Establishing an integrated model for measuring the site safety performance of construction projects: literature review and future research agenda

Abstract

Safety issues have always been a major problem besetting the construction industry in many countries because of the hazardous nature and complexity of the work. Previous government statistics have manifested that the highest number of accidents and fatalities are found in the construction industry when compared with other major industry sectors throughout the world. In Hong Kong, the construction industry is also regarded as high-risk. There are different construction site safety assessment methods proposed by some researchers. However, there is a lack of holistic assessment model for site safety performance of construction projects. In this study, the essential factors needed for safety assessment and their associated sub-factors are those which affect the level of safety performance. This paper aims to put forward a research framework for developing a holistic site safety assessment model for new construction projects in Hong Kong using the Delphi survey technique. It will be a multi-factor model where the core factors are expressed both in broad terms and as finer, more detailed, sub-factors. Successful development of the site safety assessment model can then enable the setting up of a benchmarking tool for measuring and comparing the overall safety standards of the various construction projects within an organisation, between organisations and within the construction industry as a whole leading to an improved site safety culture.