Shepherd, S and Woskie, S R (2010) Case study to identify barriers and incentives to implementing an engineering control for concrete grinding dust. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 136(11), pp. 1238-1248. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Research has indicated that respirable crystalline silica dust exposure is a serious health hazard in the construction industry. One source of this hazard is the dust generated by drilling, sawing, chipping, and grinding concrete. There are several options for controlling this hazard, one of which is the use of local exhaust ventilation (LEV) directly attached to the cutting tool. Implementing an engineering control presents a challenge on the construction work site where it is often difficult to determine who will take the initiative for introducing an innovative strategy. This study examines the implementation of an LEV system on an overhead grinder illustrating the roles that various members of the construction team played. The results of the case study found that key factors that affected implementation were: (1) a cooperative relationship between individuals employed by the general contractor and the concrete subcontractor; (2) the effect of high airborne dust levels on scheduling the work of other subcontractors; (3) the public relations effects of high dust levels in a downtown area; and (4) the concrete subcontractor perceived benefits that exceeded the short-term cost of the intervention.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | engineering controls; health and safety; management responsibilities |
| Index terms: | cutting tool, case study, construction team, construction work, implementation, construction industry, option, health hazard, health and safety, scheduling, general contractor, strategy, ventilation, drilling, exposure, subcontractor, public relation |
| Subjects: | project delivery, participation process, contractual arrangements, operations management, operations research, practitioner, air quality, data collection methods, environmental hazards, industry analysis, building construction, decision analysis, health safety and environment, public and environmental health, management, manufacturing engineering |
| Topics: | Time Control, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Construction Technology, Procurement, Sustainability, Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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