Lopes, Manoela Gomes Reis (2016) Formative approach to accident prevention in the building construction process. PhD thesis, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract
Work accidents in construction are serious problems at public health due to the large number of occupational risks that their workers are exposed. These accidents involve high costs, and are generally analyzed by unicausal theories, which limit the prevention of similar accidents. It is important a broader study based on organizational and systemic theories. Contribute at improving the accident analysis methodologies, integrating organizational approach to the theory of expansive learning enhancing the agency inside the organizations. Ethnographic data collection such as interviews, observations and analysis of documents related to the airport construction. Workers of different functions and departments of the company were interviewed, as well two sessions of Collective Worker Analysis was applied. Application of Model of Analysis and Prevention of Work Accident (MAPA) along with the Model of Event Organizational Analysis (AOE), which propose a systemic approach to the case. These analysis were used to support the sessions of the Changes Laboratory (CL) which were based on theory of expansive learning and the concept of double stimulation. The analysis of habitual work, the analysis of changes and barriers and analysis of historical, vertical and transverse dimension allowed to understand the accident underlying causes, which was originated in the network of multiple failures in interaction (management of projects and changes; management of materials and logistics; management of outsourcing companies; management of emergencies; safety management). The historical analysis showed that these factors had emerged over time at organization as a result of management decisions at different levels. The airport was planned to be built in time determined politically, and insufficient and inconsistent with its complexity. The choice of the type of contract, which the consortium was responsible for all phases of the construction site, was another critical historical event because it allowed the airport construction initiated without the definitive executive project. Moreover, there were different cultures of companies working for the first time together in time pressure context, with the outsourcing strategy without the necessary coordination. These changes have led to manifestations of secondary contradictions, which eventually led to the emergence of anomalies, such as rework, accidents, delays, waste of resources. Many problems concerning the construction of the airport appeared during CL sessions. The method of double stimulation led to the engagement of actors with the creation of artifacts and models, such as timeline of the construction site, vicious circle and activity system, which contributed to an expansive view of contradictions that were leading to anomalies in this site and creation of possible solutions. The CL and concepts of expansive learning associated with the concepts used at MAPA and AOE provided an understanding of the manifestations of contradictions and systemic origins of the accident and other anomalies at airport construction site; criation of agency and engagement of actors; and also at visualizing preventive solutions in future construction sites.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Vilela, Rodolfo Andrade de Gouveia and Querol, Marco Antonio Pereira |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accident analysis; airport; change laboratory; organizational and systemic approach; work accidents |
| Index terms: | consortium, outsourcing, organizational analysis, public health, executive, dimension, airport construction, prevention, interaction, coordination, interview, accident prevention, laboratory, artifact, strategy, construction site, rework, building construction, methodology, management decision, documents, safety management, agency, emergence, complexity |
| Subjects: | business, data collection methods, work location, health monitoring assessment and metrics, management, professional development, sociology, occupational health and safety management, partnership management, systems engineering, environmental health, practitioner, operations management, decision-making and reasoning, research methods, infrastructure engineering, financial risk, research management, building construction, behavioral psychology |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Procurement, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Organizational Design, Site Management, Roles and Professions, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Information Management, Research Practice |
| 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