Interlocked projects in safety competency and safety effectiveness indicators in the construction sector

Safety culture is a concept that has long been accepted in high risk industries such as aviation, nuclear industries and mining, however, considerable research is now also being undertaken within the construction sector. This paper discusses three recent interlocked projects undertaken in the Australian construction industry. The first project examined the development and implementation of a safety competency framework targeted at safety critical positions (SCP's) across first tier construction organisations. Combining qualitative and quantitative methods, the project: developed a matrix of SCP's (n=11) and safety management tasks (SMTs; n=39); mapped the process steps for their acquisition and development; detailed the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for all SMTs; and outlined potential organisational cultural outcomes from a successful implementation of the framework. The second project extended this research to develop behavioural guidelines for leaders to drive safety culture change down to second tier companies and to assist them to customise their own competency framework and implementation guidelines to match their aspirations and resources. The third interlocked project explored the use of safety effectiveness indicators (SEIs) as an industry-relevant assessment tool for reducing risk on construction sites. With direct linkages to safety competencies and SMT's, the SEIs are the next step towards an integrated safety cultural approach to safety and extend the concept of positive performance indicators (PPIs) by providing a valid, reliable, and user friendly measurement platform. Taken together, the results of the interlocked projects suggest that industry engaged collaborative safety culture research has many potential benefits for the construction industry.

Factors contributing to design-build (DB) project delivery system implementation in road infrastructure projects in Indonesia

Design-build (DB) project delivery systems have increasingly been adopted by many private and public sector organizations worldwide due to the many advantages offered on projects by such systems. However, many Indonesian road infrastructure projects are still delivered using the traditional design-bid-build (DBB) project delivery system. In order to provide evidence of the benefits of DB, it is essential to identify the factors that can contribute to successful DB implementation and this paper aims to provide evidence of such factors that can promote the successful implementation of DB project delivery systems on Indonesian road infrastructure projects. Four main factors and 28 indicators were identified from an extensive literature review, and a Delphi questionnaire survey was conducted amongst 20 experts drawn from the Indonesian road infrastructure construction sector. The first round Delphi study found that regulation, competency of clients, ability to manage DB projects and external conditions were the major factors that can promote successful DB implementation.

Adoption of innovative products on Australian road infrastructure projects

Product innovation is an important contributor to the performance of infrastructure projects in the construction industry. Maximizing the potential for innovative product adoption is a challenging task due to the complexities of the construction innovation system. A qualitative methodology involving interviews with major construction project stakeholders is employed to address the research question: ‘What are the main obstacles to the adoption of innovative products in the road industry?’ The characteristics of six key product innovation obstacles in Australian road projects are described. The six key obstacles are: project goal misalignment, client pressures, weak contractual relations, lack of product trialling, inflexible product specifications and product liability concerns. A snapshot of the dynamics underlying these obstacles is provided. There are few such assessments in the literature, despite the imperative to improve construction innovation rates globally in order to deliver road infrastructure projects of increasing size and complexity. Key obstacles are interpreted through an open innovation construct, providing direction for policy to enhance the uptake of innovation across the construction product supply network. Early evidence suggests the usefulness of an open innovation construct that integrates three conceptual lenses: network governance, absorptive capacity and knowledge intermediation, in order to interpret product adoption obstacles in the context of Australian road infrastructure projects. The paper also provides practical advice and direction for government and industry organizations that wish to promote the flow of innovative product knowledge across the construction supply network.

Green buildings for greying people : a case study of a retirement village in Australia

Purpose With an increasingly ageing population and widespread acceptance of the need for sustainable development in Australia, the demand for green retirement villages is increasing. This paper aims to identify the critical issues to be considered by developers and practitioners when embarking on their first green residential retirement project in Australia. Design/methodology/approach In view of the lack of adequate historical data for quantitative analysis, a case study approach is employed to examine the successful delivery of green retirement villages. Face-to-face interviews and document analysis were conducted for data collection. Findings The findings of the study indicate that one of the major obstacles to the provision of affordable green retirement villages is the higher initial costs involved. However, positive aspects were identified, the most significant of which relate to: the innovative design of site and floor plans; adoption of thermally efficient building materials; orientation of windows; installation of water harvesting and recycling systems, water conservation fittings and appliances; and waste management during the construction stage. With the adoption of these measures, it is believed that sustainable retirement development can be achieved without significant additional capital costs. Practical implications The research findings serve as a guide for developers in decision making throughout the project life-cycle when introducing green features into the provision of affordable retirement accommodation. Originality/value This paper provides insights into the means by which affordable green residential retirement projects for aged people can be successfully completed.

