Occupational Safety in a Construction Alliance Project: Findings from a Large-scale Finnish Light-rail Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.19255/JMPM02902Keywords:
Alliancing, Construction, Project Alliance, Occupational Safety, Safety management, Safety cultureAbstract
Alliancing is a relatively new procurement method in large infrastructure and other construction projects. Occupational safety (OS) in alliances is an area towards which very little research interest has been directed thus far. This is surprising giving the common understanding of accidents, injuries, and occupational illnesses and the burden they represent for individuals, companies, and communities. This study focuses on OS inside the major Raide-Jokeri Light-Rail Alliance project in Finland. OS is approached through a survey directed at all the participants of the alliance, including subcontractors. A total of 360 responses were collected, representing roughly half of the personnel at that time. The survey shows how OS is experienced rather uniformly inside the alliance and amid the stakeholders; however, certain differences were also detected among the personnel, providing the possibility of focusing on development actions inside the alliance. The survey results can be interpreted as revealing certain signs of a mature safety culture inside the alliance project; yet, future studies with more sophisticated research approaches are needed.
References
Adaku, E., Ankrah, N.I., & Ndekugri, I.E. (2021). Design for occupational safety and health: A theoretical framework for organisational capability. Safety Science, 133. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.105005
Alkaissy, M., Arashpour, M., Ashuri, B., Bai, Y., & Hosseini,R. (2020). Safety management in construction: 20 years of risk modeling. Safety Science, 129. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2020.104805
Antonsen, S. (2009). Safety culture assessment: A mission impossible. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, 17(4), 242–254. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5973.2009.00585.x
Biggs, S.E., Banks, T.D., Davey, J.D., & Freeman, J.E.(2013). Safety leaders’ perceptions of safety culture in a large Australasian construction organization. Safety Science, 52,3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2012.04.012
Bosh-Rekveldt, M., Jongkind, H., Mooi, H., Bakker, H., & Verbraeek, A. (2011). Grasping project complexity in large engineering projects: The TOE (technical, organizational and environmental) framework. International Journal of Project Management, 29(6), 728–739. https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2010.07.008
Chen, Q., & Jin, R. (2015). A comparison of subgroup construction workers’ perceptions of a safety program.Safety Science, 74, 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.11.021
Choudhry, R.M., Fang, D., & Mohamed, S. (2007a).Developing a model of construction safety culture. Journal of Management and Engineering, 23(4), 207–212. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0742-597X(2007)23:4(207)
Choudhry, R.M., Fang, D., & Mohamed, S. (2007b).The nature of safety culture: A survey of the state-ofthe-art. Safety Science, 45(10), 993–1012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2006.09.003
Clarke, S. (1999). Perceptions of organizational safety:Implications for the development of safety culture. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(2), 185–
https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-1379(199903)20:2%3C185::AIDJOB892%3E3.0.CO;2-CConfederation of Finnish Construction Industries. (2021).
Tapaturmakyselyt ja tulokset [Results of work-relatedaccidents survey]. https://www.rakennusteollisuus.fi/
Tietoa-alasta/Tyoturvallisuus/Tyoturvallisuuskysely-jatulokset/Day, G.S. (1995). Advantageous alliances. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23(4), 297–300. https://doi.org/10.1177/009207039502300409 Dul, J., & Neumann, P.W. (2009). Ergonomics contributions to company strategies. Applied Ergonomics, 40(8), 745–752. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2008.07.001 Edwards, J.R.D., Davey, J., & Armstrong, K. (2013). Returning to the roots of culture: A review and reconceptualisation of safety culture. Safety Science, 55,70–80. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.01.004
Fang, D., & Wu, H. (2013). Development of a safety culture interaction (SCI) model for construction projects.Safety Science, 57, 138–149. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2013.02.003
Moradi, S., Kähkönen, K., & Aaltonen, K. (2020a). From past to present – The development of project success research. Journal of Modern Project Management, 8(1),1–20. https://doi.org/10.19255/JMPM02301 Moradi, S., Kähkönen, K., & Aaltonen, K. (2020b). Project managers’ competencies in collaborative construction projects. Buildings, 10(50). https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10030050
Morrow, S.L., Koves, G.K., & Barnes, V.E. (2014).Exploring the relationship between safety culture and safety performance in U.S. nuclear power operations.
