Showing papers by "Matthew R. Hallowell published in 2011"

Enabling and measuring innovation in the construction industry

Abstract: Innovation is vital to successful, long-term company performance in the construction industry. Understanding the innovation process, how innovation can be enhanced and how it can be measured are key steps to managing and enhancing innovation. The factors that affect innovation on a project were identified, as well as how these factors can be used to measure the level of innovation on a project, and the practices and processes that encourage and facilitate innovative changes. Case studies of construction projects in the United States revealed three necessary components of innovation: idea generation, opportunity and diffusion. A variety of practices are used to optimize each component including support and commitment from the owner/client and firm upper management, workforce and project team integration and diversity. Applying the practices identified in the research leads to enhanced innovation through better communication among project team members, integration of the design and construction disciplines,...

Factors that influence the development and diffusion of technical innovations in the construction industry

Abstract: Some technical innovations diffuse rapidly throughout the construction industry while others take a long time or are never integrated into everyday practice. Understanding the initiation, development, implementation and outcomes of successful technical innovations within the construction industry provides guidance for the improvement of the innovation process. To further this understanding, innovation generating organizations (IGOs) in the construction industry were surveyed and the data were statistically analysed. Two sources were used to identify newly developed products, technologies and management strategies: the Construction Innovation Forum’s NOVA Award website and the Emerging Construction Technologies (ECT) website. A total of 233 innovative products were identified from the two websites. The results showed that there are many statistically significant motivating factors for investment in the initial development of successful technical innovation, barriers and enablers to efficient diffusion and ...

Safety risk interactions among highway construction work tasks

Abstract: Recent research has produced frameworks for integrating safety risk data into project schedules, visual models and other construction planning tools. Unfortunately, only a few studies have attempted to quantify base‐level safety risk for construction tasks and no study has attempted to quantify the degree to which spatial and temporal interactions among tasks contribute to the potential for injury. A research study was performed to quantify the impact that pair‐wise spatial and temporal interactions have on the base‐level risk of 25 common highway construction work tasks in the United States. Six hundred risk interactions were quantified by obtaining and aggregating over 23 500 individual ratings from certified experts using the Delphi method. The results indicate that incompatible tasks may increase the base‐level risk up to 60%. The most incompatible highway construction tasks are: (1) installing curbs and gutters and installing rigid pavement; and (2) construction zone traffic control and installing ri...

Risk-Based Framework for Safety Investment in Construction Organizations

Abstract: The costs of construction injuries can have a substantial impact on the financial success of construction organizations and increase the overall costs of construction up to 15%. Following the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, construction firms began to implement a variety of management techniques to reduce the frequency of injuries. Although these strategies decrease the cost of injuries, they consume time and other significant resources. Thus, it is imperative for construction organizations to objectively evaluate the cost-benefit of investments in injury prevention through formal and robust processes. This paper presents a risk-based framework that can be used to evaluate the incremental return on investment of a series of investments in highly effective injury prevention strategies. The framework was developed using foundational risk quantification and analysis techniques and is illustrated using a hypothetical case study that is based on archival data published by United States government a...

Interrelationships among Highly Effective Construction Injury Prevention Strategies

Abstract: Preventing injuries to workers is essential to effective organizational management in the construction industry. It is generally accepted that achieving a high level of safety performance requires the implementation of an effective safety program. In an effort to provide guidance for the development of an effective safety program, previous studies have focused on identifying highly effective injury prevention strategies and quantifying their individual impacts on safety performance. Despite these advancements in knowledge, the synergistic interrelationships among highly effective injury prevention strategies remain unknown. The objective of this paper is to describe the results of a Delphi study that quantified the interrelationships (i.e., pairwise cross impacts) of highly effective and commonly implemented injury prevention strategies. Analysis of the data indicates that the site safety manager, worker participation and involvement, a site-specific safety plan, and upper management support and commitmen...