A Framework for Project Safety Management by Applying Social Network Analysis

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Civil Engineering Department, K. N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

2 Graduate School of Management, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Civil Engineering, Kish International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kish Island, Iran

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Projects need a network of various resources such as human, equipment and material
which should be used together to achieve some goals. Today, in order to better manage this network, the
idea of applying social network analysis (SNA) has been introduced in the project management. Since
safety issues cause important challenges in projects, in this paper, the SNA is applied to promote the
project’s safety level. The main idea of this research is to find the most influential person who has the
high potential for creating accidents. Specifically, to solve this problem, the authors address three main
subjects: firstly, to identify the existing links in the social network of projects according to different
causes of accidents, secondly to analyze the network by applying the SNA and the third, to present
some strategies to manage the most influential persons based on the results of the SNA. By applying the
proposed framework with six steps, firstly the accidents can be prioritized based on their density and
secondly, the most influential person can be identified based on centrality. To implement the proposed
framework, a case study has been reviewed and the results showed that the falling from height and HSE
man are the most important accident and the most influential person, respectively.

Highlights

[1] M. Yang, F. Khan, L. Lye, P. Amyotte, Risk assessment of rare events, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 98 (2015) 102-108.

[2] P.X. Zou, R.Y. Sunindijo, Strategic safety management in construction and engineering, John Wiley & Sons, 2015.

[3] U.S.D.o. labor, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2014.

[4] S.S. Organization, Reports of Occupational Accident, Iran, 2014-2015.

[5] M.R. Hallowell, Safety-knowledge management in American construction organizations, Journal of Management in Engineering, 28(2) (2011).

[6] H. Heinrich, Industrial Accident prevention McGraw Hilt Book Company, New York, (1931).

[7] J. Lewandowski, Work safety management in company, Lodz: Lodz Polytechnic Publishers, (2000).

[8] P.L. Spath, Error reduction in health care: A systems approach to improving patient safety, John Wiley & Sons, 2011.

[9] L. Runkiewicz, On construction failures and disasters in Poland in years 1962–2004, Engineering and Building (Inżynieria i Budownictwo), 4 (2006) 193-195.

[10] S. Ung, V. Williams, H. Chen, S. Bonsall, J. Wang, Human error assessment and management in port operations using fuzzy AHP, Marine Technology Society Journal, 40(1) (2006) 73-86.

[11] H. Chen, H. Qi, R. Long, M. Zhang, Research on 10- year tendency of China coal mine accidents and the characteristics of human factors, Safety science, 50(4) (2012) 745-750.

[12] J. Reason, Human error: models and management, BMJ: British Medical Journal, 320(7237) (2000) 768.

[13] X. Zheng, Y. Le, A.P. Chan, Y. Hu, Y. Li, Review of the application of social network analysis (SNA) in construction project management research, International Journal of Project Management, 34(7) (2016) 1214- 1225.

[14] S. Wasserman, K. Faust, Social network analysis: Methods and applications, Cambridge university press, 1994.

[15] W. De Nooy, A. Mrvar, V. Batagelj, M. Granovetter, Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (p 334), (2005).

[16] B.W. Wambeke, M. Liu, S.M. Hsiang, Using Pajek and centrality analysis to identify a social network of construction trades, Journal of construction engineering and management, 138(10) (2011) 1192-1201.

[17] J.R. Turner, R. Müller, On the nature of the project as a temporary organization, International journal of project management, 21(1) (2003) 1-8.

[18] A.L. Stinchcombe, Bureaucratic and craft administration of production: A comparative study, Administrative science quarterly, (1959) 168-187.

[19] W.R. Scott, Rational, natural, and open systems, in, NJ: Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff, 1981.

[20] P. Chinowsky, J.E. Taylor, M. Di Marco, Project network interdependency alignment: New approach to assessing project effectiveness, Journal of Management in Engineering, 27(3) (2010) 170-178.

