What causes accidents?

Abstract

This paper describes aspects of the findings of a three-year research project, Construction Accident Causality, funded by the UK Health and Safety Executive. The project developed a causality model, through a combination of focus groups and detailed study of 100 construction accidents, using an ergonomics systems approach, to identify where safety is compromised and why. It concludes that stakeholders responsible for the immediate accident circumstances, shaping factors and originating influences must all work hard to remove flaws in their safety systems to ensure that accidents are reduced.

Integration of OHS into Risk Management in an Open-Pit Mining Project in Quebec (Canada)

“…Thanks to legislation [16,17], improvement of several management standards [18], development of a culture of safety [19][20][21], better organization of tasks and responsibilities [22], improved communication [23] and the emergence of several new decision support tools and approaches [18,[24][25][26][27], OHS is becoming a major criterion in project management alongside quality, cost and delays. Being able to offer work in safe environments is becoming essential for attracting and retaining skilled labor [28].…”

New tool will help civil engineers meet CDM requirements to design for safety

“…Studies in the UK and other countries have confirmed the link between design and the occurrence of accidents and injuries in construction (Behm, 2005;Gibb et al, 2006;Manu et al, 2014). As a result there is a growing importance for designers to consider the occupational health and safety implications of their design.…”

Methodology of Classifying the Causes of Occupational Accidents Involving Construction Scaffolding Using Pareto-Lorenz Analysis

“…A methodological approach to the analysis of the causes of accidents in the construction industry is presented by the authors of publications [17][18][19][20]. Gibb et al [17,18] classify the root causes of an occupational accident on a construction site as: failing to identify an unsafe condition that existed before or after an activity started; deciding to proceed with a work activity after a worker identifies an existing unsafe condition; deciding to act in an unsafe manner regardless of initial conditions.…”

“…Gibb et al [17,18] classify the root causes of an occupational accident on a construction site as: failing to identify an unsafe condition that existed before or after an activity started; deciding to proceed with a work activity after a worker identifies an existing unsafe condition; deciding to act in an unsafe manner regardless of initial conditions. Błazik-Borowa et al [19,20] indicate that conditions occurring throughout the 'life cycle' of scaffolding-including the phase of preparing documentation related to scaffolding, the selection of assembly elements, assembly and operation, and also dismantling of scaffolding-have a great impact on the occupational safety of scaffolding.…”