Hybrid Model for Assessing the Influence of Safety Management Practices on Labor Productivity in Multistory Building Projects
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147, Issue 11
Abstract
The occurrence of accidents at construction sites has negative effects on labor productivity. Conversely, the implementation of good safety management practices (SMPs) can increase productivity. Thus, to enhance productivity, it is essential to assess the implementation levels of safety practices and analyze their effects on productivity. This study aims to develop novel models for assessing the implementation levels of SMPs and for the prediction of labor productivity in multistory building projects. Data regarding safety management practices, projects’ start dates, and projects’ completion dates were collected from 39 multistory building projects across Melbourne, Australia. The quantitative data were analyzed and a scoring tool to measure, plan, and monitor the safety practices influencing the productivity of construction projects was developed. Further, linear and logistic regression models were developed to predict labor productivity when a score of SMPs is determined. By integrating the models and the scoring tool, a user-friendly instrument for assessing the impact of SMPs on the productivity performance of a building project was developed. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by providing tool and models that aid construction project managers to make appropriate decisions regarding the implementation levels of the safety practices influencing building projects’ productivity.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Aboagye-Nimo, E., and F. Emuze. 2017. “Construction safety through housekeeping: The Hawthorne effect.” J. Construct. Project Manage. Innovation 7 (2): 2027–2038. https://doi.org/10520/EJC-c240c6a3c.
Abou-Assaleh, T., N. Cercone, V. Keselj, and R. Sweidan. 2004. “N-gram-based detection of new malicious code.” In Proc., 28th Annual Int. Computer Software and Applications Conf., COMPSAC 2004, 41–42. New York: IEEE.
AbuHamra, L. A., and A. A. Enshassi. 2016. “Strategies for safety and productivity improvement.” J. Eng. Res. Technol. 2 (1): 65–74.
Ahn, C. R., S. Lee, C. Sun, H. Jebelli, K. Yang, and B. Choi. 2019. “Wearable sensing technology applications in construction safety and health.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 145 (11): 03119007. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001708.
Albrechtsen, E., I. Solberg, and E. Svensli. 2019. “The application and benefits of job safety analysis.” Saf. Sci. 113 (Mar): 425–437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.12.007.
Ali, A., S. Kamaruzzaman, and G. Sing. 2010. “A study on causes of accident and prevention in Malaysian construction industry.” J. Des. Built 3 (1): 95–104.
Alinaitwe, H. M., J. A. Mwakali, and B. Hansson. 2007. “Factors affecting the productivity of building craftsmen-studies of Uganda.” J. Civ. Eng. Manage. 13 (3): 169–176. https://doi.org/10.3846/13923730.2007.9636434.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2018. “Work-related injuries, Australia 2017–18.” Accessed May 29, 2019. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPage/6324.0Jul%202017%20to%20Jun%202018?OpenDocument.
Awolusi, I. G., and E. D. Marks. 2017. “Safety activity analysis framework to evaluate safety performance in construction.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 143 (3): 05016022. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001265.
Benjaoran, V., and S. Bhokha. 2010. “An integrated safety management with construction management using 4D CAD model.” Saf. Sci. 48 (3): 395–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.09.009.
Borys, D. 2012. “The role of safe work method statements in the Australian construction industry.” Saf. Sci. 50 (2): 210–220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.08.010.
Caldas, C. H., J.-Y. Kim, C. T. Haas, P. M. Goodrum, and D. Zhang. 2015. “Method to assess the level of implementation of productivity practices on industrial projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 141 (1): 04014061. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000919.
Cameron, I., and B. Hare. 2008. “Planning tools for integrating health and safety in construction.” Construct. Manage. Econ. 26 (9): 899–909. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446190802175660.
Casanovas, M. D. M., J. Armengou, and G. Ramos. 2014. “Occupational risk index for assessment of risk in construction work by activity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 140 (1): 04013035. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000785.
Cheng, E. W., N. Ryan, and S. Kelly. 2012. “Exploring the perceived influence of safety management practices on project performance in the construction industry.” Saf. Sci. 50 (2): 363–369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2011.09.016.