[21] S. Pryke, Social network analysis in construction, John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

[22] S.-C. Lin, An analysis for construction engineering networks, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(5) (2014) 04014096.

[23] H. Park, S.H. Han, E.M. Rojas, J. Son, W. Jung, Social network analysis of collaborative ventures for overseas construction projects, Journal of construction engineering and management, 137(5) (2010) 344-355.

[24] S.A. Abbasian-Hosseini, S.M. Hsiang, M.L. Leming, M. Liu, From social network to data envelopment analysis: Identifying benchmarks at the site management level, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(8) (2014) 04014028.

[25] D.-P. Shin, H.-S. Gwak, D.-E. Lee, Modeling the predictors of safety behavior in construction workers, International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics, 21(3) (2015) 298-311.

[26] M.M. Zaira, B.H. Hadikusumo, Structural equation model of integrated safety intervention practices affecting the safety behaviour of workers in the construction industry, Safety science, 98 (2017) 124-135.

[27] C. Wu, N. Li, D. Fang, Leadership improvement and its impact on workplace safety in construction projects: A conceptual model and action research, International Journal of Project Management, 35(8) (2017) 1495- 1511.

[28] L.W. Saunders, B.M. Kleiner, A.P. McCoy, K.P. Ellis, T. Smith-Jackson, C. Wernz, Developing an inter-organizational safety climate instrument for the construction industry, Safety Science, 98 (2017) 17-24.

[29] R.M. Choudhry, Achieving safety and productivity in construction projects, Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 23(2) (2017) 311-318.

[30] E. Otte, R. Rousseau, Social network analysis: a powerful strategy, also for the information sciences, Journal of information Science, 28(6) (2002) 441-453.

[31] J. Moreno, L., 1934, Who Shall Survive, Foundations of Sociometry, Group Psychotherapy and Sociodrama. Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company, Washington, DC, (1934).

[32] K. Lewin, Psychoanalysis and topological psychology, Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 1(6) (1937) 202.

[33] M. Kilduff, W. Tsai, Social networks and organizations, Sage, 2003.

[34] B. Dao, S. Kermanshachi, J. Shane, S. Anderson, E. Hare, Identifying and measuring project complexity, Procedia Engineering, 145 (2016) 476-482.

[35] R.G. Sargent, Verification and validation of simulation models, in: Proceedings of the 37th conference on Winter simulation, winter simulation conference, 2005, pp. 130-143.

