Cognitive Mechanisms Of Construction Work Group Member’s Unsafe Behaviors And Its Application

Construction safety has been a huge and enduring challenge globally.Unsafe behavior is found to be the major cause of more than 80% accidents in the construction industry.Cognitive failure is a significant cause of unsafe behavior.Almost all current research focus on individual workers,neglecting the cognitive processes of interactive behaviors such as sharing and supervision among workers,supervisors,and safety professionals in construction work groups.The construction work group is the basic unit for completing construction tasks.It is a temporary work group composed of personnel from various project participants interdependent on and influencing one another.Behaviors in the work group,such as unsafe actions,unsafe sharing and unsafe supervision,are what lead to accidents.To improve the level of behavioral safety in the construction industry,studying the cognitive mechanisms behind the unsafe behaviors of construction work group members and proposing effective control methods are of great academic and practical significance.Firstly,this study proposed a definition of unsafe behaviors of construction work group members based on literature review.Then,based on the domestic and international construction accident investigation reports,a three-layer grading table of unsafe behaviors of construction work group members was constructed using thematic analysis.On this basis,the characteristics of the occurrence of unsafe behaviors were analyzed by accident data.Secondly,six typical unsafe behaviors of construction work group members represented by unsafe standing were identified based on the thematic analysis results.Through literature review and theoretical analysis,test methods for typical unsafe behaviors were proposed.A smart observation tool for unsafe behaviors was developed based on the capacity-demand equilibrium model combined with computer vision and data mining technology.The effectiveness of the smart tool was verified through field tests.Thirdly,by adopting theories of prospective memory,team cognition,and information processing model,a cognitive model of unsafe behaviors in construction work group was constructed.The cognitive model illustrated the cognitive processes by which work group members carry out pre-determined work,share information and generate feedback.Then,the cognitive failures of two non-interactive behaviors and four interactive behaviors of construction work group members were identified.Besides,ten cognitive failure mechanisms were revealed,and 72 causes of unsafe behaviors of construction work group members were discovered and verified.Finally,based on the causes of unsafe behaviors of construction work group members and the application of smart technology,this study developed unsafe behavior identification tools and management measures for construction work groups and proposed safety training suggestions.This study investigated the cognitive processes of interactive unsafe behaviors of work group members on the construction sites,revealing the cognitive failure mechanism of the interactive and non-interactive unsafe behaviors among members and advancing theoretical understanding of the causative law of unsafe behaviors of frontline construction staff.Methodologically,this study applied smart technology to develop unsafe behavior identification tools and management measures for construction work groups,which would enhance the capability of the construction industry to control behavioral safety and prevent accidents.