Reliability model and critical factors identification of construction safety management based on system thinking
Abstract
Safety is a key objective of construction management, but construction safety management is complex due to various types of technical and management factors. If critical factors can be identified and corresponding measurements can be adopted, it will be more direct and effective to improve safety performance. In this paper, by using the system thinking method, construction safety management is considered as a system and decomposed into six subsystems and related management factors. The fuzzy fault tree analysis method was used to build a reliability analysis model and reveal the failure probabilities of factors in the safety organization management subsystem. Through a questionnaire survey conducted in Wuhan, China, the pivotal importance degrees and average occurrence probabilities of basic factors are figured out. On the basis of that, nine critical factors of the safety organization management subsystem are identified and corresponding improvement measurements are proposed. More, a case study of Hangzhou underground railway tunnel collapse accident in 2008 is conducted, which verifies that the framework of construction safety management based on system thinking can be a useful tool for identifying faults or failure reasons of construction safety management.
Keyword : construction, safety management, reliability, system thinking, fuzzy fault tree
How to Cite
Zhang, W., Zhang, X., Luo, X., & Zhao, T. (2019). Reliability model and critical factors identification of construction safety management based on system thinking. Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 25(4), 362-379. https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2019.8652
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
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Costella, M. F., Saurin, T. A., & Guimarães, L. B. D. M. (2009). A method for assessing health and safety management systems from the resilience engineering perspective. Safety Science, 47(8), 1056-1067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.11.006
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Fuenmayor, R. (1991). The roots of reductionism: A counter-ontoepistemology for a systems approach. Systems Practice, 4(5), 419-448. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01104460
Goh, Y. M., Brown, H., & Spickett, J. (2010). Applying systems thinking concepts in the analysis of major incidents and safety culture. Safety Science, 48(3), 302-309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.11.006
Haas, E. J., & Yorio, P. (2016). Exploring the state of health and safety management system performance measurement in mining organizations. Safety Science, 83, 48-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.11.009
Han, S. U., Saba, F., Lee, S. H., Mohamed, Y., & Peña-Mora, F. (2014). Toward an understanding of the impact of productionpressure on safety performance in construction operations. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 68(1), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.10.007
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Jannadi, O. M. (1996). Factors affecting the safety of the construction industry. Building Research and Information, 24(2), 108-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613219608727510
Karakhan, A. A., Rajendran, S., Gambatese, J., & Nnaji, C. (2018). Measuring and evaluating safety maturity of construction contractors: multicriteria decision-making approach. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(7), 04018054. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001503
Khan, K. M. I., Suguna, K., & Raghunath, P. N. (2015). A study on safety management in construction projects. International Journal of Engineering Science and Innovative Technology, 4(4), 119-128.
Kyriakidis, M., Hirsch, R., & Majumdar, A. (2012). Metro railway safety: An analysis of accident precursors. Safety Science, 50(7), 1535-1548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2012.03.004
Lebeau, K. H., & Wadia-Fascetti, S. J. (2007). Fault tree analysis of schoharie creek bridge collapse. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 21(4), 320-326. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(2007)21:4(320)
Lee, K. P., Lee, H. S., Park, M. S., Kim, H. S., Baek, Y. J., & Lee, S. H. (2012). RFID-based real-time locating system for construction safety management. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 11(2), 366-377. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000144
Li, X., Yi, W., Chi, H., Wang, X., & Albert, P. C. (2018). A critical review of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) applications in construction safety. Automation in Construction, 86, 150-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.11.003
Lin, C. T., & Wang, M. J. J. (1998). Hybrid fault tree analysis using fuzzy sets. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 58(3), 205-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0951-8320(97)00072-0
Martínez-Aires, M. D., López-Alonso, M., & Martínez-Rojas, M. (2018). Building information modeling and safety management: a systematic review. Safety Science, 101, 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.08.015
Memon, A. H., Soomro, M. A., Memon, N. A., & Abassi, M. N. (2017). Factors causing health and safety hazards in construction projects in Pakistan. Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 36(3), 559-568. https://doi.org/10.22581/muet1982.1703.12
Mitropoulos, P., & Memarian, B. (2012). Team processes and safety of workers: cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes of construction crews. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(10), 1181-1191.
