Original scientific paper
An empirical framework for the performance-based evaluation of health and safety’s contribution to sustainable construction
Antonios Panas
; Centre for Construction Innovation, Department of Construction Engineering and Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens Athens, Greece
John-Paris Pantouvakis
; Centre for Construction Innovation, Department of Construction Engineering and Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering, National Technical University of Athens Athens, Greece
Abstract
The current approach to construction health and safety (H&S)
and sustainable construction underestimates the role of production
practices and focuses mainly to the formulation of general guidelines and best-practice policies. This paper aims at exploring the role of H&S in achieving sustainability for projects from a different perspective. A conceptual model is formulated, enabling
the integration of H&S and sustainability under the prism of productivity.
An empirical framework is subsequently presented to evaluate
the relationship workers’ health, as expressed by their thermal
comfort and environmental parameters, in productivity estimation. A
structured data elicitation approach is established for conducting valid
field measurements. Process mapping and simulation-based analysis
is used for the comparative analysis of productivity forecasting
models. An exemplar investigation of formwork operations illustrates
the applicability of the proposed approach. The main conclusion from
the study is that the implementation of the empirical framework enables the creation of foresight in planning construction operations
by analysing productivity variations compared to baseline estimates.
Thus, the effect of H&S on performance is quantified and the expected productivity variability can be evaluated. It is believed that such an approach provides a more realistic representation of construction operations and improves the accuracy of the estimating process.
Keywords
construction; health; productivity; safety; thermal comfort
Hrčak ID:
65045
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2010.
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