Construction accidents: identification of the main associations between causes, mechanisms and stages of the construction process

Objective. To identify the most frequent causes of accidents in the construction sector in order to help safety practitioners in the task of prioritizing preventive actions depending on the stage of construction. Methods. Official accident investigation reports are analysed. A causation pattern is identified with the proportion of causes in each of the different possible groups of causes. Results. Significant associations of the types of causes with accident mechanisms and construction stages have been identified. Conclusions. Significant differences have been found in accident causation depending on the mechanism of the accident and the construction stage ongoing. These results should be used to prioritize preventive actions to combat the most likely causes for each accident mechanism and construction stage.

[1]  Atmadeep Mazumdar,et al.  Two-Tier Haddon Matrix Approach to Fault Analysis of Accidents and Cybernetic Search for Relationship to Effect Operational Control: A Case Study at a Large Construction Site , 2007, International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE.

[2]  A. Feyer,et al.  A classification system for causes of occupational accidents for use in preventive strategies. , 1991, Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health.

[3]  Chia-Fen Chi,et al.  Accident patterns and prevention measures for fatal occupational falls in the construction industry. , 2005, Applied ergonomics.

[4]  Elaine Aspinwall,et al.  WORK ACCIDENTS INVESTIGATION TECHNIQUE (WAIT) - PART I , 2003 .

[5]  D A Wiegmann,et al.  Human error analysis of commercial aviation accidents: application of the Human Factors Analysis and Classification system (HFACS). , 2001, Aviation, space, and environmental medicine.

[6]  A R Duff,et al.  Contributing factors in construction accidents. , 2005, Applied ergonomics.

[7]  P. Ray,et al.  Occupational injury and accident research: A comprehensive review , 2012 .

[8]  Elaine Aspinwall,et al.  A survey on occupational accidents' reporting and registration systems in the European Union , 2004 .

[9]  Ioannis A. Papazoglou,et al.  Modeling accidents for prioritizing prevention , 2007, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[10]  Luis Onieva,et al.  Causation of Severe and Fatal Accidents in the Manufacturing Sector , 2013, International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE.

[11]  Luis Onieva,et al.  The Causes of Severe Accidents in the Andalusian Manufacturing Sector: The Role of Human Factors in Official Accident Investigations , 2016 .

[12]  Snorre Sklet,et al.  Comparison of some selected methods for accident investigation. , 2004, Journal of hazardous materials.

[13]  Celeste Jacinto,et al.  The added value of the new ESAW/Eurostat variables in accident analysis in the mining and quarrying industry. , 2008, Journal of safety research.

[14]  Ratna Sari Dewi,et al.  Graphical fault tree analysis for fatal falls in the construction industry. , 2014, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[15]  Ann Willamson,et al.  Behavioural epidemiology as a tool for accident research , 1990 .

[16]  Andrew Hale,et al.  Developing the understanding of underlying causes of construction fatal accidents , 2012 .

[17]  Mei-yung Leung,et al.  Preventing construction worker injury incidents through the management of personal stress and organizational stressors. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[18]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  The Nature of Struck-by Accidents , 2005 .

[19]  Luis Onieva,et al.  Framework for the use of official occupational accident investigations as a learning tool: analysis of a public programme for accident investigation in the manufacturing sector , 2014 .

[20]  Charles M. Eastman,et al.  Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Safety: Automatic Safety Checking of Construction Models and Schedules , 2013 .

[21]  Emmanuel Manatakis,et al.  Towards an evaluation of accident investigation methods in terms of their alignment with accident causation models , 2009 .

[22]  Jimmie Hinze,et al.  Identifying Root Causes of Construction Injuries , 1998 .

[23]  Paul Swuste,et al.  Is it possible to influence safety in the building sector? A literature review extending from 1980 until the present , 2012 .

[24]  Ioannis A. Papazoglou,et al.  Accidents in the construction industry in the Netherlands: An analysis of accident reports using Storybuilder , 2008, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[25]  Celeste Jacinto,et al.  Workplace and organisational factors in accident analysis within the food industry , 2009 .

[26]  Sou-Sen Leu,et al.  Applying data mining techniques to explore factors contributing to occupational injuries in Taiwan's construction industry. , 2012, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[27]  Chia-Fen Chi,et al.  Significant industry–source of injury–accident type for occupational fatalities in Taiwan , 2004 .

[28]  Dulcy M. Abraham,et al.  Fatalities in Trenching Operations—Analysis Using Models of Accident Causation , 2004 .

[29]  Sou-Sen Leu,et al.  Use of association rules to explore cause-effect relationships in occupational accidents in the Taiwan construction industry , 2010 .

[30]  Urban Kjellen,et al.  Prevention of accidents through experience feedback , 2000 .

[31]  Linda M. Goldenhar,et al.  Guide to Evaluating the Effectiveness of Strategies for Preventing Work Injuries: How to Show Whether a Safety Intervention Really Works , 2001 .

[32]  Sean M Whitaker,et al.  Safety with access scaffolds: development of a prototype decision aid based on accident analysis. , 2003, Journal of safety research.

[33]  T. Michael Toole,et al.  Construction Site Safety Roles , 2002 .

[34]  Olga N. Aneziris,et al.  Occupational risk of building construction , 2012, Reliab. Eng. Syst. Saf..

[35]  Abel Pinto,et al.  Risk Assessment in Construction Industry ? Overview and Reflection , 2011 .