Journal of Construction Engineering and Project Management

Korea Institute of Construction Engineering and Management (한국건설관리학회)
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A System Dynamics View of Safety Management in Small Construction Companies

  • Guo, Brian H.W. (Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Auckland) ;
  • Yiu, Tak Wing (Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Auckland) ;
  • Gonzalez, Vicente A. (Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Auckland)
  • Published : 2015.12.01
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Abstract

Due to unique characteristics of small construction companies, safety management is comprised of complex problems. This paper aims to better understand the complexity and dynamics of safety management in small construction companies. A system dynamics (SD) model was built in order to capture the causal interdependencies between factors at different system levels (regulation, organization, technical and individual) and their effects on safety outcomes. Various tests were conducted to build confidence in the model's usefulness to understand safety problems facing small companies from a system dynamics view. A number of policies were analyzed by changing the value of parameters. The value of a system dynamics approach to safety management in small construction companies is its ability to address joint effects of multiple safety risk factors on safety performance with a systems thinking perspective. By taking into account feedback loops and non-linear relationships, such a system dynamics model provides insights into the complex causes of relatively poor safety performance of small construction companies and improvement strategies.

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