Experience In Construction Industry Research Articles

The comparative inclusion and acceptance of LGBT+ people in the UK construction industry

The Equality Act of 2010 forbids discrimination based on gender and sexual identity; however, many lesbians, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary and people with gender expressions outside traditional norms (LGBT+) working in the UK construction industry experience hostility in the workplace. There has been a lack of research that focuses on LGBT+ professionals in construction, so this study investigates the topic and looks at how acceptance varies across different groups under the LGBT+ umbrella. The research uses thematic analysis to probe in depth the experience of 11 LGBT+ interviewees working in the UK construction sector. The study finds that majority of the LGBT+ employees have experienced some prejudice, each group in a unique way. Bisexual, trans and nonbinary people experience more discrimination than Lesbian and Gay people. Acceptance depends on workplace context. The respondents perceive construction sites more linked to harassment, discrimination and inappropriate comments toward the LGBT+ community than office environments. The visibility of senior LGBT+ employees and leadership of both LGBT+ and non-LGBT+ senior management are important for inclusion in organisations and for supporting junior LGBT+ employees. This study contributes to understanding of LGBT+ acceptance and raises issues that need to be addressed in the industry, challenging heteronormative culture.

Perspectives of Severity in the Choice of Risk Management Techniques

This study examines the risk management practices prevalent in the South African construction industry. This was necessitated by ineffective risk management practices in the construction industry, particularly in developing countries such as South Africa. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to establish the risk management practices in use. The study adopted a quantitative research approach that employs an electronic questionnaire to contractors operating in South Africa. The findings suggest that the South African construction industry experiences ineffective risk management implementation, which is impacted by the perception of the risk severity. The study established that contractors face many risks, chief among them high competition in bids, political instability, payment delays, corruption and bribery and an overbearing influence of bureaucratic processes from government-aligned agencies. Furthermore, it was also established that risk management techniques used amongst South African contractors are largely informal with low implementation. It also emerged that risk management implementation is perceived to be an expensive venture that erodes the marginal profits contractors aim to make. Resultantly, risk management practices implementation is low among the contractors. The study recommends that public and private construction clients encourage adopting risk management practices linked to good practice and not based on perceptions of risk severity.

Construction and demolition waste causative factors in building projects: survey of the Indian construction industry experiences

Construction and demolition waste (C&DW) management is one of the reasons for the success of any construction project. Over time, the construction sector has consistently witnessed its projects getting complicated to manage. Along with this, the pressure comes from the growing demand to build intelligent and sustainable buildings. Therefore, there is a need to reduce the C&DW. This study intends to determine the variables generating C&DW in India's construction sector and identify the criteria that merit a reduction in a construction project based on their importance level. An extensive literature review was conducted, and numerous attributes causing C&DW were examined. The questionnaires were disseminated to stakeholders, and an analysis of the collected data to understand the degree of importance of each attribute was appraised. The factor analysis divided the attributes into eight factors and 44 identified attributes, and none of them were excluded from the analysis. The eight parameters were then used to build the conceptual framework for assessing the C&DW in the Indian construction industry. This study seeks to build a conceptual framework for assessing the causes of C&DW in the Indian construction industry, which would help reduce C&DW and motivate most construction companies' applications. It must provide a better understanding of the architecture, engineering, and construction industry players and build consciousness among them for tackling future construction projects.

Mobile Device-Based Struck-By Hazard Recognition in Construction Using a High-Frequency Sound.

The construction industry experiences the highest rate of casualties from safety-related accidents at construction sites despite continuous social interest in safety management. Accordingly, various studies have been conducted on safety management, wherein recent studies have focused on its integration with Machine Learning (ML). In this study, we proposed a technology for recognizing struck-by hazards between construction equipment and workers, where a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and sound recognition were combined to analyze the changes in the Doppler effect caused by the movements of a subject. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the recognition performance in indoor and outdoor environments with respect to movement state, direction, speed, and near-miss situations. The proposed technology was able to classify the movement direction and speed with 84.4–97.4% accuracy and near-misses with 78.9% accuracy. This technology can be implemented using data obtained through the microphone of a smartphone, thus it is highly applicable and is also effective at ensuring that a worker becomes aware of a struck-by hazard near construction equipment. The findings of this study are expected to be applicable for the prevention of struck-by accidents occurring in various forms at construction sites in the vicinity of construction equipment.

