Casanovas-Rubio, M D M; Armengou, J and Ramos, G (2014) Occupational risk index for assessment of risk in construction work by activity. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(1): 04013035, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The concern for occupational health and safety in construction work is reflected in the many preventive measures taken. However, examples of the systematic assessment of project alternatives aimed at minimizing occupational hazards are rare. This paper proposes a measure of occupational safety [occupational risk index (ORI)] that is based solely on the project design and resulting construction process, and is a function of the activities carried out and their specific occupational risk (probability and consequences of occurrence). The ORI can thus be used as an indicator to feed multicriteria decision-analysis tools. The proposal is illustrated with a simple example in which two alternatives (one precast and the other constructed in situ) are prioritized in terms of occupational safety, and certain aspects related to redesign are briefly addressed. With the ORI, occupational safety goes from having a passive influence (application to projects that have already been designed) to an active one (influence on the design concept itself) in the design stage of construction projects. The research is based on an analysis of the applicable legislation and interviews with experts.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | assessment; design; labor and personnel issues; occupational health; occupational safety; risk management; safety |
| Index terms: | construction process, construction project, design stage, occupational health and safety, occupational hazard, occupational health, proposal, personnel, interview, legislation, occupational safety, redesign, in-situ, construction work, risk management, project design |
| Subjects: | operations management, professional practice, legal systems, project planning, contractual arrangements, data collection methods, risk assessment, design methods, occupational health and safety management, building construction, health risk and incident analysis, management, production management |
| Topics: | Site Management, Human Resources, Legal Issues, Design Practice, Procurement, Risk Management, Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Project Management, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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