Construction Site Accidents: Costs, Safety Practices and Strategies

This case study analyses the costs of construction site accidents, the efficacy of current safety practices, and the most suitable strategies to avoid such occurrences in future. It includes a literature review, case description, and analysis.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
Name of Student
Institution Affiliation
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Table of Contents
Executive summary....................................................................................................................2
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Case description.........................................................................................................................3
Literature review........................................................................................................................5
Costs of accidents.......................................................................................................................5
Case analysis............................................................................................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................14
References................................................................................................................................16
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Executive summary
Construction site accidents are a common occurrence as evidenced by the numerous cases
observed and reported by either the victims or their co-workers. As such the aim of this case
study is to help reduce the rate at which these accidents are occurring by conducting In-depth
research in order to determine the costs of accidents, the efficacy of the current safety
practices, their effects on the organisation and the involved stakeholders and deduce the most
suitable safety practices. For a comprehensive understanding of this particular area of
thorough study, research has been conducted which will be presented in wide rage review of
literature related to the area under the scope. By analysing the given case, problems are
bound to be identified, evaluated and strategies to avoid such occurrences in future provided
in accordance to the problem in the hope that the findings will help reduce the cases of
construction site accidents in Australia and in any case be used as a reference in the safety
management at the site where possible.
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Introduction
The main purpose of this report is to identify and analyse the costs incurred due to
construction accidents, the current safety practices and the most suitable strategies to be
adopted in order to make sure any accidents are avoided and if any the right measures are
taken as fast as possible to avoid further damages in terms of the victims health and the
organisations reputation as a whole. Good safety programs are vital not only to help reduce
injuries and saving workers lives at the construction site but also in reducing costs incurred,
increasing profit margins and productivity (World Health Organization. (2015). Amadon
Bakri 2006 recommended that it’s important that construction industry improved its image by
adopting new and efficient ways of avoiding and handling hazards at construction sites.
Case description
The case under scope involved a structural failure of formwork failure that led to the injury of
two individuals (manual workers) one severely injured and the other escaped with minor
injuries mostly bruises.it occurred during the placement of concrete to a section of third floor
suspended slab. Multi-storey in-situ concrete structures basically rely on wet concrete that is
placed by temporary supporting it using formwork and back props to help keep it in position
until the required time when it dries and gains its own strength to be able to stay in place.
These props are used to help distribute the loads to the floors beneath. The formwork was not
effective as it collapsed owing to the weight of the wet concrete.
The diagram below shows the state of the structure before concrete was placed in the
formwork.
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The suspended first and second-floor slabs had been designed to as post-tension banded slabs,
and both had been stressed and fully grouted. The first and second floor had a joint
construction detailing at about two thirds span just before grid G. the sector of slab between
grid g ad grid h had been finished up to the building joint only and had to stay in that
particular state until the neighbouring slab north of the construction joint were made Owing
to its inability to be a cantilever, these slabs had to depend on back propping and formwork
for support.
However, it did not work as planned as the formwork collapsed during the placement of
concrete owing to the weight of the concrete. The sequence was as follows: the first floor to
second floor back props started failing with time as the concrete was being placed because
they became overloaded. This also produced visible deflections on the second-floor slab.
This, in turn, leads to the third-floor slab weight to be exerted solely on the second-floor slab
which had no support since the back props of the first floor had failed. The load proved to be
too much for the second-floor slab which resulted to the failure of the second-floor slab along
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the entire edge of the band beam adjacent to grid h. the second-floor slab collapsed as a
result. With zero support from second floor slab through back props the third floor slab I
progress also collapsed resulting in injury of two workers and a lot of damages.one of the
victims sustained minor injuries and healed in a matter of days and was able to work again
while the other one got severely injured on the leg which left him unable to walk
again .Those injured were rushed to the hospital since there was no assigned health team at
the site the construction was paused for a while to solve the issues that came up as a result.
Literature review
Costs of accidents
Generally, the construction sector is among the most unsafe industries due to the nature of
environment construction sites offer that is not remotely safe for those involved especially
manual workers (Dwyer, T., 2013). For instance, during the period between 2007 and 2008
14,500 cases of compensation claims related to the construction industry were handled. It's,
however, true to say the cases have dropped from 3.1% in the year 2000 to 2001 to 2.2% in
the years 2006 to 2007 even though it still higher than the average rate of Australia generally
which is a mere 1.4%.
Accidents that occur in construction sites have proven to be very expensive (Zhang,.2013).
In Australia, researchers have proven beyond reasonable doubt that construction work
related injury account for the 3rd highest percentage of the costs incurred due to work-
related injuries the highest being manufacturing followed by health community services.
Recurrences of these accidents have led to the industries movement of safety practices.
(Zhang,.2013).
