Methodology for Project Schedule Acceleration Integrated with Energy Source-Based Assessment of Occupational Health and Safety Risks
Creators: Siddika, Ayesha 
Publisher: name: University of Alberta Library
Year: 2022

<p>There will always be uncertainties and hazards involved with project activities in the construction industry. Both long-term and short-term safety events reported to occupational health and safety authorities are impacted by the practice of schedule compression by crashing the project activities. Project activities with high occupational health and safety risks, such as tunnel construction projects, are subject to considerable uncertainties as it includes many hazardous and risky tasks. <br>
This research proposes a measure of risk indexing based solely on the energy sources associated with particular project situations and construction processes being planned. Identifying and assessing risks in planning construction activities is to anticipate and prevent potential problems from manifesting at the worksite. It is often far less expensive to eliminate problems at the construction planning stage than to modify the work site later to eliminate or mitigate a hazard. The method developed in this thesis is associated with the related risk factors of ten significant types of energy release categorized by the American Society of Safety Professionals (namely, Mechanical, Biological, Temperature, Chemical, Pressure, Electrical, Radiation, Sound, Gravity and Motion). <br>
As the concern for occupational health and safety in construction increases, a variety of preventive measures have been implemented to mitigate risks associated with hazardous activities. The current practice of project acceleration planning would result in increased vulnerability regarding occupational health and safety (OHS) risks, especially on projects susceptible to high-level hazards in construction. The proposed research defines a new project planning problem termed “minimizing project schedule at lowest safety risks&#39;&#39; and develops generic solutions based on a structured risk analysis methodology. <br>
In planning construction activities, risk identification and assessment are essential to anticipate and prevent potential problems from manifesting on site. Often, it is much more cost-effective to eliminate issues at the planning stage of construction than to modify the work site later to eliminate or mitigate hazards. The energy source-based risk indexing method developed in this research serves as a breakdown structure of risks in order to quantify the risk index value. Based on the construction process design, risk indexing is performed by evaluating the probability and severity of associated risk factors. Analyses of energy source-based safety risk indexes offer a valuable method of scientific inquiry that has predictive validity, contributing to our understanding of hazards and risks that may cause accidents and injuries. Furthermore, the developed computerized technique can be used by the project managers to determine (i) the method of risk mitigation during project planning and scheduling; and (ii) the individual activity times along with assessed risk indexes that result in the shortest project time at the lowest total risk index. Additionally, the proposed method is formulated to mitigate the substantial increment of OHS-related risks due to accelerating construction progress on projects by avoiding the incurrences of unnecessary activity time crashing and associated OHS-related risks.<br>
A practical case in the context of planning a tunnel construction project is presented to demonstrate the complete application of the proposed research. In addition, another 100-activity case was conducted in order to validate the potential benefits and applicability of the developed methodology for planning critical activity accelerations in the construction industry. Conclusions are drawn to summarize the contributions of the present research and identify opportunities to pursue in the near future.</p>