal of Safety Research, 2010

Introduction: Research and practice have demonstrated that decisions made prior to work at construction sites can influence construction worker safety. However, it has also been argued that most architects and design engineers possess neither the knowledge of construction safety nor the knowledge of construction processes necessary to effectively perform Construction Hazards Prevention through Design (CHPtD). Method: This paper introduces a quantitative methodology that supports designers by providing a way to evaluate the safety-related performance of residential construction designs using a risk analysis-based approach. The methodology compares the overall safety risk level of various construction designs and ranks the significance of the various safety risks of each of these designs. The methodology also compares the absolute importance of a particular safety risk in various construction designs. Results: Because the methodology identifies the relevance of each safety risk at a particular site prior to the construction stage, significant risks are highlighted in advance. Thus, a range of measures for mitigating safety risks can then be implemented during on-site construction. Impact on industry: The methodology is specially worthwhile for designers, who can compare construction techniques and systems during the design phase and determine the corresponding level of safety risk without their creative talents being restricted. By using this methodology, construction companies can improve their on-site safety performance.