CII (Construction Industry Institute). 2013a. Best productivity practices implementation index for industrial projects. Austin, TX: CII.
CII (Construction Industry Institute). 2013b. Best productivity practices implementation index for infrastructure projects. Austin, TX: CII.
Dai, J., P. M. Goodrum, W. F. Maloney, and C. Srinivasan. 2009. “Latent structures of the factors affecting construction labor productivity.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 135 (5): 397–406. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2009)135:5(397).
De Greef, M., K. Van Den Broek, J. Pinilla, L. Pujol, and J. Portillo. 2004. Quality of the working environment and productivity. Brussels, Belgium: European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Department of Treasury and Finance. 2016. “Construction supplier register.” Accessed July 27, 2016. http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au.
El-Batreek, A. H., A. S. Ezeldin, and M. M. Elbarkouky. 2013. “A framework for construction labor productivity improvement in Egypt.” In Proc., Architectural Engineering Conf. Reston, VA: ASCE.
El-Gohary, K. M., and R. F. Aziz. 2013. “Factors influencing construction labor productivity in Egypt.” J. Manage. Eng. 30 (1): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000168.
Fargnoli, M., M. Lombardi, N. Haber, and F. Guadagno. 2020. “Hazard function deployment: A QFD-based tool for the assessment of working tasks—A practical study in the construction industry.” Int. J. Occup. Saf. Ergon. 26 (2): 348–369. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2018.1483100.
Fawcett, T. 2006. “An introduction to ROC analysis.” Pattern Recognit. Lett. 27 (8): 861–874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patrec.2005.10.010.
Fung, I. W., V. W. Tam, T. Y. Lo, and L. L. Lu. 2010. “Developing a risk assessment model for construction safety.” Int. J. Project Manage. 28 (6): 593–600. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2009.09.006.
Goldenhar, L. M., S. K. Moran, and M. Colligan. 2001. “Health and safety training in a sample of open-shop construction companies.” J. Saf. Res. 32 (2): 237–252. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-4375(01)00045-7.
Guo, B. H., T. W. Yiu, and V. A. González. 2016. “Predicting safety behavior in the construction industry: Development and test of an integrative model.” Saf. Sci. 84 (Apr): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2015.11.020.
Guo, S., J. Li, K. Liang, and B. Tang. 2019. “Improved safety checklist analysis approach using intelligent video surveillance in the construction industry: A case study.” Int. J. Occup. Saf. Ergon. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2019.1685781.
Gurmu, A. T. 2019a. “Identifying and prioritizing safety practices affecting construction labour productivity: An empirical study.” Int. J. Productivity Perform. Manage. 68 (8): 1457–1474. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-10-2018-0349.
Gurmu, A. T. 2019b. “Tools for measuring construction materials management practices and predicting labor productivity in multistory building projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 145 (2): 04018139. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001611.
Gurmu, A. T., and A. A. Aibinu. 2017. “Construction equipment management practices for improving labor productivity in multistory building construction projects.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 143 (10): 04017081. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001384.
Gurmu, A. T., and A. A. Aibinu. 2018. “Survey of management practices enhancing labor productivity in multi-storey building construction projects.” Int. J. Productivity Perform. Manage. 67 (4): 717–735. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-02-2017-0032.
Gurmu, A. T., and C. S. Ongkowijoyo. 2020. “Predicting construction labor productivity based on implementation levels of human resource management practices.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 146 (3): 04019115. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001775.
Hammad, M. S., A. Omran, and A. H. K. Pakir. 2011. “Identifying ways to improve productivity at the construction industry.” Acta Tech. Corviniensis-Bull. Eng. 4 (4): 47.
Hanley, J. A., and B. J. McNeil. 1982. “The meaning and use of the area under a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.” Radiology 143 (1): 29–36. https://doi.org/10.1148/radiology.143.1.7063747.