New strategies of managing waste in office building retrofit projects

Retrofit projects are different from newly-built projects in many respects. A retrofit project involves an existing building, which imposes constraints on the owners, designers, operators and constructors throughout the project process. Retrofit projects are risky, complex, less predictable and difficult to be well planned, which need greater coordination. For office building retrofit project, further restrictions will apply as these buildings often locate in CBD areas and most have to remain operational during the progression of project work. Issues such as site space, material storage and handling, noise and dust, need to be considered and well addressed. In this context, waste management is even more challenging with small spaces for waste handling, uncertainties in waste control, and impact of waste management activities on project delivery and building occupants. Current literatures on waste management in office building retrofit projects focus on increasing waste recovery rate based on project planning, monitoring and stakeholders’ collaboration. However, previous research has not produced knowledge of understanding the particular retrofit processes and their impact on waste generation and management. This paper discusses the interim results of a continuing research on new strategies for waste management in office building retrofit projects. Firstly based on the literature review, it summarizes the unique characteristics of office building retrofit projects and their influence on waste management. An assumption on waste management strategies is formed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted towards industry practitioners and findings are then presented in the paper. The assumption of the research was validated in the interviews from the opinions and experiences of the respondents. Finally the research develops a process model for waste management in office building retrofit projects. It introduces two different waste management strategies. For the dismantling phase, waste is generated fast along with the work progress, so integrated planning for project delivery and waste generation is needed in order to organize prompt handling and treatment. For the fit-out phase, the work is similar as new construction. Factors which are particularly linked to generating waste on site need to be controlled and monitored. Continuing research in this space will help improve the practice of waste management in office building retrofit projects. The new strategies will help promote the practicality of project waste planning and management and stakeholders’ capability of coordinating waste management and project delivery.

Public participation in infrastructure and construction projects in China: From an EIA-based to a whole-cycle process

Many governments world-wide are increasingly encouraging the involvement of interested individuals, groups and organisations in their publicinfrastructure and construction (PIC) projects as a means of improving the openness, transparency and accountability of the decision-making process and help improve the projects’ long-term viability and benefits to the community. In China, however, the current participatory mechanism at the project level exists only as part of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process. With an increasing demand for PIC projects and social equality in China, this suggests a need to bring the participatory process into line with international practice. The aim of this paper, therefore, is to identify the weaknesses of EIA-basedpublicparticipation in China and the means by which it may be improved for the whole lifecycle of PIC schemes. To do this, the results of a series of interviews with a diverse group of experts is reported which analyse the nature and extent of existing problems of publicparticipation in EIA and suggestions for improvement. These indicate that the current level of participation in PIC projects is quite limited, particularly in the crucial earlier stages, primarily due to traditional culture and values, uneven progress in the adoption of participatory mechanisms, the risk of not meeting targets and lack of confidence in public competence. Finally, aprocess flowchart is proposed to guide construction practitioners and the community in general.

Non-invasive method for detecting changes in soil moisture using wireless sensor networks

There are several popular soil moisture measurement methods today such as time domain reflectometry, electromagnetic (EM) wave, electrical and acoustic methods. Significant studies have been dedicated in developing method of measurements using those concepts, especially to achieve the characteristics of noninvasiveness. EM wave method provides an advantage because it is non-invasive to the soil and does not need to utilise probes to penetrate or bury in the soil. But some EM methods are also too complex, expensive, and not portable for the application of Wireless Sensor Networks; for example satellites or UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) based sensors. This research proposes a method in detecting changes in soil moisture using soil-reflected electromagnetic (SREM) wave from Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Studies have shown that different levels of soil moisture will affects soil’s dielectric properties, such as relative permittivity and conductivity, and in turns change its reflection coefficients. The SREM wave method uses a transmitter adjacent to a WSNs node with purpose exclusively to transmit wireless signals that will be reflected by the soil. The strength from the reflected signal that is determined by the soil’s reflection coefficients is used to differentiate the level of soil moisture. The novel nature of this method comes from using WSNs communication signals to perform soil moisture estimation without the need of external sensors or invasive equipment. This innovative method is non-invasive, low cost and simple to set up. There are three locations at Brisbane, Australia chosen as the experiment’s location. The soil type in these locations contains 10–20% clay according to the Australian Soil Resource Information System. Six approximate levels of soil moisture (8, 10, 13, 15, 18 and 20%) are measured at each location; with each measurement consisting of 200 data. In total 3600 measurements are completed in this research, which is sufficient to achieve the research objective, assessing and proving the concept of SREM wave method. These results are compared with reference data from similar soil type to prove the concept. A fourth degree polynomial analysis is used to generate an equation to estimate soil moisture from received signal strength as recorded by using the SREM wave method.

