Identifying Technologies Fields using SNA (Social Network Analysis) for Construction Safety Management in China

Abstract

There is a high frequency of safety accidents occurring in the construction industry in China, which results in large numbers of casualties and substantial property damage and losses. So to find out an effective way of reducing safety accidents and identify the major cause of safety accidents arising from the construction sites, it is essential to improve the management of construction safety. The patent information is effectively utilized to analyze technology, based on which the types of construction safety accidents are summarized and the major influencing factors in the occurrence of safety accidents on construction sites are identified. In this paper, through the patent analysis method based on the network analysis, Netminer 4.0 was applied to construct a technology field network to gain understanding as to the structure of construction safety. Based on the specific analysis of the critical nodes with the assistance of Netminer 4.0, the major causes for the occurrence of construction safety accidents were identified. Finally, the core patents were analyzed to provide a theoretical basis for the reduction of accident rate.