Browsing by Author "De Silva, END"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19

item: Conference-Abstract
Architecture of ensemble neural networks for risk analysis
De Silva, END; Ranasinghe, KAMK; De Silva, CR; Thurairajah, N
Assembling of neural networks referred to as “Ensemble neural networks” consist with many small “expert networks” that learn small parts of the complex problem, which are established by decomposing it into its sub levels. Ensemble neural network architecture has been proposed to solve complex problems with large numbers of variables. In this paper, this architecture is used to analyze maintainability risks of high-rise buildings. An ensemble neural network that consists with four expert networks to represent four building elements namely roof, façade, basement and internal areas is developed to forecast the maintenance efficiency (ME) of buildings. The model is tested and the results showed good performance. The model is further validated using a real case study.
item: Conference-Abstract
Better values and characteristics in relationally integrated value networks to enhance total asset management
De Silva, END; Ranadewa, KATO; Kumaraswamy, M; Ranasinghe, KAMK
Construction contract types span a wide spectrum ranging from traditional contracting to relational contracting modes. Although weak collaborative supply chain networks exist even in widely practiced traditional contract modes, the potentially beneficial strong goals among stakeholders. Apart from addressing this relational forces remain untapped and'or fragmented, lacking well-defined common shortfall in the built asset planning, design and construction (project management) phase, relational contracts (RC) can also be extended to total asset management (JAM) by aiming at the relational integration of all stakeholders throughout the built asset lifecycle, by engaging them in cross linked value networks'. Such integrated networks were called 'relationally integrated value networks' (RIVANS) when initially proposed for the project management phase. 'RIVANS for TAM' were next proposed to provide a holistic approach to bridge the project management phase and the asset agement phase in the lifecycle of assets. The study reported in this paper, contributes to knowledge by identifying better values through adapting RIVANS as a holistic beneficial approach to the whole built environment. A questionnaire survey was conducted to identify common better values in RIVANS. These identified better values were then clustered to form similar groups using factor analysis to establish synergetic characteristics of RIVANS. Four characteristics were extracted to identify and target embedded synergies in RIVANS, for enhanced total asset management.
item: Conference-Abstract
Developing a TBPE scoring framework for assessing total building performance
Sabrina, NF; De Silva, END
Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) has received an increasing attention over the past two decades among the researchers to provide a comfortable and stable internal environment to increase and provide a better human potential. To determining how well the facilities are performing in order to support the organisational goals and user requirement, it is vital to conduct regular building evaluations which provide the current status quo of the building. Aiming to this, there are various BPE approaches developed around the world, and as evidenced there are no in-depth studies on Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) in tropical countries to evaluate the building performance. However, adapting these approaches might not necessarily be applicable in the context of tropical countries due to geographical climatic, cultural and other differences. This has been identified as the gap in this research and aimed to formulate a holistic Total Building Performance Evaluation (TBPE) scoring framework, for the assessment of performance of buildings. First, a comprehensive literature survey was carried out. This was followed by an expert survey to sieve out the most significant BP factors identified in the literature survey. With that detailed questioner survey was carried out proposing a TBPE scoring framework compromising total of two hundred and sixty five points to evaluate buildings with 7 criteria and 57 dimensions in which energy> management, reachability to the building, occupational hygiene, thermal comfort, unit costs savings, load bearing capacity etc had higher contribution in evaluating building with relation to tropical context. Finally, this paper readdresses the need of evaluating the buildings and suggesting the paradigm to evaluate the buildings in an objective manner.
