A new-generation safety contest in the construction industry – A long-term evaluation of a real-life intervention

A new-generation safety campaign has been taking place in southern Finland since 1997. The Finnish Construction Employer’s Association together with trade unions, safety inspectorates, and other institutions have been organising a safety contest based on the standardised TR-observation method. Safety inspectors conduct evaluation visits without previous notice to the sites, and best performing companies and sites are rewarded at annually held public seminars. Even though participation is voluntary, more than 70% of the total number of construction sites in the target area have participated in the contest, and the results have been successful. Deficiencies in protection against falling have decreased by 63%, in order and tidiness by 69%, and in working habits by 51%. The effectiveness is also evident in the accident figures. An estimated 4000 accidents and three fatalities are prevented each year, while other parts of the country during the same period show no improvement in accident risk. A key success factor may be the adoption among firms of a new, standardised safety monitoring method which has been used effectively by senior management teams. The method employs a combination of penalties and incentives in order to set and enforce new safety targets. Another success factor is the close co-operation between the construction industry, labour organisations and safety authorities.     

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     

Making work environment auditable – A ‘critical case’ study of certified occupational health and safety management systems in Denmark

This paper discusses the impact of certification on occupational health and safety management (OHSM) systems. Most research in the field has focused on how well such systems comply with voluntary standards such as OHSAS 18001 or with national and international legislation. However, this paper shows that even in cases of compliance, the certified systems have problems dealing with a range of contemporary complex work environment issues. Furthermore, certification also transforms the kinds of topics addressed and the procedures and activities applied in the system. Using the (in many ways successful) development of certified OHSM system in a manufacturing company in Denmark as a critical case, we demonstrate how certified OHSM systems unintentionally yet actively create an environment of ‘measurable and auditable facts’ shaped not only in response to legal and market demands for a safe work environment, but also as a consequence of the external demands for a visible and accountable work environment standard. We show how certified OHSM systems function like a hinge between internal operations and an external audience in a globalized market, thus giving priority to work environment issues that may later become demonstrable guarantees for a safe and healthy work environment. Thus the certified management system does not necessarily tackle the most urgent work environment issues and may exclude important aspects of the work environment such as psychosocial factors.     

Occupational risk assessment in construction industry – Overview and reflection

The construction industry is plagued by occupational risky situations and poor working conditions. Occupational risk assessment (ORA) on workplace sites is the first and key step to achieve adequate safety levels, particularly to support decision-making in safety programs. Most construction safety efforts are applied informally under the premise that simply allocating more resources to safety management will improve safety on site. Moreover, there are many traditional methods to address ORA, but few have been adapted and validated for use in the construction industry, particularly in the design stage, for which traditional approaches do not give adequate answers. This paper presents a state-of-the-art on ORA traditional methods, for the construction industry, discussing their limitations and pointing advantages of using fuzzy sets approaches to deal with ill-defined situations.     

The role of standardization in safety management – A case study of a major oil & gas company

This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of various kinds of standardization, when applied to the field of safety management. Recently, there are signs that organizations operating in high risk environments take further steps towards standardization. On the positive side, standardization has the potential to enhance the predictability of normal operations as well as facilitating the transfer of lessons learnt across organizational contexts. On the negative side, standardization is by definition a strategy for dealing with known hazards and accident scenarios. We discuss how too strong an emphasis on standardization can involve unintended negative consequences for organizations’ crisis-handling capabilities.     

Product safety – Principles and practices in a life cycle perspective

This article describes a new product life cycle model that can be used by producers to improve safety and to prevent defective products from being placed on the market. The model has eight phases and the article describes and discusses the required safety-related issues in each phase. Analytical methods that should be used in the various phases are identified. Both consumer and industrial products are covered. The article outlines main product safety requirements with focus on European product safety legislation. The concept adequate safety is introduced as an acceptance criterion for the producer during the product development process, and factors that should be taken into account when deciding whether or not a product has adequate safety are discussed.     

Cost–benefit analysis approach for the management of industrial safety in chemical and petrochemical industry

The high complexity of chemical and petrochemical installations determines a complex safety management of these establishments, therefore, there is a need to find innovative solutions to guarantee the prevention of failures and losses of containment from process equipment. In this frame, the use of the API Risk Based Inspection (RBI) assessment approach permits a significant reduction of maintenance costs and, simultaneously, the increase of plant's reliability and availability. To increase the level of industrial safety, a proper selection of measures is also needed, even if the adoption of such measures poses costs. Given that resources for the companies are usually limited, a comparison amongst various solutions has to be done with the aim to find the best one, based on a comparison of costs and benefit. To this scope, recently a software, named Inspection Manager, has been developed by ANTEA and implemented thanks to a cooperation with the University of Padova (Italy). The Inspection Manager provides support in the application of the RBI approach by means of the use of plant-specific data, which are stored in its database; its further implementation, presented in this paper, has made it able to support also cost-benefit analysis and, thus, the selection of measures to be adopted to prevent accidental events causing the release of hazardous materials. A case-study is presented to test the new functionality of the tool; after the identification of the most effective measures, a careful cost-benefit assessment has been executed as a basis for decision-making.     

