Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7402-6690

Date Available

8-10-2022

Year of Publication

2022

Degree Name

Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE)

Document Type

Master's Thesis

College

Engineering

Department/School/Program

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Gabriel Dadi

Abstract

In the field of construction, most safety data and practices focus on preventing and mitigating serious incidents resulting in injuries or fatalities. However, on construction sites, near-miss events occur more frequently than said serious incidents and, under marginally different conditions, could potentially lead to damages, injuries, or fatalities. Therefore, near-miss reporting can serve as a useful tool for managing safety as it allows for workers to identify and managers to address potential risk factors within construction sites. While most construction companies have implemented some method for reporting near-miss events, many organizations, such as the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC), struggle with a lack of near-miss reporting from employees.

Therefore, the purpose of this study is to address and improve upon this near-miss reporting deficiency. To accomplish this goal, potential factors that result in a lack of reporting are identified through the synthesis of existing literature, areas for improving existing near-miss reporting systems are discussed, and a survey study created by the author and fellow researchers is distributed to KYTC maintenance superintendents.

Results and analysis of this study suggest that many of the barriers that lead to a lack of near-miss reporting at KYTC stem from the managerial level. Some of these main barriers include a lack of knowledge on how to report a near-miss, a lack of training on how to report a near-miss, a lack of awareness of KYTC’s web-based reporting tool and how to access it, and a lack of corrective actions from previous near-miss reports. Some initial recommendations to KYTC management in attempt to overcoming these barriers include providing and/or requiring more near-miss training, making the web-based reporting tool more well-known and accessible, and taking more visible action in correcting reported near-misses.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2022.332

Funding Information

This study was supported by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYSPR 21-608) in 2021.

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