Cleaning up Forever Chemicals in Construction: Informing Industry Change

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substance (PFAS) contamination has been found in the construction spoil of many major projects, and there is growing concern about the health and environmental implications of these “forever” chemicals. In a context where construction and tunneling have experienced substantial growth, Australia and other countries are still developing their PFAS management. This study used convergent interviews to surface the key common issues that are associated with the management of PFAS contamination in the construction industry. The construction industry appears stuck in their ways and extremely financially driven. Regulation is not working because of poor enforcement and policing from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA could look to employ individuals with more construction industry experience in order to become a strong regulator in the industry, as well as to streamlining decision-making processes, while maintaining quality. To speed up changes in the management of PFASs within the construction industry, large organizations could be targeted by the relevant sustainability rating scheme, and there could be further use of the alliance models to research, develop, and implement PFAS treatment methods.

Challenges and Way Forward for Implementing Green Roof in Construction Industry in Sarawak, Malaysia

There is a growing global concern about the adverse effects of today's rapid economic growth and development, which impact the environment and deplete energy supply. A green roof may lower a building's energy consumption and minimise air pollution by reducing dust particles in the air. The primary impediment to green roof implementation in Malaysia lacks local knowledge and unskilled green roof specialists. As a result, there is a shortage of green roof installers and specialised firms in the country. This article discusses the problems and solutions of adopting green roofs in building projects based on construction industry experience in Sarawak. A survey utilising a questionnaire is used to obtain data for this research. The paper revealed the possible challenges of adopting a green roof for the construction industry. The study is critical in order to adopt green roof technology quickly in Malaysia.

The job-seeking experiences of migrants and refugees in the Australian construction industry

ABSTRACT International migrant and refugee numbers are at record levels and continue to grow. The construction industry is a major source of potential employment for migrants and refugees and emerging social and sustainable procurement policies in many parts of the world are also requiring construction supply chains to employ refugees and migrants as a condition of public sector contracts. However, there is virtually no research into the barriers that refugees and migrants face in seeking decent employment in the construction sector. Addressing this important gap in knowledge an exploratory survey of refugees' and migrants' job-seeking experiences in the Australian construction industry is presented. Results show that by far the greatest barrier to employment is lack of construction industry experience, followed by poor recognition of previous skills and experience. Recent migrants and refugees and those with the greatest previous experience of working in construction face the greatest barriers in finding decent work. Men from an Arabic background also experience greater difficulties than other cultural groups. It is recommended that policy-makers develop more initiatives to provide work experience and engage with construction employers about the challenges which refugees and migrants face in finding work in construction.

The situational and individual determinants of entrepreneurship in the construction industry

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to explore the situational and individual factors which motivate entrepreneurs to start a business in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews are undertaken with twenty-five entrepreneurs in the Australian construction industry.FindingsFindings highlight the importance of eight recurring “situational” themes leading to the decision to start a business in the construction industry: life experiences; family background; roles models; education; previous employment; construction industry experience - especially at an early age; cultural factors and serendipity. Findings also reveal six recurring “individual” themes: individual agency; need for achievement; work–life balance; desire for independence, frustration avoidance and strategic instrumentality.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings indicate that mainstream theories of entrepreneurship may underplay the importance of intergenerational traditions and cultural and informal institutional knowledge in the construction industry. The research is limited to interviews undertaken in the Australian construction industry.Practical implicationsThe findings have important implications for research, policy and educational practice. For researchers they highlight the potential value of social identity and new institutional theories as novel conceptual lenses in future construction entrepreneurship research. They also raise new methodological questions regarding the use of ethnographic methods which are relatively rare in construction research. This research also has important implications for educators in informing novel pedagogies for delivering entrepreneurial education which engages students in experiential learning. The findings also inform innovation policy to enable more entrepreneurship in what is seen widely as a low-innovation industry.Social implicationsThere is widespread agreement about the importance of entrepreneurship as a driver of increased productivity, income, employment, ecological health and social equality and mobility in society. This is especially important to minority groups such as refugees and Indigenous people who employ entrepreneurship to circumvent the many barriers they face in gaining traditional employment in the construction industry.Originality/valueDrawing on both psychological and sociological schools of thought in entrepreneurship theory, this paper answers calls for more qualitative and industry-specific entrepreneurship research. It contributes new insights to both mainstream and construction entrepreneurship research by contributing new insights by highlighting situational and individual factors which motivate entrepreneurs to start a business in construction.

