Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING AND DESIGN MANAGEMENT, cilt.11, sa.5, ss.325-337, 2015 (ESCI)
Designing for construction safety (DfCS) can be defined as the consideration of construction site safety at the design stage of a construction project. Although the link between the design decisions and accidents on construction sites is well established in the literature, the number of studies searching for the designers' perspective on the issue is limited. The aim of this research study is to investigate the interaction between (i) the designers' reliance on their abilities, (ii) their attitudes towards DfCS and (iii) organizations safety culture and current practices. Data is collected by means of a web-based questionnaire. The sample for this study consists of 72 participants from 17 nationalities who are actively engaged in design activities for construction projects in the United Arab Emirates, including architects, civil and structural engineers, mechanical engineers, interior designers and electrical engineers. By providing empirical evidence from a multi-cultural working environment, the findings of this study suggest that (i) designers nationalities, age, experience and professional background have a significant impact on their attitudes towards DfCS; (ii) safety culture of the organization is highly correlated with the attitudes of the designers towards designing for safety. Moreover, hands-on experience is regarded to be an important component in enabling professionals to develop their knowledge and understanding of their role in influencing health and safety.