Shapira, A and Lyachin, B (2009) Identification and analysis of factors affecting safety on construction sites with tower cranes. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 135(1), pp. 24-33. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Tower cranes are the centerpiece of production on today's typical building construction sites. Tower cranes hoist and transport a variety of loads near and above people, working under crowded conditions, occasionally with overlapping work zones, and often under time, budget, and labor constraints. This work regime further increases the safety risk on sites that are inherently hazardous workplaces. This paper presents the results of a study that identified the major factors affecting safety in tower-crane environments and evaluated the degree to which each factor influences ongoing safety on site. Use of statistical data on accidents was ruled out as a source of information due to the countless number of incidents that go unreported, the common inability of statistics to provide root causes, and the questionability of statistics as a predictor of accidents. The research methodology was therefore based on comprehensive questioning of an expert team that included the safety managers and equipment managers of leading construction companies. With the limited resources available for safety improvement and accident prevention, greater attention must be paid by all parties involved to those factors evaluated as highly affecting site safety due to tower-crane work.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accidents; construction sites; cranes; hazards; human factors; safety |
| Index terms: | research methodology, statistics, tower crane, hoist, human factor, accident prevention, manager, construction company, construction site, building construction |
| Subjects: | work location, practitioner, mathematical modelling, research design and methodology, organization, environmental health, building construction, occupational health and safety management, construction equipment, maintenance engineering |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Plant and Equipment, Sustainability, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here