Affiliation:
1. Faculty of Material Engineering, Department of Production Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Krasińskiego 8, 40-019 Katowice, Poland
2. Institute of Materials and Quality Engineering, Faculty of Materials, Metallurgy and Recycling, Technical University of Kosice, Letna 1/9, 04200 Kosice, Slovakia
Abstract
Shaping safe and hygienic working conditions is the basic obligation of the employer. Employers are still looking for methods, tools, and solutions to improve work safety. The study reviews the literature on solutions aimed at improving occupational safety in construction. For this purpose, bibliometric analysis was used, consisting of the exploration and analysis of scientific studies in the field of occupational health and safety, including the possibility of using the LM tool to improve working conditions on construction sites. The study presents the possibility of implementing Lean Manufacturing (LM) tools in the construction industry. Their strengths and weaknesses were identified, and the benefits and possible barriers related to their effective implementation/use were identified. The result of the analyses was a summary of benefits for the construction industry (strengths and opportunities) as well as areas requiring improvement (weaknesses and hazards) regarding the LM tools used. Based on the conducted analyses, it was found that it is possible to use the tools of the LM concept to improve work safety and organize tasks performed on construction sites. The implementation of LM tools, such as 5S/6S, Poka-Yoke, and Standardization, enables risk reduction through a direct impact on the area being analyzed, in which occupational hazards have been identified. It is also noted that there is a need to simultaneously use LM tools (VM, Gemba-Walk, DHM) as solutions aimed at reducing risk.
Funder
Silesian University of Technology