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000527
Mitropoulos, P., Abdelhamid, T. S., & Howell, G. A. (2005). Systems model of construction accident causation, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131(7), 816-825. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2005)131:7(816)
Namian, M., Albert, A., Zuluaga, C. M., & Behm, M. (2016). Role of safety training: impact on hazard recognition and safety risk perception. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(12), 04016073. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001198
Ng, S. T., Cheng, K. P., & Skitmore, R. M. (2005). A framework for evaluating the safety performance of construction contractors. Building and Environment, 40(10), 1347-1355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2004.11.025
Onisawa, T. (1988). An approach to human reliability in machine systems using error possibility. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 27(2), 87-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-0114(88)90140-6
Pellicer, E., Carvajal, G. I., Rubio, M. C., & Catalá, J. (2014). A method to estimate occupational health and safety costs in construction projects. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 18(7), 1955-1965. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-014-0591-2
Sawacha, E., Naoum, S., & Fong, D. (1999). Factors affecting safety performance on construction sites. International Journal of Project Management, 17(5), 309-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(98)00042-8
Stave, K. (2002). Using system dynamics to improve public participation in environmental decisions. System Dynamics Review, 18(2), 139-167. https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.237
Subramanyan, H., Sawant, P. H., & Bhatt, V. (2012). Construction project risk assessment: Development of model based on investigation of opinion of construction project experts from India. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(3), 409-421. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000435
Sun, Y., Fang, D., Wang, S., Dai, M., & Lv, X. (2008). Safety risk identification and assessment for Beijing Olympic venues construction. Journal of Management in Engineering, 24(1), 40-47. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2008)24:1(40)
Suraji, A., Duff, A. R., & Peckitt, S. J. (2001). Development of a causal model of construction accident causation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 127(4), 337-344. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2001)127:4(337)
Teo, E., Ling, F., & Chong, A. (2005). Framework for project managers to manage construction safety. International Journal of Project Management, 23(4), 329-341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2004.09.001
Tixier, A. J. P., Hallowell, M. R., Albert, A., van Boven, L., & Kleiner, B. M. (2014). Psychological antecedents of risk-taking behavior in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(11), 04014052. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000894
Wilkins, J. R. (2011). Construction workers’ perceptions of health and safety training programs. Construction Management and Economics, 29(10), 1017-1026. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2011.633538
Wu, C., Li, N., & Fang, D. (2017). Leadership improvement and its impact on workplace safety in construction projects: A conceptual model and action research. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1495-1511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.08.013
Wu, C., Song, X., Wang, T., & Fang, D. (2015). Core dimensions of the construction safety climate for a standardized safety-climate measurement. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(8), 04015018. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000996
Yi, S. L., Zhang, X., & Calvo, M. H. (2015). Construction safety management of building project based on BIM. Journal of Mechanical Engineering Research and Development, 38(1), 97-104.
Zhang, L., Liu, Q., Wu, X., & Skibniewski, M. J. (2016). Perceiving interactions on construction safety behaviors: workers’ perspective. Journal of Management in Engineering, 32(5), 04016012. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000454
Zhang, P., Li, N., Fang, D., & Wu, H. (2017). Supervisor-focused behavior-based safety method for the construction industry: Case study in Hong Kong. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(7), 05017009. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001294
Albert, A., Hallowell, M. R., & Kleiner, B. M. (2009). Enhancing construction hazard recognition and communication with energy-based cognitive mnemonics and safety meeting maturity model: Multiple baseline study. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 22(6), 539. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000790
ANSI (American National Standards Institute). (2012). American national standard for occupational health and safety management systems. Washington, DC, USA.
