Ranasinghe, U; Jefferies, M; Davis, P and Pillay, M (2023) Enabling a resilient work environment: An analysis of causal relationships between resilience engineering factors in construction refurbishment projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149(9): 04023078, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
By their nature, building refurbishment projects display unique characteristics, surfacing uncertainties, and complexity. These lead to unforeseen safety risks when compared to 'new build' projects. In recognition of this, resilience engineering (RE) provides a significant contribution to safety management in uncertain and complex work settings. Despite a recent trend in RE studies concerning construction, a model that explores the relationships between RE factors, specifically in the unique category of construction refurbishment, is yet to be produced. This research aims to examine the relationships between the RE factors (i.e., top management commitment, awareness, flexibility, and learning culture) that enable a resilient work environment in construction refurbishment projects. One hundred and twenty-six (126) responses were collected from participants involved in building refurbishment projects in Australia. The distinct nature of a four-factor RE model was confirmed using factor analysis. Structural equation modelling (SEM) identified the relationships among the RE factors. The results highlight that the action of top management toward safety was prominent and determined as a positive influence on the other RE factors. Learning culture also has a positive effect on flexibility and awareness and in addition, the effect of top-management commitment to awareness and flexibility is partially mediated by learning culture. Overall, the model shows the interplay between RE factors in attaining a resilient work environment that can anticipate, cope, and adapt to safety risks. The findings of this research provide guidance for practitioners and researchers in the design of safety interventions and can prevent prevailing differences in safety practices between head office and work site to achieve a resilient work environment in construction refurbishment work settings.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction refurbishment; resilience engineering; resilient work environment; safety |
| Index terms: | top management, practitioner, safety management, complexity, structural equation modelling, commitment, factor analysis, work environment, refurbishment project, building refurbishment, new build, refurbishment work, Australia |
| Subjects: | management, renovation and retrofit, construction integration, Geography, infrastructure engineering, occupational health and safety management, asset management, systems engineering, statistical analysis, practitioner, psychology |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Organizational Design, Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions |
| 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