Health and Safety Perception of Workers in Turkey: A Survey of Construction Sites

This study reports the general health and safety (HS) conditions in the Turkish construction industry from the perspective of construction labor. Toward this aim, a questionnaire survey was carried out with 800 workers employed in 32 construction projects in Turkey. Contractors were found to neglect their legal liabilities in paying workers’ insurance premiums. Also, they overlooked safety training and were reluctant to hiring physicians at construction sites and investing in personal protective equipment (PPE). As the real constructors of projects, workers did not attach adequate importance to occupational training. In addition, they were not willing to use some PPE. Key participants of HS affairs such as workers, contractors, unions, and government should comprehend their drawbacks to overcome the current dangerous view of the industry. In this regard, related government bodies should compel contractors and workers to adapt to the relatively new regulations on occupational HS.     

Process Safety Management (PSM) for managing contractors in process plant

Accidents involving contractors continue to occur with regular frequency. By using the standard set within the PSM 29 CFR 1910.119(h) regulations, it has been identified that certain aspects of the way contractors do work are not up to the stipulated regulatory requirements especially regarding matters like not providing mandatory personal protective equipment (PPE) to the workers, not discussing hazards related to handling procedures with the workforce and improper control of non-routine activities during changes in shifts. The PSM 29 CFR 1910.119(h) regulations promulgated in 1992 provides standards that covered processes to obtain and evaluate data regarding contractors' health and safety programs as well as the contractors' performance evaluation. Many of the accidents involving contractors are direct result of poor training of contractors and/or poor control of the contracted work. Even though most organizations have their own contractor management systems, there are issues in meeting the requirements of PSM. The PSM standard only state “what to do” not “how to do it”. This is known as self-regulatory policy which depends on the industries understanding to interpret the standard that also contribute to this problem. This paper presents a structured and easy technique to plan and implement a practical and comprehensive contractors' management system in process industries that will comply with OSHA CFR 1910.119. A model has been developed based on this technique and its application has been tested in a pilot plant for compliance to PSM regulation. The model is beneficial to the process industries as any deficiencies in the PSM contractors' management program will be highlighted by the model which will then easily correct the identified deficiency so as to minimize and prevent catastrophic accidents.     

OSH star enterprise pilot scheme——a partnership approach to improve the safety performance of construction industry in Hong Kong SAR

Background: The Occupational Safety and Health Council(OSHC) is committed to improve the safety performance of the high risk construction industry.In the past three years,about 40% of the fatal accidents in the construction industry were related to Renovation,Maintenance,Alteration and Addition(RMAA).Due to the poor safety record,some of the RMAA contractors have difficulty in obtaining the Employees’ Compensation Insurance(ECI) cover in the market,or if they could obtain the ECI,the premium rate would be exceedingly high.In view of this,the OSHC,the Labour Department jointly launched"OSH Star Enterprise-Pilot Scheme on Safety Accreditation for the RMAA Industry",which prompts the industry to take practicable safety measures to improve the safety of working environment and reduce occupational injuries.The program also helps the stakeholders and insurers to identify safety-conscious contractors and thereby provide them with a favourable premium rate under the Employees’ Compensation Insurance Residual Scheme(ECIRS).Objectives: The OSHC launches the Pilot Scheme to improve the safety performance of the RMAA industry through providing safety training,subsidizing enterprise to purchase safety equipment and providing safety audit.We also use financial incentive to encourage RMAA enterprises to join the Pilot Scheme-for those who are accredited as "OSH Star Enterprise"could receive a premium discount from the ERIRS when obtaining the ECI.The scheme also differentiates those safety-conscious and law-abiding enterprises from the poor performers,which helps the industry and public identifying the RMAA contractors who pay attention to work safety.Methods: The Pilot Scheme targets RMAA enterprises that employ less than 50 employees in Hong Kong.A three-pronged approach is used to improve the safety performance of the RMAA industry: the Pilot Scheme provides(1) financial support for the RMAA contractors to buy a transportable temporary anchor device and full body safety harness and its anchor system;(2) safety training     

Mechanical Equipment Injuries in Small Manufacturing Businesses. Knowledge,Behavioral, and Management Issues

This paper presents findings from an extensive study intofactors that impact upon the high rate of injuries due to mechanical equipment, especially in small manufacturing firms. Issues relating to knowledge of health and safety issues and to management practices have been shown to be extremely important with regards to safety in smaii businesses. Knowledge and awareness of hazards were found to be relatively low and few respondents, especially managers, had received adequate safety training. Managers did not regard the identification and control of risks as a priority. Workplaces generally lacked effective safety management procedures such as safety rules and regulations, procedures for recording and learning from accidents, and clearly defined responsibilities for safety. Some issues requiring further investigation, and some recommendations for improving safety in small businesses, are presented.     

