The Role of the Production Control and Safety Management Systems in Construction Safety Performance

Abstract

This paper explains how the likelihood of accidents on a construction project is shaped by two systems: (1) the Production Control System, and (2) the Safety Management System. The Safety Management System (SMS) includes all the policies, programs and efforts to control the hazards and the workers’ safety-related behaviors. The Production Control System (PCS) includes all the processes and criteria that produce the work plans and ultimately, the work assignments for the workers. An ineffective PCS creates high-risk situations, such as unexpected conditions, high workload and production pressures, frustration, rushing, fatigue, and conflicts between production and safety. These situations undermine the SMS and increase the likelihood of violations, errors and accidents. An effective PCS produces high quality work assignments for the crews, mitigates the task demands on the workers and reduces the potential for errors even under exposure to hazards. The framework provides an integrated understanding of the project systems that shape the development of construction accidents. Traditional accident prevention strategies focus on increasing compliance by strengthening the SMS. Such efforts to control hazards are important, they cannot overcome the problems of an ineffective PCS. Thus, to improve safety performance it is necessary to improve the production control system.

Keywords: Construction accidents, Production control system, Safety management system

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005167