Identifying Root Causes of Construction Accidents

Abstract

Construction accident investigation techniques and reporting systems idt:ntify what type of accidents {>ccur and how they occurred. Unfortunately, they do not properly address why the accident occurred by identifying possible root causes, which is only possible by complementing these techniques with theories of accident causation and theories of human error. The uniqueness of the construction industry dictates the need to tailor man} of the contemporary accident causation model~; and human error theorics. Tl1is paper prl'sents an accident root causes tracing model (ARCTM) tailored to tht: nceds of the construction industry. ARCTM proposes that a~cidents occur due to three root causes: (I) Failing to identify an unsafe col1dition that existed before an a~tivit} was started or that dc','eluped after un activity wa;, started; (2) ueciding to pro..eed with a work a':tiv:ty after the worker identifies an existing unsafe condition; and (3) deciding to act unsafe regardless of initial conditions of the work environment. In addition, ARCTM emphasizes the need to determine how unsafe conditions exist before or develop after an activity is started and proposes that these unsafe conditions are due to four causes: (I) Management actions/inactions; (2) unsafe acts of worker or coworker; (3) non-human-related event(s); (4) an unsafe condition that is a natural part of the initial construction site conditions. Thus, ARCTM acknowledges the possible contribution of both management and labor to the accident process. This perspective helps in better explaining accidents on construction sites and in identifying areas where prevention efforts should be directed, so that labor and management may provide more effective measures for preventing accident occurrence.

Safety Activity Analysis Framework to Evaluate Safety Performance in Construction

“…According to an accident root causes tracing model (ARCTM), accidents occur due to three root causes: (1) Failing to identify an unsafe condition that existed before an activity was started or that developed after an activity was started; (2) deciding to proceed with a work activity after the worker identifies an existing unsafe condition; and (3) deciding to act unsafely regardless of the initial conditions of the work environment (Abdelhamid & Everett, 2000). The categories of measurements used for safety activity analysis are the safe behavior and condition, unsafe behavior, unsafe condition, and injury/illness.…”

“…Safety problems are related to unsafe or careless employees that can be resolved by closely monitoring and changing their behaviors (DeJoy, 2005). A worker may commit unsafe acts regardless of the initial conditions of the work (i.e., whether the condition was safe or unsafe) (Abdelhamid & Everett, 2000). Examples of unsafe worker acts include the decision to proceed with work in unsafe conditions, disregarding standard safety procedures such as not wearing a hard hat or safety glasses, working while intoxicated, or working with insufficient sleep.…”

“…An unsafe condition is a situation in which the physical layout of the workplace or work location or the status of tools, equipment, and material are in violation of contemporary safety standards (Abdelhamid & Everett, 2000). Examples of unsafe conditions include open-sided floors, defective ladders, improperly constructed scaffolds, protruding ends of reinforcing rods, protruding nails and wire ties, unshored trenches, defective equipment, overloaded tools or equipment, unprotected explosive material, ungrounded electrical tools and flying materials.…”

“…When workers are made to perform tasks that exceed human capabilities or that violate human factors, ergonomics, and industrial hygiene principles, the results are overexertion injuries and illnesses (Abdelhamid & Everett, 2000).…”

Advancing Safety by In-Depth Assessment of Workers Attention and Perception

“…Approximately 80 to 90 percent of these accidents were strongly associated with workers' unsafe behavior and acts. Behavior models and human factors approach consider human errors as being the main cause of accidents [32]. Quinn [33] studied the demographic information of field and office personnel who most frequently are involved in workplace accidents and found that 56.3 percent of accidents were caused by a lack of attention or awareness.…”