Safety inspections in construction sites: A systems thinking perspective.

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health and Safety
• Systems Engineering
• Construction Management

Background:

• Government safety inspections are crucial for accident prevention in construction.
• There is a lack of in-depth understanding regarding the processes and outcomes of these safety inspections.
• Existing research has not fully explored the application of systems thinking to analyze safety inspection effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the knowledge gap concerning the outcomes and processes of government safety inspections in construction.
• To apply systems thinking (ST) as a framework for gaining deeper insights into safety inspections.
• To explore how specific attributes of ST can be utilized within the context of construction site safety inspections.

Main Methods:

• Conducted thirteen case studies of construction sites with prohibited works over a six-year period.
• Employed a qualitative research approach integrating participant observation, direct observations, document analysis, and interviews.
• Utilized four key attributes of systems thinking to analyze the inspection processes within the case studies.

Main Results:

• Identified two complementary approaches for gaining insights into safety inspections using ST.
• Demonstrated that the study design itself must align with ST principles for effective analysis.
• Highlighted the importance of focusing data collection and analysis on agents, their interactions, constraints, opportunities, and outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Systems thinking provides a robust lens for understanding the complexities of construction safety inspections.
• Effective safety inspection analysis requires an ST-informed study design and a focus on systemic interactions.
• Recommendations for improving safety inspections can be derived by analyzing agent interactions and influencing factors within the system.