TY - CONF TI - Safety as an Emergent Property of the Production System: How Lean Practices Reduce the Likelihood of Accidents C1 - East Lansing, Michigan, USA C3 - 15th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction SP - 282 EP - 293 PY - 2007 AU - Mitropoulos, Panagiotis AU - Cupido, Gerardo AU - Namboodiri, Manoj AD - Assistant Professor, Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ, 85287- 0204. Email: takism@asu.edu. AD - Previously graduate assistant, Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ, 85287-0204. Email: gcupido@periniwest.com AD - Graduate assistant, Del E. Webb School of Construction, Arizona State University, Tempe AZ, 85287- 0204. Email: manoj.namboodiri@asu.edu. ED - Pasquire, C.L, Christine L. ED - Tzortzopoulos, Patricia AB - The current approach to accident prevention does not account for the effect of work practices on the likelihood of accidents. This paper addresses the question “How do the production practices, and particularly lean practices, affect the likelihood of accidents in construction operations?” First we propose that the production system affects the likelihood of accidents in two ways: (1) by generating (or preventing) situations with increased task demands (increased potential of accident), and (2) by affecting the workers’ ability to cope with these situations (capabilities) and avoid errors. Then, we review the production system factors (technical and social) that influence the likelihood of accidents. The effect of production practices was examined through an exploratory field study of framing operations. The case study compared the production practices of a High Performance crew (in terms of productivity and safety) with the practices of an average performance crew. The evidence indicates that a focus on reducing uncertainty, errors and rework (practices consistent with lean production practices) and matching skills to task demands increased productivity while reducing the likelihood of accidents. KW - Safety management KW - Accident prevention KW - Production management PB - T2 - 15th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction DA - 2007/07/18 CY - East Lansing, Michigan, USA L1 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/512/pdf L2 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/512 N1 - Export Date: 29 March 2024 DB - IGLC.net DP - IGLC LA - English ER -