Sathyanarayanan Rajendran

Risk and Financial Impacts of Prevention through Design Solutions

AbstractFalls from roofs are a significant risk for both construction and maintenance workers. A roof anchor system is the common design solution to eliminate the falling hazard. This paper presents the findings of a case study to serve as a preliminary investigation of the financial impact and risk of roof fall protection solutions. The research began with the selection of a project that featured a roof anchor system and a parapet that does not meet Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) guardrail height requirements. The intent of the research was to compare the cost of design and installation of the roof anchors and parapet with that of two other design options on the same project: only a parapet that meets the OSHA guardrail requirements; and no anchors or parapet. Data used for the study were collected through interviews of project personnel and reviews of project documentation. The parapet system was found be an expensive, but safer, alternative compared with the roof anchor system. Th...

Enhancing Construction Worker Safety Performance Using Leading Indicators

AbstractWorker safety and health continue to be a huge concern for the construction industry. Construction contractors are always looking for new ideas that will help improve their company’s safety performance. One such idea is the utilization of safety performance indicators as part of contractor safety programs. There is no guidance in the safety literature to the contractors on the most effective leading indicators. The purpose of the study was to evaluate selected leading indicators under real project conditions and develop recommendations for their use by construction contractors. Three types of leading indicators were selected and tested for the study: pretask plan (PTP) review, worker safe behavior observation (WSBO), and site safety audits. To evaluate the leading indicators under real project conditions, a large construction project was selected from the western United States. It was found that pretask plan review and worker safe behavior observation can be used by contractors as leading indicato...