Abstract
The construction industry seems to suffer from a general inability to manage workplace health and safety to a level where an achieved improvement in safety performance by a way of pro-active measures can result in zero accidents. The costs resulting from injuries and equipment damage, combined with the associated financial loss resulting from schedule disruptions, insurance hikes, and workers compensation, impact the profitability of any construction operation. These costs may be minimized or avoided through focused safety efforts on construction job sites. This paper investigates the effectiveness of safety management activities in China. A safety management survey has been conducted in construction companies. Based on a literature and questionnaire research, Such aspects were centered in as the background of construction safety in China, the characteristics of working-at-height hazard, the safety management practice in construction, the organization of safety management The findings reveal that the behavior of contractors on safety management are of grave concern, including the lack of provision of personal protection equipment, regular safety meetings, and safety training. The study also proposes that the government should play a more critical role in stricter legal enforcement and organizing safety training programs.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Hinze, J., Gambatese, J.A.: Factors that influence safety performance of specialty contractors. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 129(2), 159–164 (2003)
Tam, C.M., Fung, I.W.H., Chan, A.P.C.: Study of attitude changes in people after the implementation of a new safety management system: the supervision plan. Construction Management and Economics 19, 393–403 (2001)
Baxendale, T., Jones, O.: Construction design and management safety regulations in practice-progress on implementation. Journal of Project Management 18, 33–40 (2000)
Wilson Jr., J.M., Koehn, E. (eds.): Safety management: problems encountered and recommended solutions. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 126(1), 77–79 (2000)
Kunju, A.R., Gibb, A.G.F.: Measuring safety culture with SPMT—field-data. Journal of Construction Research 4(1), 29–44 (2003)
Chin, K.S., Choi, T.W.: Construction in Hong Kong: success factors in ISO9000 Implementation. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management 126(6), 599–609 (2003)
Glendon, A.I., Stanton, N.A.: Perspectives on safety culture. Safety Science 34, 193–214 (2000)
Gun, R.T.: The role of regulations in the prevention of occupation injury. Safety Science 16, 47–66 (1993)
Hakkinen, K.: A learning-by-doing strategy to improve top management involvement in safety. Safety Science 20, 299–304 (1995)
Hale, A.R.: Is safety training worthwhile? Journal of Occupational Accidents 6, 17–33 (1984)
Hale, A.R., Heming, B.H.J., Carthey, J., Kirwan, B.: Modeling of safety management. Safety Science 26(1/2), 121–140 (1997)
Hinze, J., Pedersen, C., Fredley, J.: Identifying root causes of construction injuries. J. Construct. Eng. Manage. 124(1), 67–71 (1998)
Mohamed, S.: Safety climate in construction site environments. J. Construct. Eng. Manage. 128(5), 375–384 (2002)
Abdelhamid, T., Everett, J.G.: Identifying root causes of construction accidents. J. Construct. Eng. Manage. 126(1), 52–60 (2000)
Heinrich, H.: Industrial accident prevention. McGraw-Hill, New York (1931)
Komaki, J.: Toward effective supervision: an operant analysis and comparison of managers. J. Appl. Psychol. 71, 270–279 (1986)
Helander, M.: Safety hazards and motivation for safe work in the construction industry. Int. J. Indus. Ergonom. 8(3), 205–224 (1991)
Mattila, M., Hyttinen, M., Rantanen, E.: Effective supervisory behavior and safety at the building site. Int. J. Indus. Ergonom. 13(2), 85–94 (1994)
Santos-Reyes, J., Beard, A.L.: Assessing safety management systems. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 15, 77–95 (2002)
Sonnemans, P.J.M., Körvers, P.M.W.: Accidents in the chemical industry: are they foreseeable? Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 19, 1–12 (2006)
Teo, E.A.L., Ling, F.Y.Y.: Developing a model to measure the effectiveness of safety management systems of construction sites. Building and Environment 41, 1584–1592 (2006)
Thompson, C., Hilton, T.F., Witt, L.A.: Where the safety rubber meets the shop floor: a confirmatory model of management influence on workplace safety. Journal of Safety Research 29(1), 15–25 (1998)
Williamson, A.M., Feyer, A.M., Cairns, D., Biancotti, D.: The development of a measure of safety climate: the roles of safety perceptions and attitudes. Safety Science 25, 15–27 (1997)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag GmbH Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Xiaoyong, L., Wendi, M. (2012). An Investigation of Safety Management in Construction Workplace in China. In: Zhang, Y. (eds) Future Wireless Networks and Information Systems. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, vol 144. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27326-1_42
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27326-1_42
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-27325-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27326-1
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)