Factors Influencing the Effectiveness of Construction Safety Assessment Models: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The existing body of research on construction safety assessments is fragmented along the lines of technology, safety hazards, and assessment methods. This fragmentation prevents a systematic understanding of the conditions under which safety assessment models become valid, usable, and timely. The purpose of this review is to address this gap, by systematically identifying, assessing, and analyzing the factors that determine the assessment models’ effectiveness in construction safety. This review was based on 52 studies published within the predefined review period, drawn from an initial pool of 326 studies, and conducted a thematic synthesis of the studies, which included a synthesis of various assessment criteria, a method of counting studies, and the construction of a binary matrix on the coverage of the studies. According to the studies reviewed, the factors that determine the assessment models’ effectiveness can be grouped in the following domains: integrity of the evidence; contextual, and socio-organizational; and digital. The study results are based on the research of construction safety models and provide an auditable taxonomy of determinants, and an integrated interpretation of construction safety models, based on the technical, contextual, digital, and organizational needs, and can support design, validation, governance, and cross-context application of safety models and proactive construction safety governance.