Cognitive Approach to Construction Safety: Task Demand-Capability Model
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 135, Issue 9
Abstract
In the evolution of safety research, the literature identifies three paradigms: normative, error-based, and cognitive engineering. Traditionally, strategies to improve construction safety have been based on the normative paradigm—compliance with prescribed safety rules. However, the normative approach ignores how the characteristics of the production system and team processes influence the work behaviors and the possibility of errors and accidents. These factors are the focus of the cognitive engineering perspective. This study develops a cognitive model of construction safety, which conceptualizes safety as an emergent property of the production system. The model proposes that during a task, the task demands and the applied capabilities determine the potential for errors and accidents. It also proposes that the production practices and the teamwork processes of the crew shape the work situations that the workers face—that is, the task demands and the applied capability. Empirical evidence from recent case studies is discussed. The cognitive perspective shifts the focus of accident prevention from conformance with rules to the issues of task demands and applied capabilities, and the factors affecting them—such as work design, workload, resource allocation, and team processes.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The research described in this paper is conducted with the support of NSF and the CAREER Award Grant No. NSF0645139.
References
Ballard, G., and Howell G. (1998). “Shielding production: Essential step in production control.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 124(1), 11–17.
Bernold L., Lorenc S., and Davis M. (2001). “Technological intervention to eliminate back injury risks for nailing.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 127(3), 245–250.
Bigley, G. A., and Roberts, K. H. (2001). “The incident command system: High-reliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments.” Acad. Manage J., 44(6), 1281-1299.
Cooper, G. E., White, M. D., and Lauber, J. K. (1980). “Resource management on the flightdeck.” Proc., NASA/Industry Workshop (NASA CP-2120), NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Dekker, S. (2006). The field guide to understanding human error, Ashgate, Hampshire, U.K.
Dwyer, T., and Raftery, A. E. (1991). “Industrial accidents are produced by social relations at work: A sociological theory of industrial accidents.” Appl. Ergon, 22(3), 167–178.
Everett, J. (1999). “Overexertion injuries in construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 125(2), 109–114.
Flach, J. M., Vicente, K. J., Tanabe, F., Monta, K., and Rasmussen, J. (1998). “An ecological approach to interface design.” Proc., 42nd Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Human Factors Society, San Francisco, Calif.
Flin, R. (1997). “Crew resource management for teams in the offshore oil industry.” Team Perform. Manage., 3(2), 121–129.
Fuller, R. (2005). “Towards a general theory of driver behavior.” Accid. Anal. Prev., 37, 461–472.
Gambatese, J. A., Hinze, J., and Behm, M. (2005). “Investigation of the viability of designing for safety.” Rep. Prepared for The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights, Silver Spring, Md.
Helmreich, R. L., Merritt, A. C., and Wilhelm, J. A. (1999). “The evolution of crew resource management training in commercial aviation.” Int. J. Aviat. Psychol., 9(1), 19–32.
Hinze, J. (1981). “Human aspects of construction safety.” J. Constr. Div., 107(1), 61–72.
Hinze, J. (1996). “The distraction theory of accident causation.” Proc., Int. Conf. On Implementation of Safety and Health on Constr. Sites, CIB Working Commission W99: Safety and Health on Construction Sites, L. M. Alvez Diaz and R. J. Coble, eds., Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 357–384.
Hinze, J., and Gordon, F. (1979). “Supervisor-worker relationship affects injury rate.” J. Constr. Div., 105(3), 253–261.
Hinze, J., and Parker, H. W. (1978). “Safety, productivity and job pressures.” J. Constr. Div., 104(1), 27–35.
Hinze, J., and Wiegand, J. (1992). “Role of designers in construction worker safety.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 118(4), 677–684.
Hollnagel, E. (2004). Barriers and accident prevention, Ashgate, Aldershot, U.K.
Hollnagel, E., Woods, D., and Levenson, N. (2006). Resilience engineering: Concepts and precepts, Ashgate, Aldershot, U.K.
Howell, G., Laufer, A., and Ballard, G. (1993). “Interaction between subcycles: One key to improved methods.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 119(4), 714–728.
Hsiao, H., and Simeonov, P. (2001). “Preventing falls from roofs: A critical review.” Ergonomics, 44(5), 537–561.
Iverson, R. D., and Erwin, P. J. (1997). “Predicting occupational injury: The role of affectivity.” J. Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 70, 113–128.
