This study investigates how Australian construction practitioners perceive and contextualize safety risk factors in earthmoving equipment operations (EEOs) as complex sociotechnical systems based on Rasmussen’s risk management framework (RMF). It validates risk factors previously identified in literature and uncovers both explicit and latent systemic safety challenges related to the vital few risk factors by capturing the lived experiences of construction practitioners.
In total, 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with construction practitioners. The data were analyzed using both the weighted mean index and Pareto analysis to identify and prioritize the most critical risk factors in EEOs.
The weighted mean scores indicated that government and regulatory association, construction site management and commercial management represent the highest-priority levels. The Pareto analysis identified 28 of the 51 risk factors as the “vital few” among various levels of Rasmussen’s RMF. The study explored safety challenges related to the vital few risk factors, followed by a discussion of the highest-ranked “vital few” risk factors and the corrective actions (CAs) within Rasmussen’s RMF.
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to explore safety challenges and CAs in EEOs using Rasmussen's RMF through the lived experiences of Australian construction practitioners.
