Improving Site Safety Performance through Operational Excellence
The Construction Industry Institute’s Research Team 317 was charged with answering the following question: Can a sustainable step change in safety performance be achieved through an enhanced culture of rigorous operational discipline, also known as performance excellence? The process of answering the question was divided into four phases. Phase 1 consisted of an extensive, in-depth literature review and initial formulation of a model of operational excellence, which was defined as ″Doing the right thing, the right way, every time – even when no one is watching.″ It continued with a series of peer evaluation exercises culminating in an online survey of safety and construction professional to assess the validity of the safety drivers and Critical to Safety elements in the model. Recommendations on future activities to make the model implementation ready are detailed in this report.
The model is based on a Critical to Quality tree concept developed in the field of Quality Functional Deployment. The CTQ model consists of customer requirements; drivers that are necessary to satisfy the customer requirements; Critical to Quality (CTQ) elements that comprise the driver; Critical to Expectations (CTX) actions and activities necessary to accomplish the CTSs; and specifications and measurements to indicate how well the CTXs are being done.
The drivers identified in the model are:
- Employee Engagement
- Human Performance & Factors
- Just & Fair Practices & Procedures
- Organizational Learning
- Owner’s Role
- Rewards & Recognition
- Risk Awareness, Management, & Tolerance
- Shared Values, Beliefs, and Assumptions
- Strategic Safety Communication
- Subcontractor Management
- Training & Competence
- Transformational Leadership
- Worksite Organization
An online survey of safety and construction professionals was conducted to obtain a peer evaluation of the safety drivers and Critical to Safety elements. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. Changes made to address the survey results were minimal.
The model ready for further refinement to prepare it for data collection and analysis. Actions to undertake this are detailed in the report.