Levitt, R. E., and Samelson, N. M. (1987). Construction safety management, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Mahalingam, A., and Levitt, R. E. (2007). “Safety issues on global projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 133(7), 506–516.
Mitropoulos P., Abdelhamid, T. S., and Howell, G. A. (2005). “Systems model of construction accident causation.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 131(7), 816–825.
Mitropoulos, P., and Cupido, G. (2007). “Work practices of high reliability crews: An exploratory study.” Proc., 2007 Construction Research Congress, ASCE, Reston, Va.
Musson, D. M., and Helmreich, R. L. (2004). “Team training and resource management in health care: Current issues and future directions.” Harvard Health Policy Rev., 5(1), 25–35.
Namboodiri, M. (2007). “The effect of production practices on the likelihood of accidents.” MS thesis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe, Ariz.
NIOSH. (2007). “Simple solutions: Ergonomics for construction workers.” NIOSH Rep. No. 2007-122.
Rasmussen, J. (1997). “Risk management in a dynamic society: A modeling problem.” Safety Sci., 27(2–3), 183–213.
Rasmussen, J., Pedersen, O. M., Mancini, G., Carnino, A., Griffon, M., and Gagnolet, P. (1981). “Classification system for reporting events involving human malfunctions.” Technical Rep. No. Riso-M-2240, Riso National Laboratory, Roskilde, Denmark.
Rasmussen, J., Pejtersen, A. M., and Goodstein, L. P. (1994). Cognitive system engineering, Wiley, New York.
Reason, J. T. (1990). Human error, Cambridge University Press, New York.
Rigby, L. (1970). “The nature of human error.” Proc., Annual Technical Conf. Transactions of the American Society for Quality Control, Pittsburgh, Pa., 475–566.
Rochlin, G. I., LaPorte, T. R., and Roberts, K. H. (1998). Naval War College Review, Summer, LI(3).
Salas, E., Bowers, C. A., and Edens, E., eds. (2001). Improving teamwork in organizations: Applications of resource management training, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, N.J.
Saurin, T. A., Formoso, C. T., and Cambraia, F. B. (2007). “An analysis of construction safety best practices from a cognitive systems engineering perspective.” Safety Sci., in press.
Saurin, T. A., and Guimaraes, L. (2008). “Ergonomic assessment of suspended scaffolds.” Int. J. Ind. Ergonom., 38, 238–246.
Scharf, T., Vaught, C., Kidd, P., Steiner, L., Kowalski, K., Wiehagen, B., Rethi, L., and Cole, H. (2001). “Toward a typology of dynamic and hazardous work environments.” Hum. Ecol. Risk Assess., 7(7), 1827–1841.
Suraji, A., Duff, A. R., and Peckitt, S. J. (2001). “Development of causal model of construction accident causation.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage., 127(4), 337–344.
Taylor, D. H. (1981). “The hermeneutics of accidents and safety.” Ergonomics, 24(6), 487–495.
Thomassen, M. A., Sander, D., Barnes, K. A., and Nielsen, A. (2003). “Experience and results form implementing lean construction in a large Danish contracting firm.” Proc. 11th Annual Conf. on Lean Construction, Blacksburg, Va., 644–655.
Threlfall, D. (2000). “A railroad company investigates the human side of safety.” Industrial Safety and Hygiene News (ISHN), ⟨http://www.ishn.com/CDA/Articles/eLearning⟩ (June 2009).
Van der Molen, H. F., Grouwstra, R., Kuijer, P. P., Sluiter, J. K., and Frings-Dresen, M. (2004). “Efficacy of adjusting working height and mechanizing of transport of physical work demands and local discomfort in construction work.” Ergonomics, 47(7), 772–783.
Vicente, K. (2006). “Cognitive engineering: A theoretical framework and three case studies.” Int. J. Industrial and Systems Engineering, 1(1/2), 168–181.
Vicente, K. (1999). Cognitive work analysis: Toward safe, productive, and healthy computer based work, Erlbaum, Mahwah, N.J.
Weick, K. E., and Sutcliffe, K. M. (2001). Managing the unexpected, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.
Wilde, G. J. S. 1985. “Assumptions necessary and unnecessary to risk homeostasis.” Ergonomics, 28(11), 1531–1538.
Wright, C. (1986). “Routine deaths: Fatal accidents in the oil industry.” Sociol. Rev., 34, 265–289.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: May 1, 2008
Accepted: Feb 24, 2009
Published online: Apr 30, 2009
Published in print: Sep 2009
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.