基于前景理论的施工安全事故网络舆论监督演化博弈分析*

为了对施工安全事故网络舆论实施有效监督,推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化,基于前景理论,构建政府、承包商和社会公众关于施工安全事故网络舆论监督演化博弈模型,利用系统动力学方法进行数值仿真。结果表明:心理作用对政府、承包商和社会公众在施工生产安全事故发生后的策略选择有较大影响;提高政府发现承包商隐瞒信息的概率及政府对承包商的处罚,能使承包商趋向于选择如实公布信息;减小公众造谣概率和增大公众舆论监督收益,能使公众趋向于选择舆论监督;公众选择网络舆论监督,能促使政府积极主动回应社会关切,促使承包商如实公布信息。     

Perceived benefits of applying Pay for Safety Scheme (PFSS) in construction – A factor analysis approach

In recent years, construction safety has been a hot topic in Hong Kong. The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has launched different safety measures to improve the prevailing safety performance of the construction industry. The Pay for Safety Scheme (PFSS) has emerged as one of the major safety initiatives launched within the public sector construction industry since 1996. It aims to encourage the safety awareness by taking the contractor’s pricing for safety-related items out from the consideration of competitive bidding. The objective is to provide a concise review of the prevailing application of PFSS in Hong Kong in general, and to identify and analyse the key benefits of PFSS in construction through an industry-wide empirical questionnaire survey in particular. Altogether, 145 industrial practitioners who have derived extensive hands-on experience with the PFSS construction projects participated in the survey to indicate their levels of agreement to those 14 key benefits identified which were measured and analysed by factor analysis. The results of factor analysis indicated that the 14 individual benefits of implementing PFSS were consolidated under four underlying factors: (1) Enhancing safety climate and attitude; (2) Promoting effective safety-related communication; (3) Streamlining the safety procedures; and (4) Ensuring adequate safety training. A wider application of PFSS should be encouraged with a view to achieving better safety performance within the industry. It is recommended that a similar scheme to PFSS currently applied in Hong Kong may be developed for implementation in other regions or countries for international comparisons.     

National culture and safe work behaviour of construction workers in Pakistan

It is widely accepted that unsafe behaviour is intrinsically linked to workplace accidents. A positive correlation exists between workers’ safe behaviour and safety climate on construction sites. Construction workers’ attitude towards safety is influenced by their perception of risk, management, safety rules and procedures. Pakistan, a developing country, is currently experiencing a strong growth in its construction activities. Unfortunately, the enforcement of safety regulations in Pakistan is not widespread. Indeed, some relevant regulations are both outdated and irrelevant to daily construction operations. This paper investigates local construction workers’ behaviour, perception and attitude toward safety, and attempts to link the research findings to the influence of national culture. A three-part interview-based questionnaire survey has identified that the majority of workers have a good degree of risk awareness and self-rated competence. Additionally, workers’ intentional behaviour was empirically explained by their attitudes towards their own and management’s safety responsibilities, as well as their perception of the risk they are generally exposed to in their workplace. The paper also reveals that workers operating in a more collective and higher uncertainty avoidance environment, are more likely to have safety awareness and beliefs, which can exhibit safer on-site behaviour.     

An investigation of lifting operations on UK construction sites

Lifting operations and associated equipment have become commonplace within the UK construction industry. However, recent high profile accidents involving lifting equipment have shown that the result of its misuse can have serious cost and health implications.The main aim of the research was to investigate lifting operations on construction sites exploring different options, their effectiveness, and their effect on safety. This research looked into the processes in place; the factors that have to be taken into consideration when placing and using lifting equipment; and the competent persons required when operating equipment. With these aims, literature review was conducted. This was followed by investigation on three construction sites. These case studies were enhanced through interviews with general site staff, managerial staff, and appointed persons.The findings revealed six main points to improve safety in lifting operations. These are: through planning; training; equipment selection, use and inspection; feedback/communication; appointed person’s role; and database. Thorough planning of lifting operations has positive effects on safety. There is need for tighter accreditation of all qualifications in the lifting operations field. The charter of major lifting equipment from specialist contractors should be considered as industry best practise. Companies should avoid authoritarian working culture to facilitate efficient feedback to improve safety. The appointed person should have site based role. Site inspections and maintenance should be monitored on a national database form.Practitioners can benefit from this paper as it provides information on experiences from three construction sites. Furthermore, researchers can use the findings for their future studies.     

