Implementation and analyses of quality, health, safety, and environment (QHSE) management in retrofit works

Jorge Santos, Vivian W. Y. Tam, Ana Catarina Jorge Evangelista

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The use of best construction practices covering actions in the area of quality, health, safety and environment (QHSE) at work-site has been adopted by several construction companies around the world. This system is an innovative method named integrated management system (IMS) regarding management functions and procedures that are applied throughout major construction projects. This system aims to the implementation of building retrofit that requires the use of specialised and trained teams, and modern construction techniques enhancing the highest possible utilisation of material already available in the building retrofit. Environment aspects are considered by the use of recycled material at the construction industry, showing sustainable attitude in response to the society growing demand imposed the productive sector. In the construction industry, this demand is even more intense due to the large volumes of raw material consumed for the execution of new buildings, the generation of waste during the construction process and finally waste generation at the end of its building life. In this regard, adoption of building retrofit as a way to adapt them to new users and thus prolong their lifespan has grown considerably in the construction market. In this sense, this work presents the implementation and analyses of integrated quality, health ,safety and environment management system methodology in retrofit building as a tool to achieve performance gains in the reuse of old buildings. From the sixth month of project starts and the implementation of QHSE management system reached gains at the real reduction of noncompliance, which fell from 40 non-conformities items to 15 non-conformities items. On the other hand, it was intensified the identification of potential nonconformities and the implementation of preventive actions to avoid failures in construction stages.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)73-80
Number of pages8
JournalInternational Journal of Construction Project Management
Volume9
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2017

Keywords

  • construction industry
  • building materials
  • recycling (waste, etc.)
  • quality control
  • industrial safety
  • environmental management

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