Identifying Effective Management Factors Across Human Errors – A Case in Elevator Installation

Pin-Chao Liao,Zhangming Ma,Heap-Yih Chong 대한토목학회 2018 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.22 No.9

Human errors are recognized as the main factor in causing construction accidents. Previous studies mainly focused on justifying theories associated with human errors and hardly quantifying the causal relations between external stimuli and human errors. Hence, the aim of this research is to develop comprehensive management measurements for addressing human errors in construction projects. Deductive reasoning was used to describe the methodological process. Firstly, we constructed a theoretical model of human errors based on Cognitive Reliability and Error Analysis Method (CREAM) and knowledge-combined structure learning algorithm. Then, Bootstrap method was adopted to verify the reliability of network topology, while the similarity-flooding algorithm was used to analyze similarity of factors across various causal models for their commonalities. Subsequently, Bayesian parameter estimation was to analyze the sensitivity of the nodes. The results show that inadequate quality control, design failure and inattention are the most fundamental causes of human errors in promoting safety management. This research has proposed an analytical approach that consolidated the influential mechanics to reflect the overall influence of a root cause in the human error. Ultimately, the research lays an analytical foundation for safety management research in the future.

Spatial-temporal interrelationships of safety risks with dynamic partition analysis: a mechanical installation case

Pin-Chao Liao,Zhonghua Guo,Chung-Han Tsai,Jiawei Ding 대한토목학회 2018 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.22 No.5

Inspection is the most critical phase of controlling and mitigating safety risks. However, current safety inspection practices areheavily experience-driven without considering generic interrelationships of safety risks. In this study, we performed a partitionanalysis based on risk interrelationships using inspection data with the goal of discovering distribution patterns of safety risks. Ourresults exhibit consistent chronological connections between risk attributes, including spatial and temporal characteristics. Themechanics of safety risk interrelationships were further investigated. In terms of the spatial aspects, ongoing unsafe conditions wereobserved in multiple locations. Spatial resource limitations and the interfaces at various locations were found to be key contributorsto risk interrelationships. In terms of temporal aspects, a high similarity of work at different times and ongoing unsafe conditionswere considered as key contributors. Practical Application: By understanding the spatial–temporal interrelationships of the riskcharacteristics, managers can develop improved strategies for devising inspection routes, which will thereby improve inspectionefficacy.

Work Paradigm as a Moderator Between Cognitive Factors and Behaviors – A Comparison of Mechanical and Rebar Workers

Pin-Chao Liao,Bingsheng Liu,Yanqing Wang,Xiaoyun Wang,Tsenguun Ganbat 대한토목학회 2017 KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering Vol.21 No.7

Since human behavior has been argued as one of the most critical leading indicators of accidents, effective intervention in workers’ behavior may foster improved safety performance. Given that human behavior is directed by cognition, researchers have proposed various cognitive models of human behavior in order to provide a clearer understanding of how to allocate management resources. However, the influence of human cognition on behavior remains an overarching concept, rather than providing an understanding of the heterogeneity among various trades. Therefore, cognition research provides no guidance regarding how to strategically allocate management resources such as training. This study employed structural equation modeling to identify the cognitive structures of two trades (reinforcing steel bar and elevator workers). We find that the cognitive structures of workers in these sample trades are significantly different, indicating that management strategies should vary accordingly. Training of mechanical workers should focus on crew leads, who can further influence self-efficacy, risk comparisons, and workers’ perception of external conditions. For rebar crews, safety training should focus on self-supporting defense capability and elucidating dangerous behaviors. External conditions have a significant role in ensuring worker safety; safe facilities engender safe behaviors. This study lays a foundation of strategic resource allocation for behavioral management on construction jobsites.

Selection of the Approach for Producing a Weighting Scheme for the CSR Evaluation Framework

Pin-Chao Liao,Jiawei Xue,Bingsheng Liu,Dongping Fang 대한토목학회 2015 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.19 No.6

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) performance is key to project success in the construction industry. Although evaluation tools for CSR have been developed in previous studies, their weighting schemes are easily distorted by inputs from experts with different backgrounds, reducing the reliability of the benchmarking results. This study aims to identify the most suitable approach for a process-based evaluation framework of CSR management (CSR-EF) with a structurally, theoretically valid weighting scheme. The authors compared three approaches for weighting development and chose one that minimizes the heterogeneity of inputs from experts with various backgrounds (e.g., culture, profession, and education levels). The sensitivity of the weighting scheme and the metric priority, along withthe robustness of the scheme, were examined. Contractors’ CSR management was evaluated using the proposed CSR-EF and the results were cross-examined by practitioners from various backgrounds. Results indicated that the Analytic Network Process was the ideal method for developing the CSR-EF weighting scheme. The results providein sights for the development of weighting schemes for multi-criteria decision making. The proposed Equivalent Absolute Deviation (EAD) approach can also be used to examine the robustness of the weighting approach.

Fusion Model for Hazard Association Network Development: A Case in Elevator Installation and Maintenance

Pin-Chao Liao,Hainan Chen,Xiaowei Luo 대한토목학회 2019 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.23 No.4

This paper proposes a fusion model for developing a data-driven risk association network, based on historical inspection records. The fusion model first re-categorizes the hazards based on the similarity in their occurrence patterns. Second, spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the hazard occurrence is examined, after which site-specific records as outliers are removed from the database. Third, a structured learning approach is used to investigate the causal relations between safety risks and the weight of each relation is calculated based on the association rules. Finally, the causal relations and weightings are fused to form the hazard association network, based on which critical hazards can be identified for safety management strategy planning. Safety management for an elevator installation and maintenance is used as a domain to validate the proposed fusion model, which develops the hazard association network using a dataset with 110,698 safety inspection records on 25,729 sites (with elevator installation or maintenance) managed by an elevator company. Using the developed network, critical hazards on the sites are identified for proactive constructionmanagement.