Investigation and identification of factors affecting migrating peasant workers’ usage of safety footwear in the Chinese construction industry

A sample of 300 migrating peasant workers from 15 Chinese building construction sites completed a demographic questionnaire to investigate the usage of safety footwear. The survey form was constructed based on the theory of planned behaviour, and a total of 12 questions focusing on the workers’ past experience, attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control were included in the survey. It was found that 92% of the participants did not wear safety footwear while working on construction sites, although more than 91% of them believed that safety footwear would protect the foot from injury; none of the participants had been provided free safety footwear by their employer. Regression analysis shows that employers’ attitude is the most important factor affecting their usage of safety footwear, ‘providing free safety footwear’ and ‘comfortability of the safety footwear’ ranking second and third respectively.     

Beyond “best practice” road safety thinking and systems management – A case for culture change research

Forecasts of an “explosion” in the level of road trauma as many of the world’s most populous nations rapidly motorise have contributed to the urgency of documenting best practice thinking and management systems to improve road safety performance. By examining the success stories of nations with either the lowest fatailty rates per head of population or with the largest recent improvements a number of “lessons” have emerged. Data-driven problem identification and the development of evidence-driven countermeasure packages formalised in a strategy for effective implementation, with ambitious, quantitative targets and transparent lines of institutional accountability are the critical success factors. Basing this planning upon the cornerstones of the safe system conceptual model constitutes best practice thinking. This paper argues that critical elements of the safe system model are in discord with behavioural mores in the cultures of many western motorised nations and that this hampers the adoption of the most effective safety programs within key institutions and within political systems. A case is made for a systematic examination of car use and safety cultures in order to add a further dimension to best practice learnings.     

Challenges in performing technical safety reviews of modifications – A case study

The aim of the present study, is to identify strengths and weaknesses of the technical safety review process at a Swedish Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). In this context, the function of safety reviews are understood as expert judgements on proposals for design modifications¹ and redesign of technical systems (i.e. commercial nuclear reactors), supported by formalised safety review processes. The chosen methodology is using two complementary methods: interviews of personnel performing safety reviews, and analysis of safety review reports from 2005 to 2009.The study shows that personal integrity is a trademark of the review staff and there are sufficient support systems to ensure high quality. The partition between primary and independent review is positive, having different focus and staff with different skills and perspectives making the reviews, which implies supplementary roles. The process contributes to “getting the right things done the right way”. The study also shows that though efficient communication, feedback, processes for continuous improvement, and “learning organizations” are well known success factors in academia, it is not that simple to implement and accomplish in real life.It is argued that future applications of safety review processes should focus more on communicating and clarifying the process and its adherent requirements, and improve the feedback system within the process.     

Worker influence on voluntary OHS management systems – A review of its ends and means

Voluntary management systems (MS) might improve occupational health and safety (OHS). MSs, as with any OHS management, requires worker influence (and management commitment) to reduce risks at work. Influence through union backed safety representatives (or similar) achieves the best OHS results. However, a MS guarantees neither effective OHS management nor strong worker influence. Systematic violations of legal requirements have repeatedly caused accidents at workplaces with certified MSs. Why employers introduce MS’s can affect their implementation and outcomes. Internal objectives, of productivity and/or work-related health, require upstream prevention and a genuine influence by workers and their safety representatives. However, managers with external objectives for a MS, such as brand images or low reported accident figures, may pursue such objectives through downstream control of safe behaviour – sometimes suppressing accident reporting – and with little attention to more serious long-term diseases. Worker consultation may then be a limited means of enhancing safety, or to one-way communication on safety rules. Such consultation may even be used for union busting. Many trade unions welcome MSs as possible improvement instruments, but they are also wary of what MSs employers are actually trying to implement. Unions try to support their safety representatives’ influence in a MS by enhancing their rights and their competences. If the motives for MSs are mainly external and the opportunities for influence too limited, it may be better for unions not to cooperate with management in a MS that may lead more to manipulation than to safe and sound work.     

