Barriers to the application of lean construction techniques concerning safety improvement in construction projects

Abstract

Lean construction management efforts could prove to be highly rewarding for the UK construction industry. This was emphasised by the Egan Committee who stated that the concepts of lean thinking would lead the UK construction industry's quest to improve quality and efficiency. Although various countries worldwide gained large benefits by adopting Lean Construction (LC) concepts, there still seems to be limited implementation of lean in the UK construction industry, over the last two decades, even after the publication of the Egan report. There appears to be a number of structural and cultural barriers that are militating against its successful implementation. By not realising the factors that affect the successful implementation of LC, organizations will not be able to know what improvement efforts need to be made, where these efforts should be focused, or which efforts could obtain best results (Leong & Tilley, 2008). For this reason, this study sought to identify and assess the possible barriers to the successful implementation of LC in the UK. Based on an extensive literature review, followed by a statistical analysis of data gained from a questionnaire survey which targeted practitioners in the UK construction industry, a number of barriers were identified as key barriers. Further analysis revealed that only three of these barriers were determined as significant. The results of this study could be used to help researchers, practitioners and companies in the UK construction industry to focus their attention and resources on the significant issues, crucial to support the successful implementation of LC.

Analysis framework for the interactions between building information modelling (BIM) and lean construction on construction mega-projects

“…AlSehaimi et al (2009) investigated a pilot implementation of the Last Planner System (LPS) in Saudi Arabia and concluded that numerous benefits were gained, some potential barriers reported and suggested the implementation of efficient communication systems using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Enshassi et al (2019) addressed 39 barriers to the implementation of LC in the Middle East (ME). Hamzeh et al (2016) highlighted the first implementation of LPS in Lebanon, where several improvements were observed, but many challenges were faced.…”

A bibliometric review of the status and emerging research trends in construction safety management technologies

“…Health and Safety on construction job sites has become a subject of primary concern across construction industries worldwide (Zolfagharian et al 2014;Enshassi et al 2019;Furci and Sunindijo 2020). Globally, the construction industry is perceived to have one of the poorest occupational health and safety records (Hinze and Teizer 2011).…”

Strategies to Increase Adoption Rate of Lean Construction

“…Resultantly, these companies prefer to maintain the status quo and never try to indulge themselves in learning/implementing new management philosophies. The role of academic institutions and construction agencies in encouraging the innovative management techniques like LC is also very meager, thereby hindering the construction companies from adopting LC (Alinaitwe, 2009;Enshassi and Mohamed, 2019).…”

“…These barriers will lead to identifying factors that can be crucial for the successful implementation of lean practice in construction. After establishing the barriers for adopting LC within all population groups, strategies to overcome these barriers are identified from the literature (Bashir et al, 2015;Shang and Sui Pheng, 2014;Ballard and kim, 2007;Enshassi et al, 2019;Warcup, 2015;Ayarkwa et al, 2011, Kawish, 2017McGrawHill, 2013;Simonsen et al, 2014;Arbulu, 2016, Sarhan, 2011Shou et al, 2016, Kanafani, 2015 . The strategies for overcoming each barrier are independently investigated and are further lined up into the respective population group.…”