A resilience engineering-based framework for assessing safety performance measurement systems: A study in the construction industry

Resilience engineering (RE) offers a complementary perspective to traditional safety performance measurement systems (SPMSs), by taking into account the complexity of socio-technical systems. However, previous studies do not make it clear how that perspective could be translated into practice, nor the utility of that analysis. In order to address this gap, this paper presents a RE-based framework for assessing SPMSs in construction projects, which includes six stages: (i) obtain an overview of the existing SPMS; (ii) understand how complexity influences safety performance, based on the complexity assessment tool known as Technical, Organizational, and Environment framework; (iii) assess the four resilience abilities (monitor, anticipate, respond, learn), based on the Resilience Assessment Grid; (iv) assess the joint evidence from the previous steps in light of RE guidelines for SPMSs; and (v) identify improvement opportunities. This framework was tested in an empirical study carried out in a Norwegian construction site, by using interviews, observations, and analysis of documents. Results pointed out examples for applying RE ideas to SPMSs as well as they shed light on how complexity may either hinder or support a SPMS.