Campbell, J M and Smith, S D (2006) Improving industrial value and longevity of safety management research. In: Boyd, D (ed.) Proceedings of 22nd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2006, Birmingham, UK.
Abstract
The construction industry has a poor safety record when compared with other UK industries. Industry and academia have responded and many industry led initiatives are now in place. Avenues of academic research have been to focus on simulating experts' responses to dangerous situations along with the development of managerial frameworks. However, many of these tools and systems prove to be unsustainable for "real world" scenarios; enjoying only short-lived success or being so unyielding as to make progression from research to industrial use poor value for money. To counter this problem, a number of "objectives" are introduced to address cultural, managerial and technical issues and restraints. This is based on critical reviews of other academic research along with a discussion of soft management and collaborative techniques. The ultimate aim of the proposed objectives is to strengthen the relationship between industrial and research partners by increasing the longevity of academic research applications and adding value "at the sharp end" of construction work. Finally, a case study demonstrates how the "objectives" can be used, and the strengths and weaknesses of this method discussed.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | health and safety; organizational culture; partnering; project management; value management |
| Index terms: | value management, academia, construction work, construction industry, safety management, value-for-money, project management, organizational culture, partnering, health and safety, case study |
| Subjects: | management, project management theory and practice, evaluation, health safety and environment, sociology, educational institutions, partnership management, occupational health and safety management, industry analysis, data collection methods, operations management |
| Topics: | Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Project Management, Health and Safety, Education, Organizational Design, Value 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