Impacts of Lean Construction on Safety Systems: A System Dynamics Approach.

Xiuyu Wu,Hongping Yuan,Guangdong Wu,Shuquan Li,Ge Wang

doi:10.3390/ijerph16020221

Abstract

Lean construction has been viewed as an effective management approach for reducing the occurrence of no-value or destructive activities, such as wasting resources and safety-related accidents. However, few studies have systematically addressed how and to what extent lean construction practices influence construction safety. To bridge this gap, a conceptual model is developed and validated using a system dynamics approach. The construction system in this model comprises four sub-systems (i.e., environment system, equipment system, management system, and employee system). Data were collected from 448 projects in China. Simulations were conducted to determine the correlations between five types of lean tools and the four construction sub-systems. The results show that: (a) 5S management has significant positive impacts on the control of key locations and facilities at construction sites, and contributes to the mitigation of environmental impacts; (b) visual management can significantly improve safety compliance and safety management; (c) just-in-time management has significantly positive influences on the safety facilities layout and formulation of the safety plan; and (d) the Last Planner® System and conference management are effective in improving safety training and the implementation of the safety plan. These findings provide new insights into the use of lean construction for improving construction safety through the implementation of a targeted lean approach.

Highlights

Construction projects, especially those building infrastructures, are booming in developing countries such as China, and have contributed greatly to social-economic development over the past few decades
There has been a flurry of research on factors leading to safety hazards, as well as countermeasures to cope with safety issues, including the cause of accidents [6], safety inputs and safety performance theory [7,8], safety planning [9], safety culture, and safety climate and safe behaviors [10,11,12]
Considering the increasing number of construction work-related accidents in combination with poor levels of safety management in rapidly developing countries, in this study, a construction safety system was developed based on five typical lean construction tools

Summary

Introduction

Construction projects, especially those building infrastructures, are booming in developing countries such as China, and have contributed greatly to social-economic development over the past few decades. There has been a flurry of research on factors leading to safety hazards, as well as countermeasures to cope with safety issues, including the cause of accidents [6], safety inputs and safety performance theory [7,8], safety planning [9], safety culture, and safety climate and safe behaviors [10,11,12]. These studies provide significant theoretical guidelines for reducing the number of work-related accidents and improving safety performance.

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion