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The construction industry contributes significantly to national economic growth and offers substantial opportunities for job creation; however, the industry has continually been plagued by workplace accidents. Moreover, employers may not realize the economic magnitude of workplace injury and ill health arising from construction activities. These accidents represent a considerable economic and social burden to employers, employees and to the society as a whole. Despite governments and organisations worldwide maintaining an ongoing commitment towards establishing a working environment free of injury and disease, a great deal of construction accidents continues to frequent our society. The purpose of this study is to conduct an analysis of a sample of 100 construction accident reports to establish, as far as practically reasonable, the total costs of limited types of construction accidents. Costs attributable to each of these accidents were classified either as direct or indirect costs. Through an exhaustive and time-consuming investigation of all available records from various sources and/or kept in various departments, the individual costs were correlated to the various direct and indirect categories.

This particular study is a combination of explanatory and collective case study approaches, whereby causal effects are determined or a course of events is examined from multiple cases. The preferred form of data collection is left to the researcher to decide (Yin, 2003). When a researcher is considering “how” or “why” questions, a contemporary set of events using primary and secondary documents, over which the researcher has little or no control, the case study approach is feasible (Yin, 2009).

The costs of construction accidents for the same sample of 100 construction analysed in this study has been estimated at a staggering R32,981,200. Of this total, R10,087,350 has been attributed to direct costs and R22,893,850 has been attributed to indirect costs. The costs of construction accidents are based on four cost components: sick pay, administrative costs, recruitment costs and compensation and insurance costs. It should be noted that the estimates of the costs to employers presented in this study are reflective of the activities and incidents of the reviewed organisation and may not necessarily represent another organisation. The costs of construction accidents values presented in this study reveal that construction accidents present a substantial cost to employers and to the society at large, inclusive of both the direct and indirect costs. It is therefore in the best interest of the employer to identify progressive and advanced approaches to more effectively manage construction health and safety, consequently society at large will benefit tremendously.

Given the high rate of construction accidents experienced, employers are not entirely mindful of the actual costs of construction accidents, especially when considering the hidden or indirect costs of accidents. Various safety research efforts have attempted to quantify the true costs of worker injuries; however, localised systematic information on cost of construction accidents at work is not readily available from administrative statistical data sources; therefore, this study was carried out to estimate the costs, like lost workdays or lost income, are clearly visible and can readily be expressed in monetary value; for a large part,0 however, economic consequences of accidents are somewhat hidden.

Despite the established significance of underlying accident causes to health and safety (H&S), and the persistent reporting of the underlying accident causal influence of construction project features (CPFs) which emanate from pre-construction decisions, no empirical research has focused on CPFs in terms of assessing their degree of potential to influence accident occurrence. The purpose of this paper is to, therefore, investigate this facet of the accident causal influence of CPFs.

A mixed method design was used involving semi-structured interviews, and a questionnaire survey of UK construction professionals.

CPFs generally have a moderate or a high potential to influence accident occurrence, implying a fair or severe potential to cause harm in terms of the H&S of workers. The degree of potential of CPFs to influence accident occurrence is influenced by: the extent to which certain proximate causes of accidents are common/prevalent within CPFs;and the degree of potential of those proximate causes to influence accident occurrence.

These findings provide insight into the H&S consequences of CPFs, awareness of which is essential if pre-construction project participants are to implement appropriate risk control measures especially in the early phases of projects to mitigate the accident causal influence of CPFs. The findings reinforce the contribution of clients and their design and project management teams to accident causation, the significance of the early planning of H&S in construction project delivery, and the importance of driving mechanisms such as the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007.

The construction industry is considered one of the most dangerous industries especially in developing countries such as Egypt. Although safety in Egypt is regulated by mainly four pivotal legislations, namely, Law No. 12 (2003) and Ministerial Decrees No. 211, 126 and 134, construction accident records in Egypt are high. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a framework to activate the health and safety regulations in the Egyptian construction industry.

To achieve this aim, a research methodology consisting of a literature review and a survey questionnaire was developed to accomplish three objectives. First, a literature review was used to identify the causes of site accidents and strategies adopted in different countries to improve and enforce safety, safety roles of stakeholders. Second, a survey questionnaire was conducted with a representative sample of large- and medium-sized construction firms in Egypt to examine their perception of the causes of site accidents. Finally, a framework was developed to activate the health and safety regulations in the Egyptian construction industry.

The research identified 16 causes of construction site accidents. These causes were classified into three categories based on the party responsible for the occurrence of site accidents, namely, workers, organization management and government. Results of data analysis showed that “lack of housekeeping” and “lack of governmental inspection for safety” were ranked the highest causes of site accidents in the Egyptian construction industry, whereas “inefficiency of old safety equipment or no safety equipment at all” and “reluctance to input resources for safety” were ranked the least causes.

This research provides valuable information about the nature of the construction industry with a particular focus on site accidents, causes and impacts of construction site accidents. The study highlighted the safety roles of the Egyptian Governmental bodies in Egypt to improve and enforce safety. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature especially in the Egypt context. The framework presented in this paper represents a synthesis that is important and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred in the Egyptian construction industry.

This paper aims to investigate the application of lean construction (LC) techniques in reducing accidents in construction projects.

A quantitative approach was used to collect the required data using a questionnaire survey and descriptive analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The LC techniques that were investigated in this paper are related to the tools of the last planner system (LPS), increased visualisation (IV), 5S, error-proofing, daily huddle meetings (DHMs), first-run studies (FRS), continuous improvement (Kaizen) and accident investigation (5Whys).

The overall results indicated that LC techniques are poorly implemented in construction projects in the Gaza Strip. The top three LC tools used to reduce the causes of accidents in the Gaza construction projects were 5Whys, 5S and LPS, while the highest three LC techniques applied to reduce the causes of accidents that were applicable were cleaning the workplace and removing materials and machines that are not required; conducting accident investigation and root cause analysis programmes; and using safety signs and labels on site.

There is a lack of information and published studies regarding the links between LC and safety, especially in the Middle East. This paper is limited to the perceptions and geographical boundaries; therefore, it cannot be generalised. However, it could form the basis for useful comparison in the future. Triangulation research method could also be used in future research to minimise the bias and validate the conclusions.

The findings of this paper will stress professionals and construction companies in Gaza to reconsider their behaviour towards using LC techniques. The findings of this paper will aid them to shift their attention and resources towards including LC techniques in their plans to reduce the causes of accidents on construction sites.

The findings of this paper will encourage professionals and construction companies in Gaza to reconsider their behaviour towards using LC techniques. The findings will also aid them to shift their attention and resources towards including LC techniques in their plans to reduce and/or avoid the causes of accidents on construction.

Because of the lack of published works that are specific to the Middle East, the authors believe that the originality lies in the paper’s serious attempt to explore the application level of the LC concept to safety in this part of the world. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the applicability of LC techniques in terms of accidents reduction. Findings from this paper provide a clear picture of the current status of using LC techniques to reduce accidents in the Gazan construction projects which drive them to investigate the main barriers and try to overcome them.

Under-reporting of occupational accidents is a common problem in many countries. This is mainly because of the shortfalls in accident reporting and recording systems. Construction industry being a hazardous industry, the rate of accidents is higher compared with other industries and apparently a high rate of under-reporting. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rate of under-reporting, significant reasons for under-reporting and identify the shortcomings in the existing accident reporting system in Sri Lanka in aiming to recommend efficient mechanisms for occupational accident recording and reporting to construction industry.

Both secondary and primary data were tapped to gather required data. The secondary data were extracted from the records available in year 2014-2015 at the office of the commissioner for workmen’s compensation and the industrial safety division of the Department of Labor (DoL) to analyze the rate of under-reporting. The primary data were obtained through expert interviews to explore the gaps in reporting system and to identify mechanisms to reduce under-reporting.

The findings revealed 80 per cent of construction accidents are under-reported. Eight gaps in the current accident recording and reporting system and key recommendations at organizational and national level for its improvements were identified.

The findings provide an insight of occupational safety and health (OSH) practices in construction industry and it can be used as an eye opening flash for safety law-makers and practitioners to revisit the existing regulations and practices.

The purpose of this paper is to timely control of a construction collapse accident effectively during its development process by constructing a stage model and then aligning IT with each stage to help provide the information for decision making.

Through comprehensive literature review, this paper first identifies the various IT applications in on-site construction monitoring and analyzes the existed disaster/crisis stage models, also the stage models are compared with the causation models to illustrate the strengths. Then, a three-step methodology was conducted to develop and apply the conceptual framework, including the construction of the four-stage model; the establishment of the conceptual framework of information technology (IT) support for management of construction accidents (ITSMCA); and a building collapse accident used to illustrate the proposed framework.

The accident is divided into four stages, which are incubation stage, outbreak stage, spreading stage and final stage. The real-time staged information to support decision making, such as the contributing factors of on-site workers, materials, equipment and workplace, can be provided by emerging IT. Therefore, IT is aligned with the variations of contributing factors’ attributes in the four stages and ITSMCA is constructed to help accidents management.

The focus of the framework presented in this paper is that the stage model is effective for it catches the variations of the attributes whose values can be provided by IT rather than research on the practical application of the IT system. The construction and application of the IT system will be the research focus in the future.

This paper presents a stage model of a building collapse accident and gives a comprehensive conceptual framework of ITSMCA, which align the IT with different stages of the collapse accident. The ITSMCA proposes a feasible ideology and practical method for real-time management of the collapse accident during the process.

