Safety-based efficiency evaluation of construction sites using data envelopment analysis (DEA)

Abstract Identifying efficient construction sites in terms of safety is a challenge that must be addressed while assessing and evaluating performance criteria. This paper presents a method for a comparative and relative analysis of construction sites in terms of their safety performance. The proposed method employs Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) method for identifying efficiency of construction sites, also known as decision-making units (DMU’s). Safety climate factors and number of incidents are respectively used as inputs and output of the DEA system. Four various scenarios are identified and analyzed, and results are compared to evaluate efficient construction sites. Results show that the number of incidents incurred at construction sites, which is the output of the DEA framework, is the dominant factor correlating with the efficiency of construction sites. Moreover, specific safety climate factors are investigated to examine their impact on the efficiency calculated. Some key observations that all comply with practical expectations are also reported.

[1]  Sean Tucker,et al.  INDIVIDUAL SAFETY AND HEALTH OUTCOMES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY , 2008 .

[2]  John S. Liu,et al.  A survey of DEA applications , 2013 .

[3]  Kimberly P. Ellis,et al.  Developing an inter-organizational safety climate instrument for the construction industry , 2017 .

[4]  Peter Y Chen,et al.  Individual safety performance in the construction industry: development and validation of two short scales. , 2011, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[5]  Elizabeth Haile,et al.  Measurement equivalence and mean comparisons of a safety climate measure across construction trades. , 2013, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[6]  Yaakov Roll,et al.  An application procedure for DEA , 1989 .

[7]  Kathryn Mearns,et al.  Measuring safety climate: identifying the common features☆ , 2000 .

[8]  Joseph C. Paradi,et al.  A survey on bank branch efficiency and performance research with data envelopment analysis , 2013 .

[9]  Vivian W. Y Tam,et al.  Developing a risk assessment model for construction safety , 2010 .

[10]  Geert Wets,et al.  Benchmarking road safety: lessons to learn from a data envelopment analysis. , 2009, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[11]  N. Avkiran.  INVESTIGATING TECHNICAL AND SCALE EFFICIENCIES OF AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES THROUGH DATA ENVELOPMENT ANALYSIS , 2001 .

[12]  Jingfeng Yuan,et al.  Developing dimensions and key indicators for the safety climate within China’s construction teams: A questionnaire survey on construction sites in Nanjing , 2017 .

[13]  Xin Ning,et al.  A quantitative safety risk assessment model for construction site layout planning , 2018 .

[14]  Quey-Jen Yeh.  The Application of Data Envelopment Analysis in Conjunction with Financial Ratios for Bank Performance Evaluation , 1996 .

[15]  Marion Gillen,et al.  Perceived safety climate, job demands, and coworker support among union and nonunion injured construction workers. , 2002, Journal of safety research.

[16]  Sherif Ali Mohtady Mohamed,et al.  SAFETY CLIMATE IN CONSTRUCTION SITE ENVIRONMENTS , 2002 .

[17]  Brenda McCabe,et al.  Impact of individual resilience and safety climate on safety performance and psychological stress of construction workers: A case study of the Ontario construction industry. , 2017, Journal of safety research.

[18]  Joe Zhu,et al.  Data envelopment analysis: Prior to choosing a model , 2014 .

[19]  Brenda McCabe,et al.  Relationship between Individual Resilience, Interpersonal Conflicts at Work, and Safety Outcomes of Construction Workers , 2017 .

[20]  Mark A. Griffin,et al.  Assessing shortened safety climate measures: Simulating a planned missing data design in a field setting , 2018 .

[21]  Fong-Yuen Ding,et al.  Using data envelopment analysis to compare suppliers for supplier selection and performance improvement , 2000 .

[22]  Khalied Hyari,et al.  Utilizing data envelopment analysis to benchmark safety performance of construction contractors , 2010 .

[23]  Abraham Charnes,et al.  Measuring the efficiency of decision making units , 1978 .

[24]  Margherita Pasini,et al.  Multilevel approach to organizational and group safety climate and safety performance: co-workers as the missing link , 2012 .

[25]  D. Zohar.  Safety climate in industrial organizations: theoretical and applied implications. , 1980, The Journal of applied psychology.

[26]  Nini Xia,et al.  How safety-related stress affects workers’ safety behavior: The moderating role of psychological capital , 2018 .