Understanding the concept of resilience in construction safety management systems.

Abstract

Traditional safety management does not always improve the results of safety because of its focus on technical requirements and attainment of short-term results. It is more reactive than proactive and often not integrated with the rest of the functions of an organisation. The concept of resilience divulges a new way of dealing with safety in complex sociotechnical systems. A systematic review of related literature on resilience in safety management systems published from 2009 to 2019 was conducted using top tier academic journals and databases including Scopus, Google Scholar, and Semantic Scholar. It has emerged from the review that there are four capabilities that underpin the concept of resilience in safety management systems, i.e. ability to respond, ability to monitor, ability to learn, and ability to anticipate. The study contributes to the literature and practice of resilient safety management by offering safety officers and researchers with insights into the concept.