Keywords

References

[1] M. Yang, F. Khan, L. Lye, P. Amyotte, Risk assessment of rare events, Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 98 (2015) 102-108.
[2] P.X. Zou, R.Y. Sunindijo, Strategic safety management in construction and engineering, John Wiley & Sons, 2015.
[3] U.S.D.o. labor, Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries Summary, 2014.
[4] S.S. Organization, Reports of Occupational Accident, Iran, 2014-2015.
[5] M.R. Hallowell, Safety-knowledge management in American construction organizations, Journal of Management in Engineering, 28(2) (2011).
[6] H. Heinrich, Industrial Accident prevention McGraw Hilt Book Company, New York, (1931).
[7] J. Lewandowski, Work safety management in company, Lodz: Lodz Polytechnic Publishers, (2000).
[8] P.L. Spath, Error reduction in health care: A systems approach to improving patient safety, John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
[9] L. Runkiewicz, On construction failures and disasters in Poland in years 1962–2004, Engineering and Building (Inżynieria i Budownictwo), 4 (2006) 193-195.
[10] S. Ung, V. Williams, H. Chen, S. Bonsall, J. Wang, Human error assessment and management in port operations using fuzzy AHP, Marine Technology Society Journal, 40(1) (2006) 73-86.
[11] H. Chen, H. Qi, R. Long, M. Zhang, Research on 10- year tendency of China coal mine accidents and the characteristics of human factors, Safety science, 50(4) (2012) 745-750.
[12] J. Reason, Human error: models and management, BMJ: British Medical Journal, 320(7237) (2000) 768.
[13] X. Zheng, Y. Le, A.P. Chan, Y. Hu, Y. Li, Review of the application of social network analysis (SNA) in construction project management research, International Journal of Project Management, 34(7) (2016) 1214- 1225.
[14] S. Wasserman, K. Faust, Social network analysis: Methods and applications, Cambridge university press, 1994.
[15] W. De Nooy, A. Mrvar, V. Batagelj, M. Granovetter, Exploratory Social Network Analysis with Pajek Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (p 334), (2005).
[16] B.W. Wambeke, M. Liu, S.M. Hsiang, Using Pajek and centrality analysis to identify a social network of construction trades, Journal of construction engineering and management, 138(10) (2011) 1192-1201.
[17] J.R. Turner, R. Müller, On the nature of the project as a temporary organization, International journal of project management, 21(1) (2003) 1-8.
[18] A.L. Stinchcombe, Bureaucratic and craft administration of production: A comparative study, Administrative science quarterly, (1959) 168-187.
[19] W.R. Scott, Rational, natural, and open systems, in, NJ: Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliff, 1981.
[20] P. Chinowsky, J.E. Taylor, M. Di Marco, Project network interdependency alignment: New approach to assessing project effectiveness, Journal of Management in Engineering, 27(3) (2010) 170-178.
[21] S. Pryke, Social network analysis in construction, John Wiley & Sons, 2012.
[22] S.-C. Lin, An analysis for construction engineering networks, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 141(5) (2014) 04014096.
[23] H. Park, S.H. Han, E.M. Rojas, J. Son, W. Jung, Social network analysis of collaborative ventures for overseas construction projects, Journal of construction engineering and management, 137(5) (2010) 344-355.
[24] S.A. Abbasian-Hosseini, S.M. Hsiang, M.L. Leming, M. Liu, From social network to data envelopment analysis: Identifying benchmarks at the site management level, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 140(8) (2014) 04014028.
[25] D.-P. Shin, H.-S. Gwak, D.-E. Lee, Modeling the predictors of safety behavior in construction workers, International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics, 21(3) (2015) 298-311.
[26] M.M. Zaira, B.H. Hadikusumo, Structural equation model of integrated safety intervention practices affecting the safety behaviour of workers in the construction industry, Safety science, 98 (2017) 124-135.
[27] C. Wu, N. Li, D. Fang, Leadership improvement and its impact on workplace safety in construction projects: A conceptual model and action research, International Journal of Project Management, 35(8) (2017) 1495- 1511.
[28] L.W. Saunders, B.M. Kleiner, A.P. McCoy, K.P. Ellis, T. Smith-Jackson, C. Wernz, Developing an inter-organizational safety climate instrument for the construction industry, Safety Science, 98 (2017) 17-24.
[29] R.M. Choudhry, Achieving safety and productivity in construction projects, Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, 23(2) (2017) 311-318.
[30] E. Otte, R. Rousseau, Social network analysis: a powerful strategy, also for the information sciences, Journal of information Science, 28(6) (2002) 441-453.
[31] J. Moreno, L., 1934, Who Shall Survive, Foundations of Sociometry, Group Psychotherapy and Sociodrama. Nervous and Mental Disease Publishing Company, Washington, DC, (1934).
[32] K. Lewin, Psychoanalysis and topological psychology, Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 1(6) (1937) 202.
[33] M. Kilduff, W. Tsai, Social networks and organizations, Sage, 2003.
[34] B. Dao, S. Kermanshachi, J. Shane, S. Anderson, E. Hare, Identifying and measuring project complexity, Procedia Engineering, 145 (2016) 476-482.
[35] R.G. Sargent, Verification and validation of simulation models, in: Proceedings of the 37th conference on Winter simulation, winter simulation conference, 2005, pp. 130-143.
AUT Journal of Civil Engineering
Volume 1, Issue 2
December 2017
Pages 111-120

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