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Overview
Safety statistics for construction indicate high
fatality and injury rates
Quality research indicates inefficiencies and
mismanagement are wasting billions of dollars
The nature of construction requires the work
processes to deal with uncertainties,
continuous changes, and risk
We are investigating a new type of
management system, to deal with the
dynamic and uncertain nature of construction
work
Safety Statistics
Management commitment
Employee involvement
Hazard identification and control
Training and education
Accident investigation
Program documentation and Review
Customer-focus
Team work
Continuous Improvement
Literature Review
Conducted Fall 2001, updated Fall 2003
Key search engines: ABI inform, WebSPIRS,
ProQuest, PsychINFO, and Web of Knowledge
Key words: quality, TQM, quality management,
safety, safety management, occupational
safety, construction, and construction industry
18 construction safety articles
26 construction quality articles
2 empirical and 3 theoretical articles on safety
and quality management
to successful implementation
of construction
poor understanding of customer
expectations
lack of management
commitment/leadership
lack of worker empowerment
Self-assessment tools, such as ISO 9000,
MBNQA, and BS 5750 were helpful
Also found to improve safety performance in a
two studies
Methods
Interviews (face-to-face and telephone) were
conducted in the Summer and Fall of 2002.
A list of interview candidates was provided by
the WI ABC, attempted to provide a variety of
work specialty and contractor size
Out of 12 candidates, nine interviews were
conducted
Semi-structured interview format was used
Interviews ran between 30-75 minutes, and
were tape recorded for transcription
Study Sample
Type of
Contractor
Union
or
Merit*
Union
Size
Category
Years in
Business
Annual
Sales
Insurer
Status
EMR
Quality
Awards
20-99
20+
$3M
Private
0.78
None
ST:
mechanical
Merit
10-19
20+
$1.5M
Private
1.02
None
ST: roofing
Merit
20-99
10-20
$3M
Private
0.61
None
Both:
carpentry
Merit
1-9
10-20
$150K
Private
0.83
None
GC
Both
100-499
20+
$60M
Private
0.43
Many
GC
Merit
20-99
20+
$30M
Private
0.50
Many
ST:
electrical
Merit
500+
20+
$100M
Self
0.66
Many
GC
Merit
20-99
20+
$10M
Private
0.62
Some
ST:
paint/glass
Union
100-499
20+
N.R.
Both
1.04
Some
ST:
concrete
Results - Safety
Results - Quality
Discussion
Safety response were similar to the literature
Use of EMR & IR for safety performance
Traditional safety characteristics
However, focus on worker
Quality responses were not similar to the
literature
Varying definition of quality, and metrics
Limited acknowledgement of a formal system
Similar to safety, focus on worker
Integration of quality and safety not well
understood, limited application
Summary
Construction is a complex process, involving
multiple parties (with individual interests) to
transform a mental concept into a physical
structure.
The non-standard or unpredictable nature of
construction increases the variability within
the process
An integrated safety and quality management
system could help reduce some variability in
the construction process, however it is not
very well understood at this time
Acknowledgements
Professors P. Carayon, M.J. Smith, UWMadison
Professor E.A. Kapp, UW-Whitewater
WI ABC Safety Director Don Moen
CPWR for support