The assumption that safety hazards in construction projects are independent leads to a weak foundation for risk assessments, and related management strategies may be biased. Therefore, understanding interdependencies of hazards is critical to risk assessment in construction safety. This study proposed a qualitative-quantitative hybrid approach to delineating hazard associations. Based on the hazard network model for an elevator installation, we identified the characteristics of the hazard network and determined critical hazard types based on the hazard associations. The main conclusions are: (a) the hazard network topology is characterized by an extremely sparse hazard association distribution, few centers and highly cohesive interrelationships; (b) management should focus on various hazard mitigation strategies rather than relying on causal relationships; (c) 'wrong sequence' due to human error is the most critical 'gatekeeper' for the various hazards. Our findings contribute to the body of knowledge by revealing characteristics of hazard interdependencies.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.