The influence of vegetation and soil type on the speciation of iron in soil water

Soluble organic matter derived from exotic Pinus species has been shown to form stronger complexes with iron (Fe) than that derived from most native Australian species. It has also been proposed that the establishment of exotic Pinus plantations in coastal southeast Queensland may have enhanced the solubility of Fe in soils by increasing the amount of organically complexed Fe, but this remains inconclusive. In this study we test whether the concentration and speciation of Fe in soil water from Pinus plantations differs significantly from soil water from native vegetation areas. Both Fe redox speciation and the interaction between Fe and dissolved organic matter (DOM) were considered; Fe - DOM interaction was assessed using the Stockholm Humic Model. Iron concentrations (mainly Fe 2+) were greatest in the soil waters with the greatest DOM content collected from sandy podosols (Podzols), where they are largely controlled by redox potential. Iron concentrations were small in soil waters from clay and iron oxide-rich soils, in spite of similar redox potentials. This condition is related to stronger sorption on to the reactive clay and iron oxide mineral surfaces in these soils, which reduces the amount of DOM available for electron shuttling and microbial metabolism, restricting reductive dissolution of Fe. Vegetation type had no significant influence on the concentration and speciation of iron in soil waters, although DOM from Pinus sites had greater acidic functional group site densities than DOM from native vegetation sites. This is because Fe is mainly in the ferrous form, even in samples from the relatively well-drained podosols. However, modelling suggests that Pinus DOM can significantly increase the amount of truly dissolved ferric iron remaining in solution in oxic conditions. Therefore, the input of ferrous iron together with Pinus DOM to surface waters may reduce precipitation of hydrous ferric oxides (ferrihydrite) and increase the flux of dissolved Fe out of the catchment. Such inputs of iron are most probably derived from podosols planted with Pinus.

Environmental factors controlling temporal and spatial variability in the soil-atmosphere exchange of CO2, CH4 and N2O from an Australian subtropical rainforest

The temporal variations in CO2, CH4 and N2O fluxes were measured over two consecutive years from February 2007 to March 2009 from a subtropical rainforest in south-eastern Queensland, Australia, using an automated sampling system. A concurrent study using an additional 30 manual chambers examined the spatial variability of emissions distributed across three nearby remnant rainforest sites with similar vegetation and climatic conditions. Interannual variation in fluxes of all gases over the 2 years was minimal, despite large discrepancies in rainfall, whereas a pronounced seasonal variation could only be observed for CO2 fluxes. High infiltration, drainage and subsequent high soil aeration under the rainforest limited N2O loss while promoting substantial CH4 uptake. The average annual N2O loss of 0.5 ± 0.1 kg N2O-N ha−1 over the 2-year measurement period was at the lower end of reported fluxes from rainforest soils. The rainforest soil functioned as a sink for atmospheric CH4 throughout the entire 2-year period, despite periods of substantial rainfall. A clear linear correlation between soil moisture and CH4 uptake was found. Rates of uptake ranged from greater than 15 g CH4-C ha−1 day−1 during extended dry periods to less than 2–5 g CH4-C ha−1 day−1 when soil water content was high. The calculated annual CH4 uptake at the site was 3.65 kg CH4-C ha−1 yr−1. This is amongst the highest reported for rainforest systems, reiterating the ability of aerated subtropical rainforests to act as substantial sinks of CH4. The spatial study showed N2O fluxes almost eight times higher, and CH4 uptake reduced by over one-third, as clay content of the rainforest soil increased from 12% to more than 23%. This demonstrates that for some rainforest ecosystems, soil texture and related water infiltration and drainage capacity constraints may play a more important role in controlling fluxes than either vegetation or seasonal variability

Soil carbon sequestration and associated economic costs for farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plain : a meta-analysis

Soil organic carbon sequestration rates over 20 years based on the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) methodology were combined with local economic data to determine the potential for soil C sequestration in wheat-based production systems on the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The C sequestration potential of rice–wheat systems of India on conversion to no-tillage is estimated to be 44.1 Mt C over 20 years. Implementing no-tillage practices in maize–wheat and cotton–wheat production systems would yield an additional 6.6 Mt C. This offset is equivalent to 9.6% of India's annual greenhouse gas emissions (519 Mt C) from all sectors (excluding land use change and forestry), or less than one percent per annum. The economic analysis was summarized as carbon supply curves expressing the total additional C accumulated over 20 year for a price per tonne of carbon sequestered ranging from zero to USD 200. At a carbon price of USD 25 Mg C−1, 3 Mt C (7% of the soil C sequestration potential) could be sequestered over 20 years through the implementation of no-till cropping practices in rice–wheat systems of the Indian States of the IGP, increasing to 7.3 Mt C (17% of the soil C sequestration potential) at USD 50 Mg C−1. Maximum levels of sequestration could be attained with carbon prices approaching USD 200 Mg C−1 for the States of Bihar and Punjab. At this carbon price, a total of 34.7 Mt C (79% of the estimated C sequestration potential) could be sequestered over 20 years across the rice–wheat region of India, with Uttar Pradesh contributing 13.9 Mt C.