Saving lives

QUEENSLAND University of Technology has developed a new set of safety and effectiveness indicators to reduce the average death rate of one person a week on Australian construction sites.

The 13 measures come from five years of research by the Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation.

QUT associate professor Herbert Biggs says on-site safety initiatives need to be improved to build a safety culture.

“Up until now construction sites have used positive performance indicators (PPIs) as a proactive measurement tool,” says Biggs.

“But PPIs don’t provide information on whether each activity is being undertaken effectively and therefore don’t provide data that can be used by industry to target areas of which need improvement.”

The indicators evaluate not only how often, but how effectively activities are carried out, with a reference list of evaluators that can be used to gather trend data.

“What organisations are then encouraged to do is collect trend data and then evaluate over time whether or not improvements are being made,” he says.