The highest number of accidents in proportion to the employment rate is found in construction industry among all industries in Pakistan. The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritize the contributory factors of accident causation that can significantly reduce the rate of accident in the construction industry.

In total, 32 contributory factors of accident causation were identified through a triangulation strategy comprising eight face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the academic and industry experts coupled with a comprehensive literature review. Delphi survey was then conducted among the four respondent groups (clients, contractors, safety official and academia) to prioritize these factors. A consensus was achieved among the respondent groups after conducting two rounds of Delphi survey. Finally, the results were validated using the technique of inter-rater agreement (IRA) analysis.

All the shortlisted accident causation factors were graded as “important” to “extremely important”. Moreover, a “moderate” to “strong level” agreement was developed among the respondent groups. The three most significant factors were highlighted as “poor enforcement of safety rules and regulations by the Government agencies”, “insufficient allocation of safety budget and safety incentives by the client”, and “insufficient provision of safety training and resources by the contractor”.

The findings will help the key stakeholders to prioritize their energies towards achieving zero accident in the construction industry. Moreover, addition of academic experts as one of the respondent groups will enhance the linkages between the academia and the industry practitioners.

Besides highlighting the underlying causes of construction accidents in Pakistan, a detailed methodology is presented in this study for the analysis and validation of the Delphi survey data, which can be extrapolated in other regions and industries for elements prioritization. The findings of the study can also be generalized for other developing countries having similar work environment. The results validation through the use of IRA analysis is an addition to the field of construction safety research. The study also authenticates the applicability of IRA analysis to assess the agreement level among the respondents.

The purpose of this study is to establish a modified accident causation model for highway construction accidents (ACM-HC) and describe the establishment process of the ACM-HC.

Based on the 2–4 Model, a framework of the ACM-HC was constructed, and the accident causal factors (CF) were extracted from four aspects of human, material, environment and management. In addition, association rule mining (ARM) was introduced to analyze accident investigation reports to obtain the interrelationships between the factors. Based on the framework, factors and ARM results, the ACM-HC was established. Finally, the ACM-HC was verified with a tunnel collapse accident.

Both the external and internal causes of contractor cause accidents. The flaws of safety management of other stakeholders are external causes. In terms of the internal causes, there are four stages: direct causes, indirect causes, radical causes and root causes. More specifically, the direct causes refer to the unsafe acts and the unsafe conditions; ineffective safety supervision and poor individual factors of frontline workers constitute the indirect causes; the radical causes lie in the flaws of construction procedures and technical schemes; the root causes are related to the poor individual factors of decision makers and managers.

The ACM-HC expresses the causes, sequence and mechanism of highway construction accidents in a visual way. In addition, this study describes a process of using a qualitative–quantitative hybrid approach to establish a modified ACM, which provides a different perspective for the establishment of an ACM.

Falls continue to be the major cause of fatalities in the Hong Kong construction industry, as well as in other countries. Published statistics of the Labour Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) showed that from 2000 to 2004 approximately half of the fatal construction accidents were a result of fall of person from height. In view of this phenomenon, the purpose of this paper is to present the findings and recommendations of a research paper which investigates the problems associated with fall of person from height in the construction industry.

Accident data obtained from the Architectural Services Department, HKSAR, was analysed according to the 14 available factors collectively to derive explanations for common situations and reasons leading to fall accidents.

The findings of this rigorous analysis are presented to practitioners whose feedback on the findings are recorded by means of a questionnaire survey. The responses from the survey show that “re‐enforced safety training” and “equipments for working at height” are the adoptable methods to enhance the workers' safety performance. The paper shows that “poor safety attitude and behaviour of workers” is the main problem in obstructing the implementation of safety procedures and guidelines for construction sites. In addition, over half the respondents agree that “closer monitoring and supervision” and “higher standard of projects” is observed by public projects when compared to private projects.

The statistics analysed in this paper are limited to public sector projects only. However, the findings are still believed to be valuable for safety practitioners so that they can adopt the necessary measures to prevent fall from height accidents occurring in future projects.

This paper presents tools and equipment aspects of the results from a three‐year United Kingdom Government funded research project investigating accident causality (ConCA). The project has used focus groups and studied in detail 100 construction accidents site audits, interviews with involved persons and follow‐up along the causal chain. This paper concentrates on the influence of construction tools and equipment which were found to be important contributory factors identified by the research. They have largely been overlooked by previous studies and are not typically acknowledged as accident contributors. This paper argues for further work to confirm these links and for the inclusion of tools and equipment in the list of categories in statutory reporting procedures. This would also require an increased acknowledgement by construction managers of their influence, leading to better design and management of their supply and care on site.