Loss control project decision models for the construction industry

The objective of the dissertation was to analyze Loss Control Project (LCP) decision making in the construction industry. The contributions are (1) identifying LCP decision attributes, (2) collecting a large, new database, (3) examining associations among the demographic characteristics, success factors, and LCP attributes, (4) exploring LCP demand, and (5) developing a new LCP analysis method--the Multiple Attribute Hierarchy Process. The construction industry was selected because it has frequent and significant accident costs, expresses concerns for a humanitarian workplace, has had little empirical study, and has a receptive attitude towards research. The results should be useful to contractors, LCP providers, regulators, and academics. Among the principal findings are: (1) contractors underestimate indirect loss costs; (2) reducing workers' compensation costs is very important--more important than reducing property, liability, or other loss costs; (3) although insurer pressure to adopt LCPs is the greatest single pressure issue--the overall importance of pressures, including union pressure, is very low; (4) decreasing fatalities is the most important safety concern; (5) incentive programs are not important to most contractors; (6) decreasing direct costs is the most important attribute group, however, there is large variation among the respondents; (7) contractors who spend more on LCPs think they do a better job with safety; (8) contractors with five to nine employees perceive themselves achieving somewhat worse safety results than smaller contractors. Owner participation on the job site is an important safety success factor; (9) safety meetings are not independent of the direct cost attribute group weights. Contractors conducting regularly scheduled safety meetings will place less weight on direct costs and more weights on indirect cost and non-cost attributes; (10) having an owner record accident information does seem to have a positive association with reducing EMRs; (11) while many clusters of homogeneous contractors can be formed, the results of this method are still not clear; (12) the use of the imposed MAHP structure may assist contractors in making better LCP decisions. While no definite prescriptive models could be formed in this research, the structure may help contractors think about LCPs in a more logical, methodical fashion.