34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0216

Safety risk factors associated with a lean wood-framing prefabrication facility: a case study

Vishal Sharma1, Don Mah2, Neetu Sharma3, Mohamed Al-Hussein4, Ahmed Bouferguene5 & Haitao Yu6

1Instructor, J.R. Shaw School of Business, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0004-9617-7640
2Instructor, Construction Engineering Technology, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0004-5954-9273
3Assistant Professor, Department of Accounting and Finance, MacEwan University, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0001-4723-4862
4Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-1774-9718
5Professor, Campus Saint-Jean, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-4629-6620
6Research and Development director, Landmark Group of Companies, Canada, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-7798-4867

Abstract

The construction industry in North America has a disproportionate share of job-site incidents. Numerous studies have been performed to identify a multitude of macro and micro factors that impact the safety in construction workplaces. Prefabricated construction in North America is experiencing significant growth, evolving from a niche approach to a mainstream construction method. Due to advances in prefabrication, the construction sector is beginning to undergo a transformation, with favourable impacts on the safety of the construction workforce. Prefabrication has improved the safety and lifestyle of construction workers by lowering fatigue and reducing short- and long-term disability claims. However, despite these improvements, worker safety in prefabrication facilities still lags behind that of other industries operating in highly controlled environments. This paper systematically gathers and analyses safety incident data to identify risk factors associated with a wood-framing prefabrication facility that operates under lean principles. Mitigation measures are recommended to address the identified critical risk factors. The findings of this paper can serve as guidelines for addressing risk factors in similar wood-framing prefabrication facilities operating under lean manufacturing principles.

Keywords

Lean construction, prefabrication, off-site construction, safety, risk.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Sharma, V., Mah, D., Sharma, N., Al-Hussein, M., Bouferguene, A. & Yu, H.. (2026). Safety risk factors associated with a lean wood-framing prefabrication facility: a case study. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 787–797). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0216

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Sharma, V., Mah, D., Sharma, N., Al-Hussein, M., Bouferguene, A. & Yu, H.. (2026). Safety risk factors associated with a lean wood-framing prefabrication facility: a case study. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0216

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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