Manu DfOSH ECAM Paper - accepted version.pdf (937.31 kB)
Design for occupational safety and health: Key attributes for organisational capability
journal contribution
posted on 2019-03-07, 13:43 authored by Patrick Manu, Anush Poghosyan, Abdul-Majeed Mahamadu, Lamine Mahdjoubi, Alistair Gibb, Michael Behm, Olugbenga AkinadePurpose: Against the backdrop of the contribution of design to the occurrence of occupational
injuries and illnesses in construction, design for occupational safety and health (DfOSH) is
increasingly becoming prominent in the construction sector. To ensure that design interventions
are safe for construction workers to build and maintain, design firms need to have the
appropriate organisational capability in respect of DfOSH. However, empirical insight
regarding the attributes that constitute DfOSH organisational capability is lacking. This study,
which trailblazes the subject of DfOSH organisational capability in construction, addresses two
key questions: (1) what organisational attributes determine DfOSH capability; and (2) what is
the relative priority of the capability attributes?
Design/methodology/approach: The study employed three iterations of expert focus group
discussion and a subsequent three-round Delphi technique accompanied by the application of
voting analytical hierarchy process (VAHP).
Findings: The study revealed 18 capability attributes nested within six categories namely:
competence (the competence of organisation’s design staff); strategy (the consideration of
DfOSH in organisation’s vision as well as the top management commitment); corporate
experience (organisation’s experience in implementing DfOSH on projects); systems (systems,
processes and procedures required for implementing DfOSH); infrastructure (physical, and
information and communication technology (ICT) resources); and collaboration (inter and intra
organisational collaboration to implement DfOSH on projects). Whilst these categories and
their nested attributes carry varying weights of importance, collectively, the competence related
attributes are the most important, followed by strategy.
Originality/value: The findings should enable design firms and other key industry stakeholders
(such as the clients who appoint them) to understand designers’ DfOSH capability better.
Additionally, design firms should be able to prioritise efforts/investment to enhance their
DfOSH capability.
Funding
This research was funded by The United Kingdom Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (Grant numbers: EP/N033213/1 and EP/N033213/2).
History
School
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Published in
Engineering, Construction and Architectural ManagementVolume
26Issue
11Pages
2614-2636Citation
MANU, P. ... et al., 2019. Design for occupational safety and health: Key attributes for organisational capability. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 26(11), pp. 2614-2636.Publisher
EmeraldVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Construction and Architectural Management and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-09-2018-0389.Acceptance date
2019-02-07Publication date
2019-11-18Copyright date
2019ISSN
1365-232XPublisher version
Language
- en