Showing papers by "Matthew R. Hallowell published in 2012"

Safety-Knowledge Management in American Construction Organizations

Abstract: Despite improvements in safety performance over the past 30 years, the construction industry still accounts for an injury-and-illness rate that is approximately five times greater than the all-industry average. This disproportionate injury-and-illness rate has been attributed, in part, to the complex, dynamic, and transient nature of construction projects. To address these challenges, construction organizations must be able to adapt to change by effectively identifying, capturing, storing, and transferring safety knowledge. To investigate how safety-knowledge management strategies are employed in the construction industry, 11 case studies were conducted with a geographically dispersed sample of American general contractors. The sample was stratified by experience modification rate (EMR), a relative measure of safety performance. The results of the case studies indicate that construction organizations tend to acquire safety knowledge from a variety of internal and external sources, but have ineffec...

Identification of Safety Risks for High-Performance Sustainable Construction Projects

Abstract: The United States Green Building Council (USGBC)-sponsored Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program represents the largest program in the United States for the measurement, verification, and certification of green buildings. A recent study found that LEED-certified buildings have accounted for a higher injury rate than comparative traditional non-LEED buildings. This finding served as the impetus for the present study, which aimed to identify and evaluate the safety and health risks associated with the design elements and construction management practices implemented to achieve LEED certification. To explore this topic, six detailed case studies and two validation case studies were conducted following a strict protocol developed from guiding literature. The results indicate that (1) workers on LEED construction projects are exposed to work at height, with electrical current, near unstable soils, and near heavy equip- ment for a greater period of time than workers on traditional projects; (2) workers are exposed to new high-risk tasks such as constructing atria, installing green roofs, and installing photovoltaic (PV) panels; and (3) some credits result in a positive impact on construction worker safety and health when low volatile organic compound (VOC) adhesives and sealants are specified. It is expected that these results can be used by practitioners to focus attention and resources on new highrisk work environments. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000446. © 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Diffusion of Safety Innovations in the Construction Industry

Abstract: Safety performance in the construction industry has improved significantly in the past four decades. This improvement has been attributed in part to the increased implementation of injury prevention strategies. Although the relative effectiveness of these strategies has been studied in previous research, there has been no attempt to evaluate their diffusion. To address this gap in knowledge, 12 highly effective administrative safety innovations were identified in literature, and 58 firms were interviewed to investigate their adoption rate. The diffusion patterns of the identified safety innovations were explored using four common innovation diffusion models: the internal, external, Bass, and Gompetz. The findings indicate that the internal and Bass models have the highest explanatory power and that internal factors are the most influential factors in adoption of safety innovations by construction firms. It was also found that project-specific training and safety meetings (91%), frequent worksite i...

Prevention through design and construction safety management strategies for high performance sustainable building construction

Abstract: Recent studies have found that Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings have a higher injury rate than traditional non-LEED buildings and that 12 of the LEED credits increase risks for construction workers. The objective was to identify and describe risk mitigation strategies that reduce the safety risk associated with the design and construction of high performance sustainable projects by conducting extensive interviews with experienced designers and constructors. Fortunately, feasible prevention techniques through design and construction safety management strategies exist and can be used to mitigate the safety risk associated with the design features and means and methods of construction used to achieve LEED certification. Most commonly, designers and contractors identified prefabrication, effective site layout and alternative products as methods to prevent injuries that specifically relate to the hazards of each sustainable element. The results of the interviews and results from p...

Safety Risk Quantification for High Performance Sustainable Building Construction

Abstract: A recent study found that Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified buildings have a recordable injury rate that is 9% higher than traditional, non-LEED buildings. A follow-up study showed that there are distinct aspects of the design elements and means and methods of construction used to achieve LEED certification that have negative impacts on worker safety. The research described in this paper builds on previous knowledge by quantifying the percent increase in base-level safety risk resulting from the design strategies and construction methods implemented to earn specific LEED credits. A total of 26 interviews and 11 validation interviews were conducted with designers and contractors who had completed an average of four LEED projects, 100 traditional projects, in their average of 18 years of experience in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. The results indicate that design elements and means and methods of construction implemented to achieve 12 of the 4...