Safety Science, 69, 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2014.02.022
Nabi, M.A., El-adaway, I., Fayek, S., Howell, C., & Gambatese, J.A. (2020). Contractual guidelines for construction safety-related issues under design-build standard forms of contract. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(7). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001855
Nævestad, T-O., Hesjevoll, I.S., & Phillips, R.O. (2018). How can we improve safety culture in transport organizations? A review of interventions, effects and influencing factors. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 54, 28–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2018.01.002
Paver, M., & Duffield, M. (2019). Project management lessons learned “the elephant in the room”. Journal of Modern Project Management, 6(3), 104–125. https://doi.org/10.19255/JMPM01807
Provonost, P., & Sexton, B. (2005). Assessing safety culture:Guidelines and recommendations. BMJ Quality & Safety,4, 231–233. https://doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2005.015180
Rahman, M.S., & Adnana, T.M. (2020). Risk management and risk management performance measurement in the construction projects of Finland. Journal of Project
Management, 5(3), 167–178. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.jpm.2020.5.001
Sawacha, E., Naoum, S., & Fong, D. (1999). Factors affecting safety performance on construction sites.
International Journal of Project Management, 7(5), 309–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0263-7863(98)00042-8
Schulte, P.A. (2006). Emerging issues in occupationalsafety and health. International Journal of Occupationaland Environmental Health, 12(3), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1179/oeh.2006.12.3.273
Shirali, G.A., Salewhi, V., Savari, R., & Ahmadiangali,K. (2018). Investigating the effectiveness of safety costs on productivity and quality enhancement by means of a quantitative approach. Safety Science, 103, 316–322.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.12.017
Shorten, A., & Smith, J. (2017). Mixed methods research:Expanding the evidence base. Evidence-Based Nursing,20(3), 74–75. https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2017-102699Singer, S.J., & Vogus, T.J. (2013). Reducing hospital errors:Interventions that build safety culture. Annual Review
of Public Health, 34, 373–396. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-031912-114439Stajkovic, A., & Luthans, F. (2003). Behavioral managementand task performance in organizations: Conceptualbackground, meta-analysis and test of alternative models.Personnel Psychology, 56(1), 155–194. https://doi.
org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.2003.tb00147.x Trinh, M., & Feng, Y. (2020). Impact of project complexityon construction safety performance: Moderating role of
resilient safety culture. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(2). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)
CO.1943-7862.0001758Van Nuen, K., Li, J., Reniers, G., & Ponnet, K. (2018).Bibliometric analysis of safety culture research. Safety
Science, 108, 248–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.08.011Xia, N., Zou, P.X.W., Griffin, M.A., Wang, X., & Zhong, R.
(2018). Towards integrating construction risk management and stakeholder management: A systematic literature review and future research agendas. International Journalof Project Management, 36(5), 701–715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2018.03.006
Xue, X., Shen, Q., & Ren, Z. (2010). Critical review ofcollaborative working in construction projects: Businessenvironment and human behaviors. Journal of Managementin Engineering, 26(4). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000025Yeung, J.F.Y., Chan, A.P.C., & Chan, D.W.M. (2007). The
definition of alliancing in construction as a Wittgensteinfamily-resemblance concept. International Journalof Project Management, 25(3), 219–231. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.10.003Young, B., Hosseini, A., Klagegg, J.O., & Lædre, O. 2018).What makes an alliance an alliance – Experiences from Australian infrastructure projects. Journal of Modern ProjectManagement, 6(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.19255/
JMPM0160
Zou, P. (2011). Fostering a strong construction safetyculture. Leadership and Management in Engineering,11(1), 11–22. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)LM.1943-
0000093
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Marko Salomäki, Arto Reiman, Osmo Kauppila, Jani Pihl
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.