Design for occupational safety and health: key attributes for organisational capability

Abstract

Purpose 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. The purpose of this paper, which trailblases the subject of DfOSH organisational capability in construction, is to address two key questions: what organisational attributes determine DfOSH capability? 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 analytic hierarchy process. 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 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.

A novel distance learning ergonomics checklist and risk evaluation methodology: A case of Covid‐19 pandemic

“…Pishchulov et al (2019) use VAHP to solve the sustainable supplier selection problem. Manu et al (2019) determine key attributes for organizational capability through VAHP.…”

A web-based design for occupational safety and health capability maturity indicator

“…The Delphi surveys involved 32 experts (in round 1), 30 experts (in round 2), and 28 experts (in round 3). A detailed account of the application of the expert FGDs, the Delphi surveys and VAHP by the researchers is reported in Manu et al (2019). Tables 4 and 5 summarise the main outcomes of the FGDs, Delphi surveys and VAHP.…”

“…In view of that researchers have emphasised the need for promotion of DfOSH knowledge acquisition through university courses and training (Behm et al, 2014;López-Arquillos et al, 2015;Goh and Chua, 2016;Toh, et al, 2017). However, in respect of DfOSH capability of design organisations, there is limited empirical research regarding its constituents and the mechanisms/tools by which it can be reliably assessed (Manu et al, 2017;2019).…”

Factors influencing the performance of architects in construction projects

“…The conformity of an architectural design to regulations, codes and standards is another performance criterion for architects. A building design that fails to follow the building codes and standards may induce accidents during the construction and result in an unsafe building (Manu et al, 2019).…”