Attribute-based risk model for measuring safety risk of struck-by accidents

Abstract: Struck-by injuries are a leading proximal cause of fatal injuries and are usually caused by a falling or suspended objects and contact between workers and heavy equipment. As with other injuries, struck-by risks are most effectively mitigated early in the planning phases of a project. Among different methods of preconstruction safety management, safety risk modeling and integration has been shown to be highly effective. To enhance the current preconstruction safety management methods, the authors utilized an attribute-based risk identification and analysis method that helps designers and preconstruction planners to identify and model safety risk independently of specific activities or building components. In order to identify the attributes that contribute to struck-by incidents and quantify their relative risks, over 300 injury reports from the National databases reviewed. In total, 34 attributes were identified and their risks were then quantified. It was found that working under or near lifted loads (15.6%), working with heavy equipment (17.1%), workers on foot and moving equipments (13.5%) are the most hazardous attributes that lead to struck-by accidents. The results can be used by practitioners to integrate robust safety risk data into project designs, schedules, building information models, and pre-task plans.

Hazard Recognition Methods in the Construction Industry

Abstract: Studies have established that construction workers are more likely to be injured than workers in other industries. In the United States, the construction sector has accounted for more than a thousand fatal injuries every year between 1995 and 2008. Although injury rates have reduced substantially in the past decade, the construction industry still accounts for the most on-the-job fatal injuries of any industry. Also, it has been suggested that the observed reduction in injury rates may be attributed to fiscal constraints that resulted in 17% decline in the number of hours worked, rather than the improvement in safety performance. A large portion of construction injuries occur because new workers lack the ability to predict, identify, and respond to hazardous conditions in dynamic work environments. In order to improve workers’ situational awareness, employers often put new workers through hazard recognition training programs. Unfortunately, there is no industry standard method of hazard recognition. In an effort to identify the most promising hazard recognition programs for construction, the research team (1) conducted focus group sessions with a panel of fifteen industry experts; and (2) reviewed literature to identify hazard recognition techniques. The results of this study can be used by practitioners to strategically identify potential hazard reception programs that complement existing methods. Researchers may build on this study by further investigating the most promising strategies by testing them with active crews, measuring their effectiveness, and determining the most cost-effective methods that could potentially become industry standard.

Developing a Framework for Measuring the Effectiveness of Common Fall Prevention/Protection Practices

Abstract: One of the major proximal causes of injury and fatality in roofing sector is falls from height. Although the use of proper fall protection devices is effective in preventing incidents, many roofers get injured due to using incomplete or inadequate fall protection devices. In fact, compliance with fall protection regulations is low, particularly in residential building construction, which stems from lack of resources for small and medium sized companies. One of the innovative ways to overcome this challenge is to find out which fall prevention/protection practices are more effective for specific task. The current study aims to present a framework to measure the effectiveness of common fall prevention/protection practices in mitigating hazards in residential building construction. It is expected that the presented framework will aid small and medium roofing contractors to enhance their current safety programs by selecting the most effective subset of fall prevention/protection practices compatible with the tasks that they are performing.

Enterprise Risk Management for Transportation Agencies

Abstract: Risk management is implicit in transportation business practices. Administrators, planners, and engineers coordinate many organizational and technical resources to manage transportation network performance. Transportation agencies manage some of the largest and highest-valued public assets and budgets in federal, state, and local governments. It is the agencies' corporate responsibility to set clear strategic goals and objectives to manage these assets so economic growth and livability of their regions improves and the public gets the best value. Risks can affect an agency's ability to meet its goals and objectives. As network and delivery managers, these agencies must identify risks, assess the possible impacts, develop plans to manage the risks, and monitor the effectiveness of their actions. This paper presents the results of (a) a comprehensive literature review, (b) a state-of-the-practice survey of 43 U.S. transportation agencies, and (c) seven case studies from leading transportation organizations ...