Occupational Risk Index for Assessment of Risk in Construction Work by Activity

AbstractThe concern for occupational health and safety in construction work is reflected in the many preventive measures taken. However, examples of the systematic assessment of project alternatives aimed at minimizing occupational hazards are rare. This paper proposes a measure of occupational safe...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of construction engineering and management 2014-01, Vol.140 (1)
Main Authors: Casanovas, Maria del Mar, Armengou, Jaume, Ramos, Gonzalo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assessment
Assessments
Avaluació
Construction industry
Construction management
Design
Design analysis
Design engineering
Edificació
Indústria de la construcció
Labor and personnel issues
Mesures de seguretat
Occupational
Occupational Health
Occupational safety
Project design
Risk
Risk assessment
Risk management
Safety
Security measures
Seguretat en el treball
Seguretat en la construcció
Technical Papers
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:AbstractThe concern for occupational health and safety in construction work is reflected in the many preventive measures taken. However, examples of the systematic assessment of project alternatives aimed at minimizing occupational hazards are rare. This paper proposes a measure of occupational safety [occupational risk index (ORI)] that is based solely on the project design and resulting construction process, and is a function of the activities carried out and their specific occupational risk (probability and consequences of occurrence). The ORI can thus be used as an indicator to feed multicriteria decision-analysis tools. The proposal is illustrated with a simple example in which two alternatives (one precast and the other constructed in situ) are prioritized in terms of occupational safety, and certain aspects related to redesign are briefly addressed. With the ORI, occupational safety goes from having a passive influence (application to projects that have already been designed) to an active one (influence on the design concept itself) in the design stage of construction projects. The research is based on an analysis of the applicable legislation and interviews with experts.
ISSN:0733-9364
1943-7862
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0000785