Chen, S. J., & Hwang, C. L. (1992). Fuzzy multiple attribute decision making. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-46768-4
Cheng, E. W. L., Ryan, N., & Kelly, S. (2012). Exploring the perceived influence of safety management practices on project performance in the construction industry. Safety Science, 50(2), 363-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.09.016
Choudhry, R. M., Fang, D., & Ahmed, S. M. (2008). Safety management in construction: Best practices in Hong Kong. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 1, 20-32. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1052-3928(2008)134:1(20)
Churchman, C. W. (1999). The systems approach. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 30(3), 4-10.
Costella, M. F., Saurin, T. A., & Guimarães, L. B. D. M. (2009). A method for assessing health and safety management systems from the resilience engineering perspective. Safety Science, 47(8), 1056-1067. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2008.11.006
Fang, D. P., Xie, F., Huang, X. Y., & Li, H. (2004). Factor analysis-based studies on construction workplace safety management in China. International Journal of Project Management, 22(1), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(02)00115-1
Feng, Y., Zhang, S., & Wu, P. (2015). Factors influencing workplace accident costs of building projects. Safety Science, 72, 97-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.08.008
Fuenmayor, R. (1991). The roots of reductionism: A counter-ontoepistemology for a systems approach. Systems Practice, 4(5), 419-448. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01104460
Goh, Y. M., Brown, H., & Spickett, J. (2010). Applying systems thinking concepts in the analysis of major incidents and safety culture. Safety Science, 48(3), 302-309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.11.006
Haas, E. J., & Yorio, P. (2016). Exploring the state of health and safety management system performance measurement in mining organizations. Safety Science, 83, 48-58. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.11.009
Han, S. U., Saba, F., Lee, S. H., Mohamed, Y., & Peña-Mora, F. (2014). Toward an understanding of the impact of productionpressure on safety performance in construction operations. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 68(1), 106-116. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.10.007
Haslam, R. A., Hide, S. A., Gibb, A. G. F., Gyi, D. E., Pavitt, T., Atkinson, S., & Duff, A. R. (2005). Contributing factors in construction accidents. Applied Ergonomics, 36(4), 401-415. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2004.12.002
Heinrich, H. W., Petersen, D. C., Roos, N. R., & Hazlett, S. (1980). Industrial accident prevention: A safety management approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hinze, J. (1997). Construction safety. Upper Saddle River, New York: Prentice-Hall.
Hinze, J. (2006). Construction safety (2nd ed.). Tappan, New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
Hinze, J., & Gambatese, J. (2003). Factors that influence safety performance of specialty contractors. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 129(2), 159-164. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2003)129:2(159)
Hinze, J., Hallowell, M., & Baud, K. (2013). Construction-safety best practices and relationships to safety performance. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 139(10), 04013006. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000751
Jannadi, O. M. (1996). Factors affecting the safety of the construction industry. Building Research and Information, 24(2), 108-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/09613219608727510
Karakhan, A. A., Rajendran, S., Gambatese, J., & Nnaji, C. (2018). Measuring and evaluating safety maturity of construction contractors: multicriteria decision-making approach. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(7), 04018054. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001503
Khan, K. M. I., Suguna, K., & Raghunath, P. N. (2015). A study on safety management in construction projects. International Journal of Engineering Science and Innovative Technology, 4(4), 119-128.
Kyriakidis, M., Hirsch, R., & Majumdar, A. (2012). Metro railway safety: An analysis of accident precursors. Safety Science, 50(7), 1535-1548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2012.03.004
Lebeau, K. H., & Wadia-Fascetti, S. J. (2007). Fault tree analysis of schoharie creek bridge collapse. Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 21(4), 320-326. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(2007)21:4(320)
Lee, K. P., Lee, H. S., Park, M. S., Kim, H. S., Baek, Y. J., & Lee, S. H. (2012). RFID-based real-time locating system for construction safety management. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 11(2), 366-377. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CP.1943-5487.0000144
Li, X., Yi, W., Chi, H., Wang, X., & Albert, P. C. (2018). A critical review of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) applications in construction safety. Automation in Construction, 86, 150-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2017.11.003
Lin, C. T., & Wang, M. J. J. (1998). Hybrid fault tree analysis using fuzzy sets. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 58(3), 205-213. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0951-8320(97)00072-0
Martínez-Aires, M. D., López-Alonso, M., & Martínez-Rojas, M. (2018). Building information modeling and safety management: a systematic review. Safety Science, 101, 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.08.015
Memon, A. H., Soomro, M. A., Memon, N. A., & Abassi, M. N. (2017). Factors causing health and safety hazards in construction projects in Pakistan. Mehran University Research Journal of Engineering and Technology, 36(3), 559-568. https://doi.org/10.22581/muet1982.1703.12
Mitropoulos, P., & Memarian, B. (2012). Team processes and safety of workers: cognitive, affective, and behavioral processes of construction crews. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(10), 1181-1191.