Evidence-driven sound detection for prenotification and identification of construction safety hazards and accidents

As the construction industry experiences a high rate of casualties and significant economic loss associated with accidents, safety has always been a primary concern. In response, several studies have attempted to develop new approaches and state-of-the-art technology for conducting autonomous safety surveillance of construction work zones such as vision-based monitoring. The current and proposed methods including human inspection, however, are limited to consistent and real-time monitoring and rapid event recognition of construction safety issues. In addition, the health and safety risks inherent in construction projects make it challenging for construction workers to be aware of possible safety risks and hazards according to daily planned work activities. To address the urgent demand of the industry to improve worker safety, this study involves the development of an audio-based event detection system to provide daily safety issues to laborers and through the rapid identification of construction accidents. As an evidence-driven approach, the proposed framework incorporates the occupational injury and illness manual data, consisting of historical construction accident data classified by types of sources and events, into an audio-based safety event detection framework. This evidence-driven framework integrated with a daily project schedule can automatically provide construction workers with prenotifications regarding safety hazards at a pertinent work zone as well as consistently contribute to enhanced construction safety monitoring by audio-based event detection. By using a machine learning algorithm, the framework can clearly categorize the narrowed-down sound training data according to a daily project schedule and dynamically restrict sound classification types in advance. The proposed framework is expected to contribute to an emerging knowledge base for integrating an automated safety surveillance system into occupational accident data, significantly improving the accuracy of audio-based event detection.

Project Management Performance and Its Influence on Malaysian Building Projects

Working environment and safety behavior are the primary concern in construction projects which in the long run are part of the yardstick in measuring project management performance. Construction safety and performance should be thoroughly investigated empirically by illustrating the current state of accident and performance in construction industries. Entrenched in the Malaysian construction industry experience, three dimensions of the project management performance (resolve cost, schedule, and quality) can buffer the contractor’s and project manager’s performance in building projects. Following organizational control theory, this research investigated the effects project management performance (resolve cost, schedule, and quality) on construction projects among G-7 contractors operating in Kuantan Malaysia construction industries through a personally administered questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) opined that schedule and quality have positive and significant influence, while resolve cost has a significant negative influence on Malaysia construction projects.

An exploratory study of relationships between stakeholders’ risk perceptions and their roles and experience in construction industry

This study explores relationship between variations in risk perceptions of various stakeholders and their roles and experience in the construction industry. A sample of 133 respondents from different stakeholder groups was picked from the UAE construction industry, and surveyed through an online questionnaire to collect data on respondents’ experience, roles, and risk perceptions. Variations in risk perceptions were analyzed by grouping the respondents by experience and roles. Given the ordinal nature of the data, only nonparametric statistical techniques were used in the analysis. According to the results, the roles and experience of stakeholders significantly affected their risk perceptions in many cases. For example, there was a statistically significant discordance between clients and contractors regarding the importance of delegating decision-making authority. Likewise, significant discordance was observed between more experienced and less experienced sub-groups of clients regarding the importance of design quality and documentation.

Process‐Based Identification of Critical Factors for Residual Value Risk in China′s Highway PPP Projects

Although the Chinese government at all levels has increasingly embraced Public‐Private Partnership (PPP) as their preferred approach to deliver large‐scale infrastructure since 2014, residual value risk (RVR) has been ignored in PPP practice. To systematically explore the critical risk factors (CRFs) responsible for measuring RVR in highway PPP projects, this paper proposes and refines a conceptual model composed of two risk dimensions (four risk categories) and 29 indicators through process‐based viewpoint. Through literature review and expert interview, a structured questionnaire was developed to collect responses with rich working experience in construction industry or highway PPP projects. The refined measurement model with 21 CRFs was validated through mean value analysis (MVA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) performed by SPSS 23.0 and AMOS 23.0, respectively. The findings indicate that 21 CRFs are significant in influencing RVR of highway PPP projects. Moreover, RVR from system dimension is mainly concentrating on institutional environment, macroeconomy, and relationship aspects, whereas financing in preconstruction, quality in construction, and market demand in operation are the most significant CRFs in nonsystem dimension. Furthermore, there is an accumulative exposure of RVR during the project process, especially in preconstruction and operation. This paper sheds light on the significance of lifecycle management on RVR and provides a practical approach for measuring RVR and implementing sustainable practice in highway or other transportation PPP projects.

