Lestari, R I; Guo, B H W and Goh, Y M (2019) Causes, solutions, and adoption barriers of falls from roofs in the Singapore construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 145(5): 4019027, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Fall from roof (FFR) has been a perennial problem in the construction industry. It has been one of the leading sources of injuries and accidents in many countries. The objectives of this paper are to (1) investigate the causes of fall from roof; (2) identify control measures to roof safety that are being used in the Singapore construction industry; (3) evaluate these controls based on specific working on roof scenarios; and (4) investigate factors that influence the adoption of these solutions. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with experienced practitioners in the Singapore construction industry. In addition, two focus group discussions were conducted to discuss fall protection solutions for six critical and common working on roof scenarios identified during the interviews. Results suggested that FFR accidents and injuries were caused by a combination of individual and organizational factors. Cost-effectiveness, workers competency, and site constraints are the most critical factors that differentiate solutions to specific roofing scenarios. Despite the existing solutions, it was found that some contractors are reluctant to implement appropriate solutions in their roof work due to (1) cost; (2) time pressure; (3) power imbalance; and (4) on-site constraints. Based on these findings, it was suggested that establishing a roof association would help reduce FFR accidents and injuries by addressing the following issues: (1) design working-on-roof best practices; (2) improve tendering process; and (3) develop and manage a licensing roofing worker program.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction safety; fall from height; roof safety; Singapore; solution adoption |
| Index terms: | falls, critical factor, tendering process, Singapore, organizational factor, construction industry, roof, best practice, licensing, injury, focus group, cost-effectivenes, interview, construction safety, practitioner, program, roofing |
| Subjects: | tendering, economics, software systems, health risk and incident analysis, design practice, Geography, health conditions and diseases, environmental health, industry analysis, business, risk assessment, data collection methods, practitioner, knowledge transfer |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Design Practice, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Sustainability, Procurement, Risk Management, Roles and Professions |
| 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