item: Conference-Abstract
Developing a maintenance strategy plan to improve energy efficiency of HVAC system
(2015-04-08) Fernando, SS; De Silva, END; Dahanayake, KWDKC;
In managing energy in buildings, a greater focus has been given to the HVAC system as it generally consumes more than 50% of total energy usage in buildings. Proper maintenance had been identified as a significant factor to improve energy efficiency of HVAC systems. For instance a proper maintenance plan can save 5% - 20% of energy bills without a significant capital investment. Thus, the research aims to develop a maintenance strategic plan to improve energy efficiency of HVAC systems. Survey technique was adapted to collect data on HVAC system failures, impact of failures, frequency of each failure, significance of causes for failures and HVAC Maintenance requirements to ensure efficiency. A statistical analysis was carried out to develop a maintenance strategy plan. Maintenance strategic plan is proposed by using the preventive and predictive maintenance strategy. This proposed plan may be useful for building managers to manage energy by adopting efficient maintenance strategies.
item: Conference-Abstract
Factors influencing safety behaviours of construction workers
Manjula, NHC; De Silva, END
Construction industry is known to be one of the most accident-prone of work sectors around the globe. Although the construction output is less in Sri Lanka, compared to developed countries in general, the magnitude of the accident rate in the construction industry is still significantly high. Most of the occupational accidents are due to the unsafe behaviours of the worker. Thus, studying the people factor in OSH is an effective way to manage OSH at work sites. The paper therefore focuses to investigate and prioritise the factors affecting construction workers ’ safety behaviours. The study was structured in several steps. Initially in-depth knowledge gained regarding the research stream which was sorted upon the degree of relevance to the study. A total of 18 factors affecting const met ion workers' safety behaviours were identified through an extensive literature survey. Data collection was carried out through a survey which consisted of two rounds. The first round was conducted to validate the factors found in literature; to the Sri Lankan context and in the second round, experts were asked to rate those factors according to their degree of influence. Experts ’ rankings were used to calculate the Mean Score of Influence (MSI) of each factor and according to the MSI values, the factors were prioritised. Findings of the study revealed the most influencing personal factor was age while the most influencing organisational factor was OSH incentives. The least influencing factors were workmates' safety concern and provision of PPE respectively under the categories, personal and organisational. These findings could be helpful in better understanding the constmction workforce and in designing OSH systems for the construction industry.
item: Conference-Abstract
Factors influencing safety behaviours of construction workers
Manjula, NHC; De Silva, END
Construction industry is known to be one of the most accident-prone of work sectors around the globe. Although the construction output is less in Sri Lanka, compared to developed countries in general, the magnitude of the accident rate in the construction industry is still significantly high. Most of the occupational accidents are due to the unsafe behaviours of the worker. Thus, studying the people factor in OSH is an effective way to manage OSH at work sites. The paper therefore focuses to investigate and prioritize the factors affecting construction workers’ safety behaviours. The study was structured in several steps. Initially in-depth knowledge gained regarding the research stream which was sorted upon the degree of relevance to the study. A total of 18 factors affecting construction workers’ safety behaviours were identified through an extensive literature survey. Data collection was carried out through a survey which consisted of two rounds. The first round was conducted to validate the factors found in literature; to the Sri Lankan context and in the second round, experts were asked to rate those factors according to their degree of influence. Experts’ rankings were used to calculate the Mean Score of Influence (MSI) of each factor and according to the MSI values, the factors were prioritized. Findings of the study revealed the most influencing personal factor was age while the most influencing organizational factor was OSH incentives. The least influencing factors were work-mates’ safety concern and provision of PPE respectively under the categories, personal and organizational. These findings could be helpful in better understanding the construction workforce and in designing OSH systems for the construction industry.
item: Conference-Abstract
Impact of aesthetic appearance to facilitate corporate business objectives in organisations
Chathuranga, DAK; De Silva, END; Dahanayake, KWDKC; Ranasinghe, KAMK
Aesthetic appearance is a judgment of value based the appearance of an object. Shapes, proportions, rhythms, scale, degree of complexity, colours, and illumination are the subject matter of formal aesthetics. Aesthetics appearance is an important field in psychology as aesthetics influences the human mind and can lead to psychological reactions, both positive and negative. Creating an aesthetically distinctive identity of development will become an integrated part of the nmity because user’s state of mind and feeling affected by the emotional elements in design. However this area has not been addressed in detail. Thus, this research focused to identify and analyse parameters of aesthetic appearance of buildings and their impact towards corporate business objectives of commercial organisations. The research used case study approach and two commercial buildings were selected as cases. Data collected using semi structured interviews. Data analysis was done using content analysis Five parameters were established to analyse the aesthetic appearance. Findings revealed that all forms and elements of aesthetic appearance are full of potentially symbolic meanings and have considerable impact on corporate business objectives. Though, there are considerable aesthetic adaptation as mention above still tere are substantial deficiencies in current practices of adaptation of aesthetical appearance for building design in Sri Lankan context.
