Agent-Based Model for Simulating Construction Safety Climate in a Market Environment

Abstract

A strong construction safety climate is sought after by governments, owners, and insurance providers. When making safety policy changes, legislative bodies and construction stakeholders alike try to successfully predict the impact such reformative actions will have on emergent safety patterns. Identifying optimal strategies for improving the market’s safety climate is a difficult task to achieve given the complex interactions between the various parties involved. An agent-based model is developed and presented in this case study that mimics the interactions among project stakeholders at the market level within the context of construction safety during both bidding and construction phases. In addition to incorporating various behavioral patterns and financial attributes of contractors and owners, the model makes use of insurance premium models and government fines to simulate safety climate patterns at the project and market levels. The model is shown to be capable of realistically depicting emerging safety patterns in a given environment when reformative actions are initiated by various stakeholders. The model is promising as a tool for policy makers to identify optimal strategies for improving the market safety climate.