The role of component arrangement in complex safety instrumented systems—A case study

The arrangement of components plays a key role in the performance of complex Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), in which a SIS logic solver is interlocked with other logic solvers, to share a final element, for instance. The position of the components and the way they are utilized affects the reliability characteristics, such as the Probability of Failure on Demand (PFD), Spurious Trip Rate (STR), architectural sensitivity and model uncertainty. This case study uses quantitative and qualitative approaches to elaborate on various aspects of component arrangement in complex SIS. Numerous simplified models are analyzed; new classification is introduced for SIS components based on their response to demand; a set of guidelines are developed for SIS architecture design, with a focus on component arrangement; and the use of these guidelines is demonstrated in a real-life example, where an existing turbine SIS is modified to incorporate a new over-speed protection system. The simplified models and the turbine upgrade project are also used to explain the issue of unknowns and uncertainties in reliability analysis and how these issues can be addressed in SIS architecture by optimizing component arrangement.     

Is there agreement between worker self and supervisor assessment of worker safety performance? An examination in the construction industry

Introduction: Individual safety performance (behavior) critically influences safety outcomes in high-risk workplaces. Compared to the study of generic work performance on different measurements, few studies have investigated different measurements of safety performance, typically relying on employees' self-reflection of their safety behavior. This research aims to address this limitation by including worker self-reflection and other (i.e., supervisor) assessment of two worker safety performance dimensions, safety compliance and safety participation. Method: A sample of 105 workers and 17 supervisors in 17 groups in the Chinese construction industry participated in this study. Comparisons were made between worker compliance and participation in each measurement, and between workers' and supervisors' assessment of workers' compliance and participation. Multilevel modeling was adopted to test the moderating effects on the worker self-reflection and supervisor-assessment relationship by group safety climate and the work experience of supervisors. Results: Higher levels of safety compliance than participation were found for self-reflection and supervisor assessment. The discrepancy between the two measurements in each safety performance dimension was significant. The work experience of supervisors attenuated the discrepancy between self- and supervisor-assessment of compliance. Contrary to our expectations, the moderating effect of group safety climate was not supported. Conclusions: The discrepancy between worker self- and supervisor-assessment of worker safety performance, thus, suggests the importance of including alternative measurements of safety performance in addition to self-reflection. Lower levels of participation behavior in both raters suggest more research on the motivators of participatory behavior. Practical applications The discrepancy between different raters can lead to negative reactions of ratees, suggesting that managers should be aware of that difference. Assigning experienced supervisors as raters can be effective at mitigating interrater discrepancy and conflicts in the assessment of compliance behavior.     

The effectiveness of U.S. OSHA process safety management inspection – A preliminary quantitative evaluation

This study attempted to evaluate the inspection effectiveness of the U.S. OSHA process safety management (PSM) standard using statistical correlation test. A total of 6578 citations of past 1277 OSHA PSM inspections from 1992 to 2006 were quantitatively compared with the findings of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) investigations on root and contributing causes of 19 major chemical accidents. Nonparametric Spearman's coefficient of rank correlation tests showed a moderately strong agreement between OSHA PSM inspection citations and CSB findings at p < .01 significant level, and the degree of agreement increased with time. These results suggested that past OSHA PSM inspections had cited the problems that were the accident root causes, and the effectiveness of PSM citations has been improved as more inspections were conducted since the standard promulgation. However, factors such as standard coverage, inspection frequency, inspection resources allocation, and inspection strategy, were critical for effective PSM standard enforcement and implementation. Future studies should include more aspects of PSM citations and CSB accident investigation data for better evaluation of inspection effectiveness. The results may be valuable to the PSM enforcement policy makers.     

The role of risk avoidance and locus of control in workers’ near miss experiences: Implications for improving safety management systems

The process industry has made major advancements and is a leader in near-miss safety management, with several validated models and databases to track close call reports. However, organizational efforts to develop safe work procedures and rules do not guarantee that employees will behaviorally comply with them. Assuming that at some point, every safety management system will need to be examined and realigned to help prevent incidents on the job, it is important to understand how personality traits can impact workers' risk-based decisions. Such work has been done in the mining industry due to its characteristically high risks and the results can be gleaned to help the process industry realign goals and values with their workforce. In the current study, researchers cross-sectionally surveyed 1,334 miners from 20 mine sites across the United States, varying in size and commodity. The survey sought to understand how mineworkers' risk avoidance could impact their near miss incidents on the job – a common precursor to lost-time incidents. Multiple regressions showed that as a miner's level of risk avoidance increased by 1 unit in the 6-point response scale, the probability of experiencing a near miss significantly decreased by 30% when adjusting for relevant control variables. Additionally, a significant interaction between risk avoidance and locus of control suggested that the effect of risk avoidance on near misses is enhanced as a miner's locus of control increases. A one-unit increase in locus of control appends the base effect of risk avoidance on near misses with an additional 8% decrease in the probability. Findings are discussed from a near-miss safety management system perspective in terms of methods to foster both risk avoidance and locus of control in an effort to reduce the probability of near misses and lost time at the organizational level within the process industry and other high-hazard industries.     

