A linear goal programming model for optimizing the usage of safety measures on construction sites

Abstract

In Hong Kong, the construction safety performance was poor but has improved in the past 15 years because the Labour Department has made remarkable progress in promoting safety and health in the workplace. Through the establishment of safety legislation, enforcement of existing and new legislation, industry promotion, and staff training, the safety awareness of employers and employees has increased. For example, under the “Pay For Safety Scheme(PFSS)”, the contractors are required to set a side a sum of money in their bills of quantities for implementing safety measures on site. However, the method to optimally utilize such a sum of money so the overall profit is maximized remains unaddressed. This research study proposes a linear goal programming model to determine the optimal usage of safety measures (i.e., optimally utilizing the sum of money set aside) for improving construction safety. The goals of the model are to maximize the profits of both the main contractor and the sub-contractor. The constraints denote the achievements of safety measures in the provision of safety officers, safety committee meetings, safety walks, welfare facilities, safety training, and safety auditing. This paper intends to present the framework of the model. In the future, a case study will be conducted in full scale by expanding the model using the actual collected data and available statistics, thus the optimum usage of safety measures in real practice will be determined.