Loss prevention in turnaround maintenance projects by selecting contractors based on safety criteria using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP)

Turnaround maintenance (TAM) is a usual plant shutdown that is done by process industries to perform asset inspections, repairs, and overhauls. TAM engineering projects are needed on a periodic basis to optimize a plant's performance. Process industrial plants usually don't have enough in-house manpower to carry out needed TAM jobs; it is not uncommon for a process industrial plant to outsource its TAM manpower supply to external contractors. This will create a peculiar management challenge regarding how to assure orientation of safety practices for the newly hired labor. Although accidents during process plant shutdowns may have severe consequences, the safety management systems in place for many companies only cover normal operations and few explicitly address TAM projects. Usually, contractors are evaluated from a safety perspective after handling the project by monitoring safety indicators such as number of injuries, incidents, etc. This paper emphasizes safety attributes to be included in selecting contractors at the bidding stage to assure loss prevention and better safety orientation during TAM implementation. The paper starts with reviewing TAM literature and defining main needed safety attributes to prequalify contractors. It develops an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model that is applied to rank TAM contractors' selection. A case study is presented for a petrochemical plant in Saudi Arabia to demonstrate the AHP model.     

Identifying elements of poor construction safety management in China

Construction is one of the most hazardous industries due to its unique nature. Measured by international standards, construction site safety records in China are poor. This paper aims to examine the status of safety management in the Chinese construction industry, explore the risk-prone activities on construction sites, and identify factors affecting construction site safety. The findings reveal that the behavior of contractors on safety management are of grave concern, including the lack of provision of personal protection equipment, regular safety meetings, and safety training. The main factors affecting safety performance include ‘poor safety awareness of top management’, ‘lack of training’, ‘poor safety awareness of project managers’, ‘reluctance to input resources to safety’ and ‘reckless operations’. The study also proposes that the government should play a more critical role in stricter legal enforcement and organizing safety training programs.     

基于比较视野下政府建筑安全监管问题分析与对策研究

建筑业作为国民经济的支柱产业,其重要地位和作用正日益凸显,然而由于建筑业的特殊性使施工过程的伤亡人数居高不下,重、特大事故时有发生,建筑行业成为继交通和煤矿之后事故死亡人数最多的行业,并且严重影响了建筑业劳动生产率和产品质量的提高,制约着和谐社会的构建和建筑业的稳定发展。基于建筑行业政府主管部门的角度,深入剖析了政府建筑安全监管在法律法规、监督力度及监管手段等方面所存在的问题,并通过比较美国、英国及香港地区的建筑安监督管理模式,总结了发达国家和地区建筑安全监管的先进经验,从完善法规标准、优化监管队伍、丰富监管方式等方面提出安全监管的应对措施,以减少建筑安全事故。     

建筑工地事故的经济损失与最有效的安全投资（香港经验）

本文论述了对因建筑工地发生的事故而导致承包商的经济损失的一个调查情况。作者对１８个建筑工地发生的６１８起事故进行了调查，每一个建筑工地，其安全状况指标是用总的等量损失工作日除以总的所需工作日来评价。通过这１８个例证，可以得到建筑工地事故损失与安全状况指标两者之间的关系。类似的，可以获得安全投资与安全状况指标两者的关系、从这两条曲线中。承包商可以决定对建筑工地的最适宜的安全投资。建筑项目的最小安全投资为建筑总投资的０．５５％。这时，在最适宜点之处安全投资要比总的事故损失大得多。     

Smart chemical industry parks in China: Current status,challenges, and pathways for future sustainable development

The chemical industry has been pivotal to the rapid economic expansion and high standards of living in China. As an important carrier of the chemical industry, China has designated as many as 723 chemical industrial parks (CIPs). Unfortunately, safety concerns have become an obstacle to the sustainability of China's CIPs. Ever since the two devastating hazardous chemical accidents, namely “Tianjin Port 8·12 Explosion” and “Jiangsu 3·21 Explosion,” which occurred in 2015 and 2019 respectively, China has prioritized the safety of CIPs. The smart chemical industrial parks (SCIPs) are considered the optimal strategies toward the goal of sustainable development in China's CIPs. However, there has been a lack of research and subsequent discussion on the role of SCIPs in the forthcoming years. The period between 2020 and 2025 is considered a crucial period for the future development of CIPs and SCIPs in China mainly because the country has released a series of important government documents and national standards (such as “Fourteenth Five-Year (2020–2025) Plan for Hazardous Chemical Safety” and “Guidelines of SCIPs construction”) to promote hazardous chemical safety. With the aim of analyzing the future sustainable development for the construction of SCIPs in China, this paper proposes a systematic methodology in order to conduct an integrated and in-depth review on the standardization construction status (framework with Chinese characteristics, key events, spatial features, and national pilots), future tasks, problems, and sustainable development pathways of China's SCIPs. The method is implemented in accordance with the current scenarios of hazardous chemical safety in China and the latest government documents, regulations, and standards. Furthermore, this study provides basic data and a basis for future studies associated with the safety and sustainability of the SCIPs construction and chemical industry, both within China and in other countries.     