The relationship between patient safety climate and occupational safety climate in healthcare – A multi-level investigation

IntroductionPatient safety climate/culture is attracting increasing research interest, but there is little research on its relation with organizational climates regarding other target domains.The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between patient safety climate and occupational safety climate in healthcare.MethodThe climates were assessed using two questionnaires: Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture and Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 1154 nurses, 886 assistant nurses, and 324 physicians, organized in 150 work units, within hospitals (117 units), primary healthcare (5 units) and elderly care (28 units) in western Sweden, which represented 56% of the original sample contacted.ResultsWithin each type of safety climate, two global dimensions were confirmed in a higher order factor analysis; one with an external focus relative the own unit, and one with an internal focus. Two methods were used to estimate the covariation between the global climate dimensions, in order to minimize the influence of bias from common method variance. First multilevel analysis was used for partitioning variances and covariances in a within unit part (individual level) and a between unit part (unit level). Second, a split sample technique was used to calculate unit level correlations based on aggregated observations from different respondents. Both methods showed associations similar in strength between the patient safety climate and the occupational safety climate domains.ConclusionsThe results indicated that patient safety climate and occupational safety climate are strongly positively related at the unit level, and that the same organizational processes may be important for the development of both types of organizational climate.Practical applicationsSafety improvement interventions should not be separated in different organizational processes, but be planned so that both patient safety and staff safety are considered concomitantly.     

Design for occupational safety and health of workers in construction in developing countries: a study of architects in Nigeria

Purpose. Design for safety (DfS) of workers is amongst the prominent ways of tackling poor occupational safety and health performance in construction. However, in developing countries there is extremely limited research on DfS. This study thus makes an important contribution to the subject of DfS in developing countries by specifically examining the awareness and practice of DfS amongst architects within the construction sector of Nigeria. Materials and methods. A survey of architects, yielding 161 valid responses, was conducted. Results. While there is high awareness of the concept of DfS, the actual practice is low. Additionally, although there is high interest in DfS training, the engagement in DfS training is low. Significantly, awareness of DfS, training and education related to DfS, and membership of a design professional body have very limited bearing on the practice of DfS by architects. Conclusions. The findings are thus symptomatic of the prevalence of influential DfS implementation barriers within the construction sector. Industry stakeholders should seek to raise the profile of DfS practice within the sector. Furthermore, similar empirical studies in the construction sector of other developing countries would be useful in shedding light on the status of DfS in these countries.     

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.     

Use of association rules to explore cause–effect relationships in occupational accidents in the Taiwan construction industry

Most models of the incidence of occupational accidents in the construction industry are composed of multiple factors. Although statistical techniques can be used to infer cause-and-effect relationships among these factors, the large number of factors involved and the complexity of the relationships among them make it difficult for managers to identify potential hazards in construction projects and thus develop effective safety procedures. This study addresses this problem by using the association-rule method of data mining in performing an analysis of 1347 accidents in the Taiwan construction industry during the period 2000–2007. The association-rule method enables potential cause-and-effect relationships to be identified among the many factors that play a role in occupational accidents in the construction industry. The study finds that such accidents tend to occur when certain combinations of hazards are present – especially working in high places without protective measures, loss of balance when in motion, failure to use protective equipment, insufficient experience, and injurious contact with unstable structures. These hazards are especially evident in small enterprises with less than 10 persons. The results can help management to formulate effective safety policies with regard to management shortcomings and staff training.     

The digital representation of safety systems at “Seveso” plants and its potential for improving risk management

At Seveso plants, duty holders must have a complex system for assessing and managing risks. The pillars of this system are the safety report and the safety management system, with a number of underlying documents. The strength of the system is the high standardization of these documents. Regulations, standard codes and guidelines define content, structure and formats. The weakness is the high complexity. Managers and workers perceive documents as difficult to understand and far from actual operations. Major threats for the credibility of documents (and therefore for the safety systems) come from the continuous organizational and technical changes, which in a short time can make most documents obsolete; as well as by near misses, which continuously show the holes in safety systems. A big effort is required to follow up the plant changes and the near misses. In order to help safety managers, a new software has been developed. At Seveso plants, it has been possible build an integrated digital representation, because all documents are perfectly structured. This representation may be used both for updating the relevant documents after a change and to improve documents after a near miss or an accident. In this way, safety documents are always up to date and trustworthy and the huge knowledge, which is usually hidden inside safety documents, is clearly revealed and revived. The approach is basically “knowledge based” and the intention is to provide safety managers with an easy and simple tool. IRISonLine is a software that has been developed by ISPESL to provide safety managers of “Seveso” establishments with a tool for improving the management of change and of near misses.