IEA 2018 Paper 2.pdf (431.32 kB)
Impact of the ‘Contributing Factors in Construction Accidents’ (ConCA) model
conference contribution
posted on 2019-01-15, 13:09 authored by Ellie Harvey, Patrick WatersonPatrick Waterson, Andrew DaintyIn 2005 the ‘Contributing factors in Construction Accidents’ framework (ConCA) introduced a sociotechnical systems approach to risk management in construction. ConCA demonstrated the value of exploring distal factors and identifying underlying or latent causes: It promoted an understanding of construction accidents as systemic accidents and challenged an industry-wide culture of blaming frontline workers. A decade later the original article has been cited by research from 37 countries, shaping inquiries and initiatives to improve safety in both the UK and Australia. But to what extent has systems thinking infiltrated practitioners and policy-makers’ views? Despite broader views of contributing factors, many practitioners still view workers in a negative light, holding them responsible for accidents because of complacency, cynicism about safety, or a high-tolerance for risk. This paper evaluates the impact of the ConCA framework, updates it, and develops our understanding of the relationships between immediate circumstances and distal factors, as seen by an expert panel of participants (n = 32). A more in-depth ‘ConCA+’ framework is proposed. It challenges the negative perceptions of workers, and supports shifting the emphasis of risk management away from worker behaviors and towards resolving wider systemic issues. New directions are proposed which show how knowledge management, job design, technological innovation, empowerment and collaboration should be the focus of future work.
History
School
- Design
- Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering
Published in
Congress of the International Ergonomics Association Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics AssociationPages
310 - 319Citation
HARVEY, E., WATERSON, P. and DAINTY, A.R.J., 2019. Impact of the ‘Contributing Factors in Construction Accidents’ (ConCA) model. IN: Bagnara, S. ... et al (eds). Proceedings of the 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA 2018), Florence, Italy, 26-30 August 2018, pp.310-319.Publisher
© SpringerVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publisher statement
The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96071-5_33.Acceptance date
2018-02-19Publication date
2019ISBN
9783319960708ISSN
2194-5357eISSN
2194-5365Publisher version
Book series
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing;824Language
- en