Abstract
Previous research has identified the design aspect of building facilities as being a significant
contributing factor to construction site accidents. The aim of this research is to understand the
perception, current practices, barriers and impacts of identifying, assessing and mitigating safety
risks at design of building projects. Postal surveys were conducted in Sydney Australia. The
research results showed that identifying, assessing and mitigating safety risks at design stage of
building facilities is a viable, valuable and beneficial concept. However, the majority of designers
(architects and engineers) lacked knowledge of and had not implemented such concept/process.
Impacts such as extended time and increased cost were discovered as main concerns faced by
designers. Although many respondents were willing to take up the responsibility of addressing
safety risks during design, it is evident that there is lack of formal training to address the issue. It
was identified that the barriers of lack of understanding potential benefits, and inadequate skills
and resources were the major factors precluding designers from carrying out assessment of safety
risk at design stage, while liability exposure and the nature of subcontracting was not deemed a
significant barrier in implementing the concept, as identified by other researchers.
contributing factor to construction site accidents. The aim of this research is to understand the
perception, current practices, barriers and impacts of identifying, assessing and mitigating safety
risks at design of building projects. Postal surveys were conducted in Sydney Australia. The
research results showed that identifying, assessing and mitigating safety risks at design stage of
building facilities is a viable, valuable and beneficial concept. However, the majority of designers
(architects and engineers) lacked knowledge of and had not implemented such concept/process.
Impacts such as extended time and increased cost were discovered as main concerns faced by
designers. Although many respondents were willing to take up the responsibility of addressing
safety risks during design, it is evident that there is lack of formal training to address the issue. It
was identified that the barriers of lack of understanding potential benefits, and inadequate skills
and resources were the major factors precluding designers from carrying out assessment of safety
risk at design stage, while liability exposure and the nature of subcontracting was not deemed a
significant barrier in implementing the concept, as identified by other researchers.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of CIB W099 Conference on Working Together: Planning Designing and Building a Healthy and Safe Construction Industry |
| Place of Publication | Australia |
| Publisher | CIB |
| Pages | 1-10 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
| Externally published | Yes |
| Event | CIB W099 Conference on Working Together: Planning Designing and Building a Healthy and Safe Construction Industry - Melbourne, Australia Duration: 21 Oct 2009 → 23 Oct 2009 |
Conference
| Conference | CIB W099 Conference on Working Together: Planning Designing and Building a Healthy and Safe Construction Industry |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Melbourne |
| Period | 21/10/09 → 23/10/09 |