Expert System for Construction Safety. I: Fault‐Tree Models
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 6, Issue 4
Abstract
When a construction‐fall investigation is undertaken, the success of arriving at a conclusion depends on the available information and the expert's judgment to establish the possible and probable causes of the fall. In the first of a two‐part study, fault‐tree models are developed to explain the etiology of construction falls. These models represent the frame of knowledge concerning causal relationships of reasonable and possible causes of falls. Causes are classified as the enabling, triggering, and support‐related causes. Each cause is expanded to reach the basic and conditional causes that contribute to the fall. The analysis is limited to fault‐tree qualitative modeling for construction falls from elevated floor openings. The study resulted in 17 basic causes, four conditional causes, and 28 sets of combined basic and conditional causes that have the potential to contribute to a construction fall. Our study concludes the usefulness of fault‐tree models to systematically and logically represent an expert's knowledge.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Barlow, R. E., and Lambert, H. E. (1975). “Introduction to fault tree analysis.” Reliability and fault tree analysis, R. E. Barlow, J. B. Fussell, and N. D. Singpurwalla, eds., Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, 7–35.
2.
Hadipriono, F. C. (1985). “Analysis of events in recent structural failures.” J. Struct. Engrg., ASCE, 111(7), 1468–1481.
3.
Hadipriono, F. C. (1992). “Expert system for construction safety: the knowledge base.” J. Perf. Constr. Fac., 6(4), 261–274.
4.
Hadipriono, F. C., and Diaz, C. F. (1988). “Trends in recent construction and structural failures in the United States.” Int. J. Forensic Engrg., 1(4), 227–232.
5.
Hadipriono, F. C., and Toh, H. S. (1989). “Modified fault tree analysis for structural safety.” J. Civ. Engrg. Systems, 6(4), 190–199.
6.
Hadipriono, F. C., and Wang, H. K. (1986). “Analysis of causes of falsework failures in concrete structures.” J. Constr. Engrg. and Mgmt., 112(1), 112–121.
7.
“Improving construction safety performance.” (1990). A construction industry cost effectiveness project report, The Business Roundtable, New York, N.Y
8.
“Investigation of construction failure of reinforced concrete cooling tower at Willow Island, West Virginia.” (1979). Report No. 78‐1578, Washington, D.C.
9.
“Jobsite dangers defy worker protection drive.” (1990). Engrg. News‐Record, Nov. 1, 24–28.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 ASCE.
History
Published online: Nov 1, 1992
Published in print: Nov 1992
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.