item: Article-Abstract
Impact of foreign workforce on productivity in foreign-funded infrastructure projects
De Silva, END; Darmicka, R
The aim of this study is to explore the impact of using foreign workers on construction productivity in project situations. Generally, foreign-funded projects use both native and foreign workers. Foreign workforce entering into the construction industry may affect the productivity positively or negatively, depending on the migrants’ attributes, institutional arrangements and native workers’ responses, thereby impacting the cost of the project In Sri Lanka, large construction sites have become multicultural and depend on foreign workers brought in by foreign contractors for infrastructure projects. Design/methodology/approach - A survey-based approach was used to collect data. Structured interviews were conducted to explore the characteristics of the foreign workforce and their impact on productivity. Further, potential strategies were analyzed to establish industry motivators (IM) to enhance productivity. Findings - The study on the foreign workforce identified ten employee characteristics that may impact project’s productivity either positively or negatively. Further, 16 significant strategies were compiled to establish six IM to enhance productivity. Originality/value - These proposed motivators will be useful for construction practitioners in mitigating negative impacts and proactively managing the foreign workforce in a way to enhance construction productivity.
item: Conference-Abstract
Impact of maintenance management procedures on energy efficiency of chillers
(2015-04-09) Siriwardana, MR; De Silva, END; Nawarathna, RAG
Themost important element of the central air conditioning system, the chiller, accounts for about 40010 of annual total energy consumption of commercial and industrial buildings. As a result, many approacheshave been proposed to increase energy efficiency of chillers with the intention of managingthe annual total energy consumption of facilities. Among them, it was revealed that the approachof proper chiller maintenance procedures lead towards the energy efficiency of chillers. Therefore,the research was focused on identifying the impact of maintenance management procedureson energy efficiency of chillers. Thedata was collected through a pilot survey and a main survey which were followed by a questionnairealong with observations and interviews with experienced industry practitioners.Chillers; Energy Efficiency; Energy Efficiency Drop; Maintenance Management Procedures; Maintenance Performance Deviation. II wasidentified that the maintenance procedures has a great impact towards the energy efficiency of chillers. Perform condenser water quality test, Monitoring refrigerant pressure and temperature,Monitoring water flows, cleaning of condenser bundle and cooling tower cleaning andwater treatment were identified as the most significant maintenance activities which assist to meelthestandard energy efficiency level of chillers. Eventually, a multiple linear regression model wasdeveloped with the intention of deriving relationship between performance deviation of above maintenanceactivities and energy efficiency drop of chillers.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Impacts of interior design projects on productivity of employees
Gankananda, NR; De Silva, END
Previous studies have concluded that interior design parameters have an influence on the productivity in office environment. However this fact does not attract sufficient and significant emphasis in Sri Lankan setting. Therefore, this research was focused on exploring the effect of interior design on the productivity of employees in Sri Lankan context and identification of the key interior design parameters responsible for the processes in office environments. Four major factors including furniture arrangement, colour of walls/partitions, visuals and service distribution were identified as significant factors for employees’ productivity, using t-test. Further these factors were studied in detail to identify their impact on employee productivity through five case studies. The five cases were selected from the commercial capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, so as to represent varying professional atmospheres. Three of them had recently updated interior according to new concepts whereas other two did not have so. Data collection was carried out through observation of office environments and officers’ behaviour, questionnaire survey, interviews and telephone conversations with those who experience the impact of worker productivity. Furthermore, discussions were carried out with the management of the companies chosen for case studies, in order to verify the obtained results and the test results were proven to be accurate according to their observations and experience. Results reveals proper furniture arrangement ensures efficiency of employees and significantly improves teamwork and speed of work while comfortable furniture encourages continuous working. On the other hand, use of colours improves employees’ mood and quality of work. Further, placing visually attractive artefacts, displaying motivational wordings and quotes and establishing windows increase moral, motivation and comfort of employees. According to this study, service distribution within an office space causes convenience in communication within the office and also with the outsiders and increases the service status, while saving time by minimizing movement inside the office and waiting time to use electrical equipment. This research would be a benchmark study for commercial organizations as a technique for improving their employees’ productivity.