Performance and Practice Use Comparisons: Public vs. Private Owner Projects

황본강,Pin-Chao Liao,Michael P. Leonard 대한토목학회 2011 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.15 No.6

Does the source of project ownership, public vs. private sectors make a difference in project performance? Do public agencies implement to some degree of management practices as private companies when executing capital facility projects? Using the data from 341 projects submitted to the Construction Industry Institute (CII) for benchmarking, this study aims to identify differences in project cost, schedule, and change performance under different delivery systems. Furthermore, utilization of best practices is analyzed in search of plausible explanation of differences in management approach, ultimately bridging the gap in that if ownerships differentiate use of best practices and their performance. The results of the analyses establish that in general, projects of private industry companies outperform those of public agencies with statistical significance in most cases. Derived from this study,significant difference of use of best practices between both sectors may be the important indicators affecting project performance. Lastly, according to analysis results, recommendations are made for both sectors for potential improvement in performance.

A Special Partial Least Squares (PLS) Path Decision Modeling for Bid Evaluation of Large Construction Projects

Bingsheng Liu,Tengfei Huo,Pin-Chao Liao,Jingfeng Yuan,Jiong Sun,Xuan Hu 대한토목학회 2017 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.21 No.3

Large construction projects involve massive capital investments, lengthy execution period, and enormous management uncertainties. Therefore, the task of selecting a capable contractor for smooth project delivery is challenging. Although previous studies have attempted to improve the methods of bidding evaluation, limitations still exist. First, the evaluation results might be biased due to the heterogeneity in a small group of experts with different professional experience and capabilities. Second, multi-correlation can reduce the validity of the weightings of the indexes and evaluation results. Third, the subjectivity of the weightings can be a crucial hurdle to the selection of a suitable contractor for a specific project. To overcome these shortcomings, this study introduces Partial Least Squares (PLS) path modeling and develops a Sequence-Multi-Criteria System which can aggregate the evaluation results from different professional practitioners without the use of pre-defined weighting schemes, thus providing a reliable reference for bid evaluation. We incorporated this approach into an evaluation procedure stipulated in the procurement documents of the World Bank and specifically aimed at selecting suitable contractors for large construction projects. A case study was conducted via comparisons across various scenarios, and the validity of this approach was subsequently proved.

A System Dynamics Model of Prevention through Design towards Eliminating Human Error

Xinlu Sun,Heap-Yih Chong,Pin-Chao Liao,Dongping Fang,Yanqing Wang 대한토목학회 2019 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.23 No.5

Theoretically, prevention through design (PtD) is the most effective approach for eliminating human error in the field of construction. However, there is a lack of rigorous empirical analysis regarding the focal point of PtD. Hence, this research aims to develop a system dynamics model that depicts a mechanism for identifying the focal point of PtD and relevant design factors with respect to human error. Elevator installation serves as the scope of the model, and three sub-models of “cognition-behavior,” “environment-cognition,” and “design-environment” are developed. Their quantitative relationships are analyzed based on empirical data prior to the development of the system dynamics model. Subsequently, safety performance is simulated based on an eight-hour work day, and sensitivity analyses are conducted to determine the impact of each design factor on human error. This study provides insights into PtD using various design factors that can be generalized and used to develop safer designs under complex working environments.

Distinctive Judicial-Tailored Causation References of Construction Accidents

Jiaming Wang,Rui Cheng,Heap-Yih Chong,Pin-Chao Liao 대한토목학회 2022 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.26 No.8

Accident liability allocation is significant for social justice and industry safety. The allocation of liability between individuals and organizations depends on the judgment of their negligence in accidents. However, current judicial practice does not show a clear distinction between different accident types when allocating liabilities, and there is a lack of scientific evidence to guide the legal decision-making process in liability allocation. Unfortunately, current accident causation research does not sufficiently meet the requirements as scientific evidence to support the realization of more strategic and targeted liability allocation. This study introduces the qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) method into the field of accident analysis using crisp-set QCA (csQCA) to explore the causal distinctions between fall and non-fall accidents based on the human factor analysis and classification system (HFACS). The results show that organizational influence and unsafe acts distinctively signify fall and non-fall accidents, and that the precondition of unsafe acts is their junction. Theoretically, this study 1) furnishes a QCA tool that allows academic research with uncertainty to be used in the body of evidence that meets the requirements of law, thereby extending the application scope of accident research to the legal practice of liability allocation; and 2) provides meaningful references for the judgment of negligence and accident liability for judicial practice.

A Novel Approach Based on Fluid Dynamics for On-Site Safety Assessment

Mei Liu,Heap-Yih Chong,Pin-Chao Liao 대한토목학회 2021 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.25 No.5

Construction safety assessment is a major component of safety management in construction projects. However, thus far, most assessment studies have focused on either cross-sectional or longitudinal performance. This study aims to develop a proactive and preliminary safety assessment method using a fluid dynamics (FD) approach by integrating longitudinal contractor performance with cross-sectional safety conditions. To this end, an FD framework was first developed using three processes: (a) identifying the connections between FD principles and safety analogs, (b) incorporating the Darcy–Weisbach equation into the framework, and (c) modifying FD equations for construction safety assessment. Subsequently, two case studies were investigated, and the results obtained were compared and verified with one existing assessment results. The results indicate that the state of safety at a construction site incorporates both the occurrence of hazards and conservation of energy. Thus, the proposed FD approach can be used to preliminarily assess and predict safety conditions by combining safety-related measures with the dynamic characteristics of construction processes. The approach considers a comprehensive range of indicators and parameters, which enables the comparison of safety performance between projects or assessment periods by independently changing parameters.