Hwang, B.-G., P. Krishnankutty, L. Zhu, C. H. Caldas, A. Shounak, and S. Mulva. 2020. “Improving labour productivity in process construction maintenance and shutdown/turnaround projects.” Int. J. Construct. Manage. 20 (7): 822–836. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2018.1492664.
Jergeas, G. 2009. Improving construction productivity on Alberta oil and gas capital projects. Calgary, AB, Canada: Univ. of Calgary.
Jones, T. J. 2007. Professional management of housekeeping operations. New York: Wiley.
Kang, K., and H. Ryu. 2019. “Predicting types of occupational accidents at construction sites in Korea using random forest model.” Saf. Sci. 120 (Dec): 226–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.06.034.
Kim, H.-Y. 2013. “Statistical notes for clinical researchers: Assessing normal distribution (2) using skewness and kurtosis.” Restor. Dent. Endodontics 38 (1): 52–54. https://doi.org/10.5395/rde.2013.38.1.52.
Lam, P. T., F. K. Wong, and F. W. Wong. 2007. “Building features and site-specific factors affecting buildability in Hong Kong.” J. Eng. Des. Technol. 5 (2): 129–147. https://doi.org/10.1108/17260530710833185.
McDonald, D., and J. Zack. 2004. Estimating lost labor productivity in construction claims. Morgantown, WV: AACE International.
Muhammad, N. Z., A. Sani, A. Muhammad, S. Balubaid, E. E. Ituma, and J. H. Suleiman. 2015. “Evaluation of factors affecting labour productivity in construction industry: A case study.” Jurnal Teknologi 77 (12): 87–91. https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v77.6314.
Nasir, H. 2013. “Best productivity practices implementation index (BPPII) for infrastructure projects.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Waterloo.
Nasir, H., C. T. Haas, C. H. Caldas, and P. M. Goodrum. 2016. “An integrated productivity-practices implementation index for planning the execution of infrastructure projects.” J. Infrastruct. Syst. 22 (2): 04015022. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000275.
Nguyen, L. D., D. Q. Tran, and M. P. Chandrawinata. 2016. “Predicting safety risk of working at heights using Bayesian networks.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 142 (9): 04016041. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001154.
Odesola, I. A., and G. I. Idoro. 2014. “Influence of labour-related factors on construction labour productivity in the south-south geo-political zone of Nigeria.” J. Constr. Dev. Countries 19 (1): 93.
Olson, R., A. Varga, A. Cannon, J. Jones, I. Gilbert-Jones, and E. Zoller. 2016. “Toolbox talks to prevent construction fatalities: Empirical development and evaluation.” Saf. Sci. 86 (Jul): 122–131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2016.02.009.
Osborne, J., and E. Waters. 2002. “Four assumptions of multiple regression that researchers should always test.” Pract. Assess. Res. Eval. 8 (2): 1–9.
OSHAcademy. 2019. “Developing a construction safety management system.” Accessed May 29, 2019. https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/DetailsPagehttps://www.oshatrain.org/courses/studyguides/833studyguide.pdf.
Peduzzi, P., J. Concato, E. Kemper, T. R. Holford, and A. R. Feinstein. 1996. “A simulation study of the number of events per variable in logistic regression analysis.” J. Clin. Epidemiol. 49 (12): 1373–1379. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-4356(96)00236-3.
Pillay, M., and M. Tuck. 2020. “Investigating resilience engineering through safe work method statements in residential construction.” In Proc., Int. Conf. on Human Systems Engineering and Design: Future Trends and Applications, 289–294. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Probst, T. M., L. M. Goldenhar, J. L. Byrd, and E. Betit. 2019. “The safety climate assessment tool (S-CAT): A rubric-based approach to measuring construction safety climate.” J. Saf. Res. 69 (Jun): 43–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2019.02.004.
Rajendran, S., and J. A. Gambatese. 2009. “Development and initial validation of sustainable construction safety and health rating system.” J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 135 (10): 1067–1075. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9364(2009)135:10(1067).
