Accident prevention in a highly occupied building through safety audit: a readiness perspective in university buildings

Abstract

Potential accidents can occur at any time, including educational activities at a university. Twenty-four cases of accidents at universities in Indonesia, in the form of collapsing building components and fires, have been recorded in the last decade. There is a need for colleges to be ready to implement a Construction Safety Management System in the buildings where educational activities take place. There are two aspects to construction safety in public buildings: the engineering aspect and the aspect of safety management and occupational health. This research aims to assess and analyse the readiness to apply construction safety in a building with large occupancy. The research method uses a case study of a building in the civil engineering department of a university in Indonesia. Data collection comprised field surveys, semi-structured interviews and the collection of drawings and documents regarding the management of occupational safety and health in 2020-2021. The results show that the site studied was mediocre, in terms of implementing a construction safety management system. Although the physical condition of the building is good, other indicators, such as building documents and the application of occupational health and safety, fall into the ‘lack of application’ category.