Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Safety Science
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
48502
Abstract
Despite developments in the prevention of fatalities in the construction industry, fatalities resulting from well-known hazards continue at an unacceptable rate. Construction fatality prevention literature describes risk management techniques to provide ‘early warning’ of potential events. In dynamic construction project environments, these ‘early warnings’ are missed resulting in serious and fatal events. Critical Control Risk Management (CCRM) provides an alternative strategy to prevent fatal events in the construction industry. However, no research exists that explores the application of CCRM to actual construction projects. This study aims to design, develop, and validate a construction fatality prevention program using CCRM principles through mixed method research. A six-phase fatality prevention process, the Major Accident Prevention (‘MAP’) program was developed and validated over 18 months on an Australian construction project. The MAP program provided a practical approach to risk management which significantly enhanced frontline risk management practices. Modelling of performance indicators identified first aid injuries and hazard reporting were the most significant measures which correlated with supervisor observations, and personal risk assessments MAP activities. A weak correlation between MAP activities and first aid injuries was identified (0.528p = < 0.05) with further statistical analysis limited by the small sample size. A key attribute of the MAP program was the risk profiling planning tool which provided a four week look ahead on the fatal risks, allowing management to focus effort on verifying relevant critical controls in the field. The findings of this study aim to help construction organizations develop and implement fatal risk prevention programs.
DOI
10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105986
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Selleck, R., Cattani, M., & Hassall, M. (2023). Proposal for and validation of novel risk-based process to reduce the risk of construction site fatalities (Major Accident Prevention (MAP) program). Safety Science, 158, Article 105986. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2022.105986