Analysis of Safety Performance of Construction Projects in India Using Safety Audit Elements, AHP and Taguchi Loss Function – A Case Study

Abstract

Construction activity is a major driver of gross domestic product (GDP) in a developing country like India. The economic growth of developing countries mainly depends on the extent of construction activity. Notwithstanding its importance in boosting economic growth, a higher level of risk is experienced during execution of construction activities across the globe. In India construction safety performance is traditionally assessed based on workplace conditions and analyzing accident statistics, there is no provision to consider the safety management systems which affect site safety. The construction industry requires an appropriate mechanism to assess safety practices at project level instead of implementing prevention approaches based on the reactive data. One of the systems useful to measure safety performance is occupational safety and health audit which identify failures within a system and the information gathered assist to determine the best course of corrective action. The present study proposes an integrated approach comprising of Analytic Hierarchy Process and Taguchi loss functions to analyze the safety performance of the construction projects. The weights of safety audit elements are determined by using Analytic Hierarchy Process and the weights are vital in determining the total loss score in Taguchi loss functions for ranking the construction projects basing on safety performance.

Keywords

• Safety audit, Weights,Performance, Specification limit, Total loss score, Ranking