Process evaluation of construction methods to quantify safety

Abstract

The use of off-site construction methods is increasing within the construction industry. While this method has been captured by a variety of terms, they all refer to the process of producing project components in a manufacturing-like facility off-site and transporting completed units to site to be assembled to achieve the desired end-product. To support the quantification of safety performance in off-site construction versus conventional on-site methods, the research has developed a generalized model for capturing and evaluating construction methods. The methodology was developed in partnership with local practitioners to define, assess and compare on-site and off-site construction practices with a safety lens, and the methodology is partially validated in collaboration with various project owners to assess case study projects that employed off-site construction into their processes. The evaluation methodology takes a construction product-focused approach with emphasis on defining a complete material supply chain and capturing the data needed to support quantifiable safety evaluations of the process. As such, the approach takes a unique approach to establish an evaluation methodology for future comparisons.