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Improving Construction Safety Performance Through Error Management: A Literature Review

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Proceedings of the 21st International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate

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Abstract

Human error is identified as a root cause of accidents in construction environments. Prevention of human errors is regarded as a key strategy to prevent accidents on construction site. However, as human errors cannot be completely eliminated, error management needs to be implemented to respond to the error and its consequences after an error has occurred on construction sites. The aim of this paper is to present a literature review of research on error management in the workplace environment, identify knowledge gaps, and suggest recommendations for future research. We reviewed the definitions of errors and the related concepts such as unsafe behaviors, violations, failure, incidents, accidents, error management. We also reviewed the strategies and principles of error management and error prevention. The results of review show that error management is an effective way to improve safety performance of construction work. It also provides a new approach for further research on the development of practical safety management for construction organizations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Minh Tri Trinh & Yingbin Feng

Authors
  1. Minh Tri Trinh
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  2. Yingbin Feng
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Correspondence to Minh Tri Trinh .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    K. W. Chau

  2. Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Isabelle Y.S. Chan

  3. Department of Real Estate and Construction, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Weisheng Lu

  4. Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

    Chris Webster

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© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Trinh, M.T., Feng, Y. (2018). Improving Construction Safety Performance Through Error Management: A Literature Review. In: Chau, K., Chan, I., Lu, W., Webster, C. (eds) Proceedings of the 21st International Symposium on Advancement of Construction Management and Real Estate. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6190-5_80

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