34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0231

Developing a mistakeproofing mindset to increase safety capacity

Eugene H. Cheung1, Tim Eigendorf2, Tomisin Kehinde3, Gregory F. Saragih4 & Iris D. Tommelein5

1MS Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL), University of California, Berkeley, USA, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0006-0343-0243
2P2SL Researcher, Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL) and Berkeley International Study Program, University of California, Berkeley, USA; MS Student, Civil Engineering, Technical University of Berlin, Germany, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0005-1073-9444
3MS Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL), University of California, Berkeley, USA, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0001-0865-3204
4MS Student, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL), University of California, Berkeley, USA, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0001-4698-3722
5Distinguished Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Director, Project Production Systems Laboratory (P2SL), University of California, Berkeley, USA, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-9941-6596

Abstract

Safety capacity is the ability to increase the likelihood that work will go right under variable- and uncertain conditions. In construction projects, safety has traditionally been managed using lagging indicators, but these offer limited insights to develop safety capacity. Whereas safety management practices can be reactive and compliance-driven, they can also be proactive and anticipation-driven. Specific mistakeproofing (poka yoke) practices can be either one. In this paper, we argue that mistakeproofing practiced with a proactive mindset helps to build safety capacity. We present an approach for developing and sustaining a mistakeproofing mindset by drawing on concepts from uncertainty management (including risk management), Safety-I, Safety-II, and resilience engineering. To demonstrate this mindset, the Work Operation Framework was applied to analyze two construction examples of mistakeproofing related to safety management. Developing this mindset may narrow the gap between work-as-imagined and work-as-done. It recognizes that making adaptations is a part of doing work and reflects the intelligence of a (group of) worker(s). The reason for developing a mistakeproofing mindset is to support organizations with continuous improvement to increase their safety capacity.

Keywords

Mistakeproofing, Poka Yoke, health, safety, Safety-I, Safety-II, safety capacity, mindset, resilience engineering.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Cheung, E. H., Eigendorf, T., Kehinde, T., Saragih, G. F. & Tommelein, I. D.. (2026). Developing a mistakeproofing mindset to increase safety capacity. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 378–389). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0231

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Cheung, E. H., Eigendorf, T., Kehinde, T., Saragih, G. F. & Tommelein, I. D.. (2026). Developing a mistakeproofing mindset to increase safety capacity. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0231

 

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