item: Article-Abstract
Maintainability of condominiums constructed for low-income families in Sri Lanka
De Silva, END; Sampath, DBD; De Silva, CR
Sri Lanka now has a prime market for “vertical growth” and the private sector has become the main developer. However, the government has also contributed to these developments through the condominiums constructed for low income families. These were built for the purpose of re-settling people from shanties and recently, Tsunami victims. These condominiums have shown significant failures and problems. This paper looks at some of these problems; specially maintenance. Three types of condominiums were selected to study. Interviews were conducted with management corporations, selected occupants and professionals in the relevant authorities. The study focused on understanding maintainability problems related to technical facilities, management, social condition, and legal background. Twenty five technical management, social and legal related problems were observed that occur during the maintenance and operational stages. Some of them have become a huge burden to the government. Further, the study identified eight strategies from substantive experts to eliminate these issues now and in future attempts.
item: Thesis-Full-text
Occupational safety & health management issues of small & medium scale industries in manufacturing sector
Abeysiriwardena, E; De Silva, END
Occupational Safety & Health Management Issues of Small & Medium scale I’sndustries in Manufacturing Sector Small and medium scale industries(SMI’s) play vital role in economic development of developing countries and also SMI’s are labour intensive capital saving and capable of helping to create a large number of new job opportunities in worldwide as well as in Sri Lanka. However most of SMI’s start with own capability of owners and latter sudden growth occurred. Small investors can perform small industries in an remote geographical locations. Tthe employees of SMI’s are lagging behind in providing OSH to workers. It may include manual material handling, lack of training, chemical handling and poor infrastructure facility etc. In the recent past, past traditional manufacturing process transformed and get in to use wide variety machines for the purpose of cutting, drilling, grinding and mixing etc., without considering OSH. Hence SMI’s need to enhance OSH in management skills, finance, technology, commitment and understanding of loses due to injury and illness. Hence comprehensive literary serve had been done to find existing knowledge and possible strategies to enhance OSH bi other industries as well as Sri Lanka. This studresearch was under taken to define appropriate frame work to implement OSH practices improving OSH in SMI’s. The sample was selected considering different type of manufacturing industries to get better sample. Data collection of this research involves three phases such as pilot survey, main survey and expert interview. The pilot survey was conducted to validate the questionnaire developed based on literature findings for main survey. To collect data from SMI’s a structured questionnaire was used among hundred and twenty employees who belongs to managers and other categories from the manufacturing sector SMI’s. Relative important index (RII) was adopted to rank the critical affected OSH barriers (RII ≥ 4) for expert interview. For expert surveyinterviews mixed methods werewere used such as questionnaire surveyconducted to explore strategies??/ to overcome critical OSH barriers. Cand content analysis to collect data base on significant on questionnaire serve was used to establish strategies?? to address the current issue of SMI’s. Based on the questionnaire servesurvey identified the level of OSH practices. Iit is identified that the use of management practices are poor in SMIs such asin availability and practice of safety policy, awareness & applicability of legal requirement. Similar poor situation was observed for use of safety system such as use of sign board, alarm system, machine guard, level of light & ventilation. Safety practices are also poor such as use of PPE, work permit, accident reporting & general register. Further it is identified barriers for OSH implementation and critically affected factors such as insufficient risk assessment & OSH audits, insufficient toolbox meeting, lack of safety training, lack of safety technology. Finally it has been identified strategies through experts to improve OSH practices and overcome management issues of SMI’s such as establish regional safety centers to provide technological support, training, conduct safety promotional activities including risk assessment and OSH audit, As a second strategy Strengthen OSH legal frame work (Factory ordinance) by legalizing OSH management system, training and monitoring mechanism. As a third strategy expanding OSH educational system by introducing OSH as a compulsory subject for schools and other educational institutions and compulsory for employers and employees. As a fourth strategy national policy