Ahmed Khalafallah
Kuwait University
Kuwait
Title: A Framework for an Automated Decision Support System for Selecting Safety-conscious Contractors
Biography
Biography: Ahmed Khalafallah
Abstract
The selection of a competent contractor for a construction project is a critical process to its success, and is usually based on competitive bidding or negotiated contracts. The evaluation of contractor safety performance is not a typical criterion in the selection process, although evidence suggests that such negligence can lead to increased accident rates, productivity losses, and significant cost overruns. This paper presents a framework for an automated decision support system that is designed to aid owners in evaluating contractor safety performance as one of the criteria for contractor selection. The framework is developed in three phases: (1) determining the indicators that depict contractor current and past safety performance and their metrics; (2) soliciting the input of experts regarding the indicators, their metrics, and relative significance; and (3) designing a relational database model to integrate the metrics of the identified indicators into a system that rates the safety performance of a contractor. The envisioned system should prove useful to owners and decision makers in selecting safety-conscious contractors, and can lead to significant safety improvements in an industry rife with hazards and accidents.