https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000527
Mitropoulos, P., Abdelhamid, T. S., & Howell, G. A. (2005). Systems model of construction accident causation, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131(7), 816-825. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2005)131:7(816)
Namian, M., Albert, A., Zuluaga, C. M., & Behm, M. (2016). Role of safety training: impact on hazard recognition and safety risk perception. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(12), 04016073. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001198
Ng, S. T., Cheng, K. P., & Skitmore, R. M. (2005). A framework for evaluating the safety performance of construction contractors. Building and Environment, 40(10), 1347-1355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2004.11.025
Onisawa, T. (1988). An approach to human reliability in machine systems using error possibility. Fuzzy Sets and Systems, 27(2), 87-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-0114(88)90140-6
Pellicer, E., Carvajal, G. I., Rubio, M. C., & Catalá, J. (2014). A method to estimate occupational health and safety costs in construction projects. KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 18(7), 1955-1965. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12205-014-0591-2
Sawacha, E., Naoum, S., & Fong, D. (1999). Factors affecting safety performance on construction sites. International Journal of Project Management, 17(5), 309-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(98)00042-8
Stave, K. (2002). Using system dynamics to improve public participation in environmental decisions. System Dynamics Review, 18(2), 139-167. https://doi.org/10.1002/sdr.237
Subramanyan, H., Sawant, P. H., & Bhatt, V. (2012). Construction project risk assessment: Development of model based on investigation of opinion of construction project experts from India. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(3), 409-421. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000435
Sun, Y., Fang, D., Wang, S., Dai, M., & Lv, X. (2008). Safety risk identification and assessment for Beijing Olympic venues construction. Journal of Management in Engineering, 24(1), 40-47. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2008)24:1(40)
Suraji, A., Duff, A. R., & Peckitt, S. J. (2001). Development of a causal model of construction accident causation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 127(4), 337-344. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2001)127:4(337)
Teo, E., Ling, F., & Chong, A. (2005). Framework for project managers to manage construction safety. International Journal of Project Management, 23(4), 329-341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2004.09.001
Tixier, A. J. P., Hallowell, M. R., Albert, A., van Boven, L., & Kleiner, B. M. (2014). Psychological antecedents of risk-taking behavior in construction. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(11), 04014052. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000894
Wilkins, J. R. (2011). Construction workers’ perceptions of health and safety training programs. Construction Management and Economics, 29(10), 1017-1026. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2011.633538
Wu, C., Li, N., & Fang, D. (2017). Leadership improvement and its impact on workplace safety in construction projects: A conceptual model and action research. International Journal of Project Management, 35(8), 1495-1511. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2017.08.013
Wu, C., Song, X., Wang, T., & Fang, D. (2015). Core dimensions of the construction safety climate for a standardized safety-climate measurement. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(8), 04015018. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000996
Yi, S. L., Zhang, X., & Calvo, M. H. (2015). Construction safety management of building project based on BIM. Journal of Mechanical Engineering Research and Development, 38(1), 97-104.
Zhang, L., Liu, Q., Wu, X., & Skibniewski, M. J. (2016). Perceiving interactions on construction safety behaviors: workers’ perspective. Journal of Management in Engineering, 32(5), 04016012. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000454
Zhang, P., Li, N., Fang, D., & Wu, H. (2017). Supervisor-focused behavior-based safety method for the construction industry: Case study in Hong Kong. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 143(7), 05017009. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001294