Severity of electrical accidents in the construction industry in Spain.

PROBLEM This paper analyzes the severity of workplace accidents involving electricity in the Spanish construction sector comprising 2,776 accidents from 2003 to 2008. METHOD The investigation considered the impact of 13 variables, classified into 5 categories: Personal, Business, Temporal, Material, and Spatial. RESULTS The findings showed that electrical accidents are almost five times more likely to have serious consequences than the average accident in the sector and it also showed how the variables of age, occupation, company size, length of service, preventive measures, time of day, days of absence, physical activity, material agent, type of injury, body part injured, accident location, and type of location are related to the severity of the electrical accidents under consideration. SUMMARY The present situation makes it clear that greater effort needs to be made in training, monitoring, and signage to guarantee a safe working environment in relation to electrical hazards. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This research enables safety technicians, companies, and government officials to identify priorities and to design training strategies to minimize the serious consequences of electrical accidents for construction workers.

[1]  Ted Miller,et al.  Costs of occupational injuries in construction in the United States. , 2007, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[2]  E Kristal-Boneh,et al.  Adverse work and environmental conditions predict occupational injuries. The Israeli Cardiovascular Occupational Risk Factors Determination in Israel (CORDIS) Study. , 1999, American journal of epidemiology.

[3]  X. Dong,et al.  Occupational fatalities of Hispanic construction workers from 1992 to 2000. , 2004, American journal of industrial medicine.

[4]  Jhareswar Maiti,et al.  Evaluation of Risk of Occupational Injuries Among Underground Coal Mine Workers Through Multinomial Logit Analysis , 1999 .

[5]  J. Langley,et al.  Occupational injuries among adolescents in Dunedin, New Zealand, 1990-1993. , 1997, Annals of emergency medicine.

[6]  McVittie Dj.  Fatalities and serious injuries. , 1995 .

[7]  Iain Cameron,et al.  Fatal and major construction accidents : A comparison between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain , 2008 .

[8]  R. A. Haslama,et al.  Contributing factors in construction accidents , 2005 .

[9]  J. Lee,et al.  Occupational health in general practice in an industrial area of Singapore. , 2001, Occupational medicine.

[10]  Christopher A Janicak,et al.  Occupational fatalities due to electrocutions in the construction industry. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[11]  Katherine L Hunting,et al.  Causes of electrical deaths and injuries among construction workers. , 2003, American journal of industrial medicine.

[12]  Scott Schneider,et al.  Effects of Safety and Health Training on Work-Related Injury Among Construction Laborers , 2004, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[13]  Ann Williamson,et al.  The Causes of Electrical Fatalities at Work , 1998 .

[14]  T. Cook,et al.  Symptoms of musculoskeletal disorders among apprentice construction workers. , 2003, Applied occupational and environmental hygiene.

[15]  J M Dement,et al.  Mortality among North Carolina construction workers, 1988-1994. , 1999, Applied occupational and environmental hygiene.

[16]  Nearkasen Chau,et al.  Relationships of job, age, and life conditions with the causes and severity of occupational injuries in construction workers , 2004, International archives of occupational and environmental health.

[17]  N. Stout,et al.  Traumatic occupational fatalities in the U.S. and Australian construction industries. , 1996, American journal of industrial medicine.

[18]  L. McCaig,et al.  A comparison of work-related injury visits and other injury visits to emergency departments in the United States, 1995-1996. , 1998, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[19]  S M Kisner,et al.  Injury hazards in the construction industry. , 1994, Journal of occupational medicine. : official publication of the Industrial Medical Association.

[20]  G. Chen,et al.  Work-Related Fatal-Injury Risk of Construction Workers by Occupation and Cause of Death , 1998 .

[21]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  Analysis of Construction Worker Fall Accidents , 2003 .

[22]  Bruno Fabiano,et al.  A study of the relationship between occupational injuries and firm size and type in the Italian industry , 2004 .

[23]  N. Chau,et al.  Relationships between certain individual characteristics and occupational injuries for various jobs in the construction industry: a case-control study. , 2004, American journal of industrial medicine.

[24]  S. Salminen.  Have young workers more injuries than older ones? An international literature review. , 2004, Journal of safety research.

[25]  M. Gervais.  Good management practice as a means of preventing back disorders in the construction sector , 2003 .

[26]  M Rossignol,et al.  Classification of fatal occupational electrocutions. , 1994, Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique.

[27]  James Laing,et al.  Fatal occupational injuries. , 1990, JAMA.

[28]  James C Cawley,et al.  Occupational electrical injuries in the United States, 1992-1998, and recommendations for safety research. , 2003, Journal of safety research.

[29]  John A. Gambatese,et al.  Factors That Influence Safety Performance of Specialty Contractors , 2003 .

[30]  Alistair Gibb,et al.  Analysis of construction accidents in Spain, 2003-2008. , 2012, Journal of safety research.

[31]  T. W. Wong,et al.  Occupational injuries among construction workers in Hong Kong. , 1994, Occupational medicine.

[32]  Alistair G.F. Gibb,et al.  What causes accidents , 2006 .

[33]  T. Fletcher,et al.  Mortality study of construction workers in the UK. , 1995, International journal of epidemiology.

[34]  C. Robinson,et al.  Mortality patterns among electrical workers employed in the U.S. construction industry, 1982-1987. , 1999, American journal of industrial medicine.

[35]  D A Savitz,et al.  Fatal occupational injuries among electric power company workers. , 1999, American journal of industrial medicine.

[36]  J Kingma,et al.  Causes of Occupational Injuries , 1994, Perceptual and motor skills.

[37]  K. Ringen,et al.  Why construction is different. , 1995, Occupational medicine.

[38]  John Rosecrance,et al.  The "Goldilocks model" of overtime in construction: not too much, not too little, but just right. , 2003, Journal of safety research.

[39]  Brian P McCall,et al.  Disabling and Fatal Occupational Claim Rates, Risks, and Costs in the Oregon Construction Industry 1990–1997 , 2004, Journal of occupational and environmental hygiene.

[40]  Dale O Ritzel,et al.  Construction industry accidents in Spain. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[41]  K. Ringen,et al.  Fatalities in the construction industry in the United States, 1992 and 1993. , 1996, American journal of industrial medicine.

[42]  B. C. Brenner,et al.  Occupational electrical injuries in the US, 2003–2009 , 2012, 2012 IEEE IAS Electrical Safety Workshop.

[43]  E. Page,et al.  Hazards associated with the manufacture and repair of neon lights. , 2003, Applied occupational and environmental hygiene.

[44]  Sou-Sen Leu,et al.  Characteristic analysis of occupational accidents at small construction enterprises , 2010 .

[45]  T. Ore,et al.  Electrical fatalities among U.S. construction workers. , 1996, Journal of occupational and environmental medicine.

[46]  Chia-Fen Chi,et al.  In-depth accident analysis of electrical fatalities in the construction industry , 2009 .