海湾大桥施工动态安全预警系统的研究

针对海上施工建设单位多、人员复杂、受气象灾害影响大,而目前没有施工安全预警系统的现状,提出青岛海湾大桥施工动态安全预警系统。该系统分为8个模块,从静态的管理机构、动态的现场安全状况和管理方法上进行施工安全管理。其中,静态的管理机构是管理的基础;动态的现场安全状况是全面、及时反映施工现场情况,便于及时发现问题,进行环境预警,而且有利于实现施工建设业主、施工方和监理方3方的相互监督。形成了一个较为全面系统的安全管理体系,建立了涵盖施工建设工程3方的预警管理系统,实现动态的安全管理、环境灾害预警和办公自动化。     

我国与主要国家温石棉安全使用政策和法规对比研究

我国作为温石棉的生产和使用大国,在温石棉及其制品的危害及防控方面开展了较为系统的研究,但对于其他主要国家在温石棉安全使用政策和法规方面的研究则相对较少。本文简要介绍温石棉安全使用的理论基础,对美国、加拿大等主要国家在温石棉安全生产和使用方面的主要政策和法规进行研究,并对我国温石棉产业政策以及相关法规进行梳理,通过对比发现,我国与美国、加拿大等国家在温石棉及其制品的安全使用法规、标准建设等方面存在一定差距。最后,基于相关对比分析结果,对我国温石棉产业职业病防治、环境保护以及温石棉制品等方面的法规标准的建设提出建议。     

对改进我国生产安全事故统计工作的思考

做好生产安全事故统计工作,是国家制定相应的安全生产法规、政策和科学发展规划的重要依据,也是指导和加强安全生产管理、监督和监察工作的基础。本文简要回顾了我国生产安全事故统计工作发展情况;指出了当前事故统计工作中存在的问题;针对这些问题,作者就改进我国生产安全事故统计工作、进一步完善生产安全事故统计指标体系以及如何向国际劳工组织提供我国职业伤害统计数据等提出了自己的建议。     

从安全设计到设计安全──谈建筑安全减灾学科建设的问题

高水平的现代城市管理与健全的法规是提高城市安全度的保障。现代建筑既要满足实用、美观的要求，还必须符合安全环保的技术规范。文章简述了建筑设计需要解决的抵抗各种灾害的能力，论述了设计思想逐步从为安全的设计转变为设计必然安全的本质变迁，探索了系统的建筑安全减灾学科的建设及发展问题。     

交通建设工程安全监管现状及模式探讨

为了找出我国交通建设领域安全监管方面的突出问题,在对国内交通建设工程安全监管现状调研的基础上,从安全监管职责划分、法律法规、标准规范、机构设置、安全监管经费保障、安全监督管理队伍力量、安全监管手段措施、安全教育培训、农村公路安全监管等方面全面分析了当前安全监管中存在的主要问题。针对发现的问题,结合我国交通建设工程安全生产自身的特点和实际,给出了相应的安全监管对策和建议。在以上分析的基础上,对我国各地交通主管部门在交通建设工程安全监管方面的几种方式进行了总结,并对监管模式进行探讨,提出了全过程动态循环安全监管模式的新思路。     

建设项目业主安全责任与政府公共工程示范作用

根据目前国内事故统计资料,建设项目业主的违规行为已成为导致建筑伤亡事故发生的主要根源,尤其作为公共工程建设的政府业主的不规范行为现象更为突出.然而由于业主在建设过程中的强势地位,很难对业主加以监督和制衡.本文通过对业主在工程建设中的地位和属性的分析,借鉴发达国家和地区的业主在工程建设安全管理方面的经验,结合我国目前业主参与安全方面的现状,提出了规范业主的安全责任,鼓励业主参与安全管理的对策建议.并指出作为公共工程项目的政府业主,应正面参与工程安全管理并积极发挥公共工程示范作用,以此作为突破口带动我国建筑业整体安全与健康水平的提高和发展.