Strategic safety management information system for building projects in Singapore

Purpose – The construction industry in Singapore has been recording higher accident rates compared with other industries. As an initiative to reduce occupational accidents, the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore proposed to clients to adopt quality-fee method (QFM) for tender evaluation, departing from the traditional lowest price method. Assessing tenderers' safety proposals is a crucial task for clients' project managers to implement QFM, but it is a difficult and challenging task. This study aims to provide a tool to facilitate this. Design/methodology/approach – A triple-index model was developed for estimating potential accident risks in building projects, given that a contractor's proposed safety system is in place to combat the accident hazards inherent in the project. The model was then automated as a decision support system (DSS). Case studies were conducted to test the reliability and accuracy of the DSS. Findings – The DSS produces project accident indices, and it was found in the case studies that values for this index are positively correlated with the number of accidents in building projects. The findings proved that the DSS makes a significant contribution to the state-of-the-art of risk assessment. Practical implications – The proposed model and its DSS would facilitate the implementation of QFM for tender evaluation and thereby reduce accidents. Originality/value – The paper presents a novel tool to combat accidents in construction at the early stage of tender evaluation.