A Human Error Perspective of Safety Planning and Control

Tarcisio A. Saurin1, Carlos T. Formoso2 & Fabricio B. Cambraia3

1Ph.D., Researcher at LOPPIUFRGS (Product and Process Optimization Laboratory, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sui). Praya Argentina n° 9, 2° andar. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. CEP 90040-020. Fax: 55-51- 3316-4007. E-mail: [email protected]
2Ph.D., Associate Professor at NORIEIUFRGS (Building Innovation Research Unit, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sui). Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99, 3° andar. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. CEP 90040-020. Fax: 55- 51-3316-4054. E-mail: [email protected]
3Civil Engineer, MSc student at NORIEIUFRGS. Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99, 3° andar. Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil. CEP 90040-020. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the impact of a safety planning and control model (SPC) on human error. This model integrates safety into the production planning and control process and it adopts some safety management best practices reported in the literature. The analysis is based on data collected in four construction sites where the model was implemented. The main conclusion of this investigation is that six elements of the model (safety planning, near miss reporting, training, percentage of safe work packages indicator, participatory cycle and planning and control diffusion) have a contribution in terms of making both the boundaries of safe work visible and respected. Safety planning also helps to make the production system error-tolerant to some extent. However, the analysis of causes of safety failures in the empirical studies pointed out a high incidence of violations of the boundaries (on average, 40% of the total safety failures), mostly by workers. Thus, the main drawback of the model regarding human error control is its modest contribution to ensure respect for the boundaries of safe work.

Keywords

Safety, planning and control, human error, production management.

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Reference

Saurin, T. A. , Formoso, C. T. & Cambraia, F. B. 2004. A Human Error Perspective of Safety Planning and Control, 12th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , -. doi.org/

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