AHP-Based Weighting of Factors Affecting Safety on Construction Sites with Tower Cranes
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 135, Issue 4
Abstract
Aspiring to adopt a nonstatistical quantitative approach to safety assessment, this study implements a multiattribute decision-making tool to elicit knowledge from experts and formalize it into a set of weighted safety factors. The environment addressed is the construction site and the specific factors studied are those affecting safety due to the operation of tower cranes. Nineteen senior construction equipment and safety experts were interviewed and led through the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to provide their assessments on the relative importance of safety factors obtained in an earlier study. The results accentuate the dominance of the crane operator and general superintendent on the site safety scene and play down the contribution of “classic” site hazards such as power lines. Quantitative measuring of safety, such as reflected in the weights obtained in this study, is important in communicating safety requirements and focusing the limited resources available for safety improvements. These factor weights are also deemed to be a vital component in the development of a comprehensive model that will allow the computation of safety indices for individual construction sites employing tower cranes. It is expected that the methodology can then be adopted for addressing other site safety issues as well.
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Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the equipment and safety professionals, whose experience and expertise played an indispensable role in the success of this study. This research was supported by the Manof Fund for Safety and Hygiene at the Workplace, National Insurance Institute of Israel.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 135 • Issue 4 • April 2009
Pages: 307 - 318
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Aug 28, 2007
Accepted: Oct 15, 2008
Published online: Apr 1, 2009
Published in print: Apr 2009
Authors
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