Severity of U.S. Construction Worker Injuries, 2015-2017

Workers in the U.S. construction industry experience workplace hazards that can lead to work-related injuries that sometimes are fatal. Reported in this paper is a case-control study of risks factors associated with 4,845 injured workers and their work environments that led to fatal rather than nonfatal injuries during 2015-2017. These injury data originally were assembled from information collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that were used in a machine learning competition, but were repurposed for this secondary analysis of injury risks. Sixty-one percent of workers recorded in this dataset were injured fatally. Multiple logistic regression was applied to model the probability of a fatal injury as a function of the nature of the injury, part of body injured, human factors involved, whether the injured worker was carrying out a regularly assigned task at the time of the injury, and the manner in which the injury was inflicted. Related positively, relative to benchmarks, to the probability of a fatality injury were: falls and strikes; electrocution; asphyxiation and drowning; injury to the head and neck; and working at a task not regularly assigned. Negatively related to the probability of a fatal injury were: chemical/temperature burns; amputation and crushing; fractures and dislocations; injuries to fingers, hands, wrists, and other extremities; and falls from an elevation or to the same level, although this last negative relationship is anomalous in the light of independent research findings. Findings of this study do not necessarily culpable causes of work-related death. Rather these findings identify risk factors that might prove fruitful for further analysis of the incidence, severity, and costs of construction injuries.

A step change in safety performance through critical control management

The oil and gas construction industry experiences a high rate of unnecessary work-related fatalities. The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP) reported 54 fatalities in 40 fatal incidents in 2015. When assessing this against the use of IOGP Life-Saving Rules (LSRs), which contractors are required to adopt, the IOGP found that of the 40 fatal incident descriptions in 2015, at least 73% related to the IOGP LSRs. A program to apply a critical control management (CCM), or safety cased, approach to fatal hazards was trialled on construction sites in Australia and South Africa ranging from large power station constructions to offshore hook-up and commissioning to brownfields maintenance. The results demonstrated a step change in the safety performance occurred on projects where the CCM program was implemented. These projects have each demonstrated a significant improvement in recordable injuries, increases in hazard reporting and awareness, and almost complete elimination of high-potential incidents. Further investigation of the reasons for these results is the subject of a PhD project and includes: (1) understanding how the CCM program improves hazard awareness and decision making of frontline supervisors; (2) determining the effects CCM has on the safety climate of the organisation as detailed focus is applied on the effectiveness of controls that drive leadership decisions; and (3) investigating how CCM improves leadership at all levels of the organisation due to better information that allows tangible action to be taken to improve control effectiveness. This paper describes the progress of CCM program development, details present results and lessons learned, and provides a context for how CCM programs can be implemented in other organisations.

The Impact of Technological Changes on Project Management at a Company Operating in the Construction Industry

This study investigated the impact that technological changes have on the construction industry. In recent years, the construction industry has been forced to investigate ways to improve the delivery of projects. Construction projects are becoming more and more complex and clients are demanding improved products and services. The construction industry experiences inefficiency problems that are caused by the dispersed nature of the organisations in the industry. This leads to poor communication and insufficient transfer of information when it is needed. This has challenged the construction industry to be more efficient, innovative and to implement and use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to facilitate the improvements required. However, due to the dynamic changes in technology, many organisations have implemented ICT solutions that do not meet their needs. Project managers are expected to integrate the work of all the companies involved in a project. As a result, there is a constant need for information throughout the lifecycle of a project. Therefore, communication of project information a project is critical. This study was conducted using a single method approach focusing on collecting and analysing quantitative data. The survey strategy, through the use of questionnaires, was the design used in the study. Random sampling was used to sample 20 employees out of a population of 87 employees. The findings from the literature review and the data analysis revealed that communication is a problem in the industry and exerts an influence on project management. Furthermore, the findings showed that the implementation of ICT tools greatly improves the delivery of projects, but more needs to be done to improve the adoption of ICT by employees and organisations.

Sociotechnical Systems of Fatal Electrical Injuries in the Construction Industry

AbstractThe construction industry experiences the greatest proportion of workplace electrical injuries globally. Much research effort has gone toward analyzing this phenomenon, yet a majority of which focused on isolated elements while ignored the work system. Modern work systems are complex, within which humans interact with technology, social structures, and environments. Outcomes (including accidents and injuries) resulting from such a complex system are not attained by any system element in isolation. As a result, effective risk management requires the control over the whole sociotechnical system (STS). This work demonstrates such an effort in investigating STSs. The work uses a triangulation approach in examining construction-fatality reports. The findings identify three typical STSs, reveal their system weaknesses, and provide remedial recommendations. The work contributes to the knowledge body of risk management, electrical safety, and research methodologies. The introduced triangulation approach i...