Rozenfeld, O., R. Sacks, Y. Rosenfeld, and H. Baum. 2010. “Construction job safety analysis.” Saf. Sci. 48 (4): 491–498. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2009.12.017.
Safe Work Australia. 2015a. The cost of work-related injury and illness for Australian employers, workers and the community: 2012–13. Canberra, Australia: Safe Work Australia.
Safe Work Australia. 2015b. Work health and safety perceptions: Construction industry. Canberra, Australia: Safe Work Australia.
Safe Work Australia. 2021. “Working at heights.” Accessed March 21, 2021. https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/heights.
Saunders, L. W., B. M. Kleiner, A. P. Mccoy, K. P. Ellis, T. Smith-Jackson, and C. Wernz. 2017. “Developing an inter-organizational safety climate instrument for the construction industry.” Saf. Sci. 98 (Oct): 17–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.04.003.
Shokouhi, Y., P. Nassiri, I. Mohammadfam, and K. Azam. 2019. “Predicting the probability of occupational fall incidents: A Bayesian network model for the oil industry.” Int. J. Occup. Saf. Ergon. 27 (3): 654–663. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2019.1607052.
Sperandei, S. 2014. “Understanding logistic regression analysis.” Biochem. Med. 24 (1): 12–18. https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2014.003.
Steyerberg, E. W., F. E. Harrell, G. J. Borsboom, M. Eijkemans, Y. Vergouwe, and J. D. F. Habbema. 2001. “Internal validation of predictive models: Efficiency of some procedures for logistic regression analysis.” J. Clin. Epidemiol. 54 (8): 774–781. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0895-4356(01)00341-9.
Thomas, A. V., and J. Sudhakumar. 2014. “Modelling masonry labour productivity using multiple regression.” In Proc., 30th Annual ARCOM Conf. Portsmouth, UK: Association of Researchers in Construction Management.
Umer, W., H. Li, W. Lu, G. P. Y. Szeto, and A. Y. Wong. 2018. “Development of a tool to monitor static balance of construction workers for proactive fall safety management.” Autom. Constr. 94 (Oct): 438–448. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2018.07.024.
Willems, G., and S. Van Aelst. 2005. “Fast and robust bootstrap for LTS.” Comput. Stat. Data Anal. 48 (4): 703–715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csda.2004.03.018.
Yan, X., and X. Su. 2009. Linear regression analysis: Theory and computing. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific.
Yang, Y.-C., H. Choi, and J.-J. Kim. 2004. “A study of methods on safety checklist improvement and integrated operation with schedule for construction accident prevention.” Korean J. Constr. Eng. Manage. 5 (2): 123–135.
Yiu, N. S., D. W. Chan, M. Shan, and N. Sze. 2019. “Implementation of safety management system in managing construction projects: Benefits and obstacles.” Saf. Sci. 117 (Aug): 23–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.03.027.
Yiu, N. S., N. Sze, and D. W. Chan. 2018. “Implementation of safety management systems in Hong Kong construction industry—A safety practitioner’s perspective.” J. Saf. Res. 64 (Feb): 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2017.12.011.
Yılmaz, M., and R. Kanıt. 2018. “A practical tool for estimating compulsory OHS costs of residential building construction projects in Turkey.” Saf. Sci. 101 (Jan): 326–331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.09.020.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 147 • Issue 11 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 11, 2020
Accepted: Jun 23, 2021
Published online: Aug 17, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jan 17, 2022
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.
Cited by
- Argaw Tarekegn Gurmu, Preconstruction Phase Management Practices Enhancing Labor Productivity in Multistory Building Projects, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-13145, 149, 6, (2023).
- Saeed Reza Mohandes, Ali Karasan, Melike Erdoğan, Pejman Ghasemi Poor Sabet, Amir Mahdiyar, Tarek Zayed, A comprehensive analysis of the causal factors in repair, maintenance, alteration, and addition works: A novel hybrid fuzzy-based approach, Expert Systems with Applications, 10.1016/j.eswa.2022.118112, 208, (118112), (2022).