Pirzadeh, P and Lingard, H (2017) Exploring the dynamic social interactions that underpin work health and safety related design decision-making. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 33rd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2017, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract
The proactive practice of anticipating and 'designing out' work health and safety (WHS) risks at early project stages, known as Safety in Design (SiD), is well-recognised in construction. Previous research also suggests that the effective interaction between design and construction participants is vital to make construction process knowledge accessible to design decision-makers and help them to consider WHS during the design process. Nevertheless, effective communication between design and construction participants still seems to be a problem in practice. A PhD study is being undertaken to explore the impact of interactions between design and construction decision-makers on the quality of design decisions and WHS outcomes. Social network analysis (SNA) is recommended as a useful tool to explore the patterns of interaction between project participants. Previous applications of SNA in construction research have largely been cross-sectional, implicitly assuming a degree of stability in the construction project context. The reality is, however, that the construction project context is unpredictable. Decisions unfold and trade-offs are made as participants interact with one another and negotiate solutions to emergent problems. The identity, role and influence of project participants also change over time. Thus, the longitudinal applications of SNA may be better suited to investigate the dynamic patterns of social interaction that underpin key design decisions with the potential to impact construction WHS. In the current study, SNA is being applied longitudinally to map social interactions and analyse participants' roles and influence as design evolved in a number of Australian construction projects. This paper explains the research rationale and the preliminary findings of the study. The study is expected to provide evidence on how and why project interactions and knowledge transactions during the design process affect decisions in relation to WHS.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | social network analysis, dynamic interaction, decision-making, construction work health and safety |
| Index terms: | stability, social network analysis, design process, health and safety, interaction, social interaction, design decision, construction project, construction process, decision-making, construction work, evidence, identity, design and construction |
| Subjects: | operations management, contractual arrangements, evaluation and assessment methods, design methods, sociology, decision analysis, building construction, behavioral psychology, structural engineering, design practice, research methods, health safety and environment, production management |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Site Management, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Risk Management, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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