The Impact of Technological Changes on Project Management at a Company Operating in the Construction Industry

This study investigated the impact that technological changes have on the construction industry. In recent years, the construction industry has been forced to investigate ways to improve the delivery of projects. Construction projects are becoming more and more complex and clients are demanding improved products and services. The construction industry experiences inefficiency problems that are caused by the dispersed nature of the organisations in the industry. This leads to poor communication and insufficient transfer of information when it is needed. This has challenged the construction industry to be more efficient, innovative and to implement and use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools to facilitate the improvements required. However, due to the dynamic changes in technology, many organisations have implemented ICT solutions that do not meet their needs. Project managers are expected to integrate the work of all the companies involved in a project. As a result, there is a constant need for information throughout the lifecycle of a project. Therefore, communication of project information a project is critical. This study was conducted using a single method approach focusing on collecting and analysing quantitative data. The survey strategy, through the use of questionnaires, was the design used in the study. Random sampling was used to sample 20 employees out of a population of 87 employees. The findings from the literature review and the data analysis revealed that communication is a problem in the industry and exerts an influence on project management. Furthermore, the findings showed that the implementation of ICT tools greatly improves the delivery of projects, but more needs to be done to improve the adoption of ICT by employees and organisations.

302 Predicting Risk of Lost Work-Time Injury in Small Construction Companies

ObjectiveThe construction industry experiences a high rate of injuries. A pattern of minor injuries may increase risk of severe injuries within a company. The assistance of outside safety and health...

In Memoriam: John R. Lamberson, Founding Member of the Construction Institute

John R. Lamberson of Atherton, California, was a driving spirit within the original group of construction professionals who came together in 2000 to organize the Construction Institute (CI). He served as the first services director of CI. Our friend, a construction industry icon, passed away on September 12, 2012, after a brief but gallant battle with cancer. We have all lost a very special type of man, a man whowas dedicated to the success of the Construction Institute and to the individual success of every person he came in contact with. John was a member of The Beavers, The Moles, Building Futures Council, the Associated General Contractors of America, the Associated General Contractors of California, the Construction Financial Management Association, and Construction Institute of our society. At the time of his death, he was president of Lamberson Consulting LLC, a management consulting company he formed in 1998 that specialized in the construction industry. His family was from Missouri but moved to California, and he graduated from Alameda High School at 16. He graduated from the University of California–Berkeley in 1954 and served in the Army at Ft. Lewis. In 1958 he took a job as a surety bond underwriter with Safeco Insurance Company in Sacramento. But his real entrance into construction came in 1961 when he accepted an offer to join Miller & Ames, a San Francisco insurance and surety brokerage firm specializing in the construction industry. John remained with Miller & Ames and its successor companies, Corroon & Black and Willis Corroon, for 32 years. He was president and director of Corroon & Black, a major New York Stock Exchange insurance brokerage firm. While there, he founded the firm’s Construction Industry Division. With the merger of Corroon & Black and Willis Faber into the Willis Corroon Group, John was a director of Willis Corroon Group and CEO of Willis Corroon, the retail brokering business unit worldwide. He was a trustee of the Beavers Charitable Trust and served as director of several major construction companies. Additionally, he found time to lecture and share his knowledge in such forums as Stanford University’s Masters in Construction Management, Young Presidents’ Organization, the American Graduate School of International Business, and the Construction Financial Management Association. John Lamberson was honored in 1990 with the Golden Beaver Award for Service and Supply, and in 2006 he was elected to the National Academy of Construction. A great believer in giving back to the communities that gave him so much, John led the fundraising efforts of the Beavers Charitable Trust. His vision of bringing practical construction industry experience to the university leads the Beavers to provide financial support for the establishment of chairs of heavy construction practice at Arizona State University, California State University–Long Beach, Oregon State University, Purdue University, University of Washington, and Texas A&M University. The San Francisco/Bay Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America honored John in 2000 as the “Scout of the Year.” John Lamberson exemplified the spirit of the Boy Scout Oath—“to help other people at all times.” We have lost a wonderful and inspiring friend. Requiescat in pace.

Understanding Construction Industry Experience and Attitudes toward Integrated Project Delivery

Integrated project delivery (IPD) seeks to improve project outcomes through a collaborative approach of aligning the incentives and goals of the project team through shared risk and reward, early involvement of all parties, and a multiparty agreement. Although there has been a huge interest in IPD in principle, the current adoption status by the construction industry is unknown. Several professional organizations are supporting the advancement of IPD, and several projects have demonstrated its benefits; however, the amount of projects using IPD remains relatively small. This research is based on the results of a web-based survey that was designed to target a wide range of construction professionals in an effort to shed light on current status of IPD use and its future widespread adoption by the construction industry. The paper attempts to provide hard data concerning the knowledge and experience levels of construction professionals regarding IPD as well as their opinions concerning its benefits and problems as a project delivery method.