Construction Safety & Health in the Framework of Civil Engineering Risk Assessment

Authors

Michael H. Faber and Dongping Fang

Abstract

The present paper sets out with the aim to investigate and utilize the possibilities for synergetic effects between the research areas of construction safety and recent developments in engineering risk assessments. Construction projects constitute in terms of systemic characteristics one of the most complex types of activities being dealt with in engineering. In addition, the construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries at present with a very high rate of fatalities and injuries among construction workers. In order to be able to assess and manage the risks in such projects and to ensure an appropriate level of life safety in particular all aspects of the interrelations between regulations, organizations, individuals, technical systems and equipment must be accounted for. In the present paper based on the papers submitted to the present conference first an outline of the present state of the research field of construction safety is provided. This outline is made in accordance with a categorization of the papers following a generic framework for risk assessment in engineering presently under development in the Joint Committee on Structural Safety (JCSS). Following this outline selected parts of the JCSS risk assessment framework is presented in more detail. This framework in particular addresses the modeling of complex engineered systems by introduction of a multi-level representation of the system characteristics; exposure, vulnerability and robustness. Furthermore, the framework provides amble guidance for assessing optimality, risk criteria and life saving efficiency, to be applied in the process of risk based decision making. For the assessment of societal acceptable life safety in a normative perspective a newly developed concept (the Life Quality Index) is outlined. Finally, an assessment is made in regard to which constituents of the JCSS risk assessment framework are actually covered by the present state of the research in the field of construction safety and health and based on this assessment recommendations are made in regard to future directions of research.

Published in/by

Proceedings CIB W99 - International Conference on Global Unity for Safety & Health in Construction, Beijing, China, June 28-30, 2006.