to get owners and managers commitment for OSH by introducing financial supportive projects such as low interest loan, tax concession for OSH projects. Compliance certification for OSH when market the product.Small scale & medium scale industries (SMIs) generally play vital role in economics growth and equitable development in growing economies. (SMIs are capable of generating new job opportunities). Small investors can perform small industries at different levels and remote geographical locations. That may be unattractive to big industries or too costly for the big industries low overheads enables small industries to work at more competitive prices. The structure of SMIs has a significant difference than in large scale industries. Therefore the implementation OSH in SMIs requires a different scale. In practical situations level of OSH required may not necessary to grow as similar in large industry due to lack of skills of owners and managers. Therefore SMIs need to consider OSH on their own terms. The analysis are indicated that poor financing, inadequate social infrastructures, lack of managerial skills and multiple taxation are major issues confronting SMIs This study focus to identify the characteristic of SMIs and OSH implementation issues in SMIs. It is important to note that there are issues for good OSH practices. Those influence are studied and propose the recommendations to enhance the OSH in SMIs and also select the more appropriate definition to discuss OSH in SMIs.
item: Article-Abstract
Promoting the facilities management profession in the project development phase of high-rise buildings in Sri Lanka
De Silva, END
Purpose – The Facilities Management (FM) profession is now established in most developed countries and infew developing countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong. However, with rapid mushrooming of high rise buildings, which are known to be complex, the role of a facilities manager may require to be extended even up to the project briefing stage. This paper aims to highlight the importance of consulting a facilities manager during the project development phase of high rise buildings in Sri Lanka. design/methodology/approach – The methods of data collection used in this study were site observations and interviews. The data from site observations were collected from 67 high rise residential and commercial buildings. While doing the site observations or some on occasions after the site observations, the facilities managers or building managers and maintenance managers of these buildings were interviewed to gather further detailed information. Findings – This paper highlights 15 critical maintainability problems, which originated during the development phase. It was found 26 significant factors which would have been emphasized during the development phase by a facilities manager to reduce the occurrence of such problems during the phase of occupancy. Research limitations/implications – There were few qualified facilities managers involved during the data collection process due to lack of qualified facilities managers in Sri Lanka. Originality/value – The paper provides useful information to the facilities managers and clients/users on maintainability problems related to high rise buildings. It also emphasize the importance of the involvement of facilities managers at the development phase of high rise buildings in order to minimize their maintainability problems faced during the phase of occupancy.
item: Conference-Abstract
Relational contracting approach for improving performance of infrastructure development projects
Rajapakshe, RWPMIS; De Silva, END
Relational Contracting (RC) is a flexible procurement approach directed at optimising project performance through applying its principles; aiming at the relational integration of all stakeholders of a project, by engaging them in “cross linked value networks”. Partnering, alliance, private-public partnerships and joint ventures are the common procurement types of such nature. Although RC have proven benefits especially for complex and uncertain infrastructure development projects, these are not well established in most developing countries including Sri Lanka. Therefore, understanding of industry practitioners on how RC systems bring in performance improvements to construction projects will definitely promote RC. In view of that, the research aims to provide related knowledge by identifying and subsequently assessing the impact of key parameters of RC on major performance areas of infrastructure development projects. A questionnaire survey was conducted based on the knowledge gained through literature and was followed by an interview survey to validate the questionnaire survey findings derived through statistical t-tests. Questionnaire findings identified nineteen significantly existent characteristics in RC types and were recognised as highly important for 'Time', 'Cost' and ‘Quality' performance of infrastructure development projects. Thus, adopting of RC should be promoted to achieve better project outcome.
