Managing safety hazards in metro subway projects under complex environmental conditions

During the expansion of metro subway projects, numerous safety hazards occur due to geotechnical site conditions, the complexity of the construction work, the concealment of the project, and the lengthy construction period. This study aims to identify the factors contributing to safety hazards and develop a risk evaluation system to determine the safety level in metro subway projects. A questionnaire survey administered to 224 participants working in different metro subway projects was used to collect the data. A second-order confirmatory model of hazard indexes was developed using structural equation modeling (SEM). A case study of an ongoing metro subway project was used to apply the developed risk evaluation system. Based on the developed model, the studied metro project scored 89.73, indicating the hazards level in this project is relatively controllable. The risk evaluation system developed in this study is useful to measure the safety level in metro construction projects to enable project managers and other stakeholders to determine the safety areas that need development and prevent potential hazards during the construction of this type of project.