item: Conference-Abstract
Relationally integrated value networks for sustainable procurement
(2015-04-08) Weerapperuma, S; De Silva, END; Kumaraswamy, M; Ranasinghe, KAMK
item: Conference-Abstract
Reporting procedure of construction accidents in Sri Lanka
De Silva, END; Nawarathna, RAG
A cohesive and centralised recording system of occupational accidents is a significant element of construction industry of any country which requires an effective reporting procedure to feed information into it. It is a valuable management tool that can be used as an aid to risk assessment, to prevent deaths, injuries and ill health conditions, and to minimise costs for accidental losses. However, the absence of an effective reporting procedure will form shortfalls in management of occupational accidents. Sri Lanka is one of the countries that suffers from lack of an efficient recording system. It is revealed that ineffectiveness of existing accident reporting procedure is the main cause for this gap. Therefore, it created a necessity to study the existing reporting procedure of construction accidents in Sri Lanka with the aim of upgrading it by addressing its gaps. Accordingly, the research problem was approached through a document survey and an expert survey which followed by semi structured interviews. Ten experts who are involved in industrial health and safety management were interviewed. The findings revealed that safety representatives of most of the construction organisations reluctant to report to the Labour Department through the district factory inspecting engineer when incidents occur, due to unawareness of legal provisions and burden of paper work. Further, other organisations such as workmen’s compensation department; insurance companies; hospitals and police stations, where construction accidents are reported, are not properly linked with the Labour Department. Therefore, Labour Department as the ultimate data storekeeper does not get steady flow of information from any party. Owing to this, seven strategies were established to lift up the adeptness of the existing reporting system through establishing proper links for efficient information feeding.
item: Thesis-Abstract
Risk analysis in maintainability of buildings under tropical conditions
(2014-05-30) De Silva, END; Ranasinghe, M
The cost of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance contributes to a significant portion of the whole life cost of high rise building. However, such maintenance is essential to maintain the expected performance of the building throughout its lifespan and the related costs arise from several factors, including the building’s lifelong exposure to environmental factors as well as those due to design, construction and maintenance processes. The future maintenance requirements of buildings depend on the levels of risk associated with these factors as ignoring such risks results in high maintenance costs. As such, the analysis of such risks aimed at reducing future maintenance costs is of paramount importance from an early stage of a building project. This study addresses the above research problem by a framework based on risk analysis to forecast the level of maintainability by (1) deriving and quantifying maintainability risk domain, (2) quantifying maintainability and (3) developing a model. The derived maintainability risk domain consists of ten significant risk factors, extracted from 58 risk-causing variables/ issues. The significance and impact from these ten risk factors on maintainability were evaluated using data collected from thirty high-rise buildings which are of 10 or more storeyed high in Colombo metropolis. Field surveys and interviews were used for the collection of data which captured the existing maintainability issues in these high-rise buildings. The respective building managers, who are considered as substantive experts were interviewed to assess these risks factors. Maintainability was quantified using an indicator, “Maintenance Efficiency Indicator – MEI” which is the ratio between equivalent value of maintenance cost and equivalent value of initial construction cost. Maintenance cost was established using the past maintenance records and present maintenance cost needed to improve the existing performance of the building when it falls below the required level. The required level of the performance is derived using five performance mandates such as stability, tightness requirements, durability, tactile requirements and safety in use. An ensemble neural network architecture that combines small, individually trained networks into a larger network is used to develop the model for this framework. The ensemble architecture allows the individual expert networks to be representative of major components of the building. This facilitated the network to be trained with limited data samples. Furthermore, the structure is also capable of managing unforeseen correlations in input variables. The prototype used in this research uses four expert networks representing four building components; roof, façade, basement and internal areas. The final output of the ensemble network is used as an indicator of Maintenance Efficiency (MEI). Data collected from the sample of 30 high-rise buildings is used to train these neural networks. Low error margins (<0.005) and generalization error (<0.05) of these neural networks indicate high level of accuracy in their predictions. The accuracy and validity of the proposed framework is tested using two case studies of high-rise buildings which were not used for training of the neural networks. A high-rise hospital building and a high-rise bank building are selected for these case studies. Validity of the proposed framework is tested under different risk scenarios as follows, • Validation 1: Framework is used to forecast the MEI. These results are compared to the MEI computed based on actual cost data. • Validation 2: Framework is used to estimate changes required in the Risk inputs for a general improvement of the maintenance efficiency (MEI). These changes are compared with expert’s opinion on achieving the same goals. • Validation 3: Using the framework, risk input levels corresponding to the best possible maintenance efficiency are determined. These values are compared with the belief elicited from experts. Hence the proposed framework is suitable for forecasting the level of maintainability of high-rise buildings and the MEI established from whole life maintenance cost is an effective measure to quantify maintainability of high-rise buildings. Further, maintenance efficiency can be improved by controlling and managing the maintainability risks described by the ten risk factors identified in this research study.
item: Conference-Full-text
Strengthening the safety culture for organizational sustainability
(2015-04-08) Manjula, NHC; De Silva, END
The term ‘sustainable development’ can be defined as satisfying the needs of the current generation, without jeopardizing the future generation's ability to meet their needs. In terms of organizations, aSustainable organization concerns the original momentum of the business continuity of theorganization. Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) in general plays a key role in supporting business activities and delivering economic prosperity for the organization. Thus, OSH becomes anecessity for organizational sustainability. Organisational culture is a concept often used to describe shared corporate values that affect and influence members' attitudes and behaviours. Safety culture isa sub-facet of organizational culture, which is thought to affect members' attitudes and behaviour inrelation to an organisation's ongoing safety and health performance. This paper aims to investigatethe factors that influence safety culture positively in order to support the sustainability of theorganization. A literature synthesis on organizational sustainability, occupational safety and health, safety culture, definitions of safety culture, components of safety culture and way to strengthen a safetyculture are presented. The research findings highlighted that a safety culture mainly comprises of three components, namely, attitudes-both individual and organizational, work environment of and OSH systems occupied. Further few factors that influence safety culture positively were distinguished as management commitment to OSH, employee involvement and empowerment, proper OSH systemsand feedback mechanisms, and continuous monitoring of OSH systems.
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A Study on the factors affecting safety behavior of construction workers
(2015-04-21) De Silva, END; Manjula, NHC
Construction industry, being one of the most injury-prone industries worldwide in terms of serious injuries, lost work time, hospitalization, disability, and mortality, is in a great need to improve occupational safety. Behavior Based Safety (BBS) is an approach that can be applied successfully in managing occupational safety; it is gaining more interest across industry sectors globally,and has the great advantage of needing the involvement of the individual employee. This paper therefore aimed to investigate the factors governing construction workers’ safety behaviorThe factors affecting construction workers’ safety behaviorwere identified through a comprehensive literature survey. Expert interviews were conducted in order to validate and generalize the factors found in literature,to the Sri Lankan context.Two categories of factors were basically identified which affect the safety behaviorof construction workers, namely personal and organizational. The personal factors included age, marital status, education level, working experience, having dependents, and safety knowledge. Study indicated that personal factors such as habits and social life might also have an impact on a workers safety behavioryet need longitudinal research before generalizing to a particular context. Organizational factors identified were management commitment, OSH systems and feedback mechanisms, continuous monitoring of these systems, training and awareness for workers, accidents reporting, and workforce empowerment. The findings of this research were modeled in a model of construction workers’ safety behavior.Findings of this study can be used in enhancing the safety performance of the construction industry