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An in-depth analysis of the involved costs of construction accidents can assist stakeholders
and workers understand the importance of safety practices from an economic perspective
The very first study of construction accidents was done by Heinrich in 1959.He stated that
there are two types of construction accident costs ; direct and indirect and proceeded to
conclude that indirect costs were far much greater (much as 4 times)than the direct costs.
ASCC (2009)
Direct costs can be defined as the directly measured in monetary terms while indirect costs
are those that are quantifiable by either labour time or existing quality and afterward
converted to their monetary equivalent (Drury, C.,2013).
Direct costs are those that involve compensations of the victims in monetary or others terms
as agreed by the employers ASCC (2009). Indirect costs, on the other hand, include lost
potential output, productivity, current and future earnings and the costs of providing
incapacitated workers social welfare programs. Direct and indirect costs are again categorised
into other sub-categories as shown in the diagram below
This classification is used in various countries to analyse the cost of construction hazards.
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According to (NOHSC 2004inorder to accurately calculate the costs of construction accidents
there should be identification and definition of the various classifications of the economic
costs affecting the main economic representatives. Depending on the severity of the accident
a scale for measuring the degree of impact has been created. It’s been then used to calculate
the costs in order to determine the level of direct and indirect costs that resulted from the
accident under the scope. The table below shows the scale and the terms under the severity of
the accident is viewed.
Accident type Severity level definition
Short absence Less than 5 days off work A minor work-related injury
or illness involving less than
5 working days absence
from normal duties where a
worker was able to resume
full duties (Guthrie
Ciccarelli, 2010).
Long absence Five days or more off work
and return to work on full
duties
A minor work-related injury
involving 5 or more working
days and less than 6 months
off work where the worker
was able to resume full
duties.
Partial incapacity Five days or more off work
and return to work on
reduced duties or lower
income
A work-related injury or
illness which results in the
worker returning to work
more than 6 months after
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first leaving work.
Full incapacity Permanently incapacitated
with no return to work ever
A work-related injury or
disease which results in the
individual being
permanently unable to return
to work.
Fatality fatality A work-related injury or
illness which results in death
The method for calculating the overall costs incurred is outlined in the following six steps.
(Source: ASCC 2009):
1. Classify the main groups of economic costs borne by economic agents. (Employers,
employees and the public)
2. Identify the most suitable way of measurement for the identified cost items.
3. Differentiate the degree of severity of each case by allocating different cost structures in
terms of the amount for each case.
4. Allocate the costs according to the degree of severity.
5. Identify the number of accidents falling to each group and the amount of time lost due to
the particular incident.
6. Then determine the average cost of a particular accident by summing up the allocated cost
of each cost item.
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Being able to determine the number of costs endured by workers managers and the public is
of the essence as it allows a comprehensive understanding of the reasons to offer a
particularly safe working environment for all individuals involved.
The following the classification of costs involved in construction accidents,
Production disturbance costs (PDC) – these are costs involved during the period (usually
short) which the involved organisation works to return to the initial position before the
incident.
• Human Capital Costs (HCC) – they are long-term costs incurred due to loss of production
potential that results from restoration of the production levels as they were before the
incident(Sun Zou.,2010).
• Medical Costs (MEDC) – these are the costs that result from the victims and community
through medical treatment from work-related injuries.
• Administrative Costs (ADMINC) – costs incurred when compensating the injured or
incapacitated workers, investigating the occurrences and the legal costs.
• Transfer costs (TRANC) – costs incurred due to administration taxation and welfare
payments for the injured workers.
• Other Costs (OTC) –these are costs that haven’t been classified in the other areas above
which may include the cost for caretakers and support and variations.
The average cost of a construction accident can be simply calculated by using the average
cost associated with each item and then accumulated over each cost item to come up with an
overall estimate. The table below shows the calculated items that encompass the total cost
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. the estimate for the major cost groups that have been identified so far depending on the severity of the case.
Conceptual
group
Cost item Short
absence
Long
absence
Partial
incapacity
Full
incapacity
fatality
Production
disturbance
costs
Cost of overtime and over
employment
Employer excess payments
Staff turnover costs
Staff training and retraining
costs
Loss of current income
Social welfare payments
132
1,495
-
-
331
-
2,120
1,495
-
-
5,299
106,59
18,133
1,495
29498
2588
45333
29636
35,447
1,495
29498
2588
-
29636
3,610
1,495
29498
2588
-
29636
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Total PDC costs 1958 19572 12682 98662 66826
Human capital
costs
Loss of future earnings
Loss of government revenue
Compensational and welfare
payments for lost income
earning capacity
-
-
-
1320
-
10529
15500
258120
86886
1032482
258120
168290
1032482
258 120
168290
Total HCC costs 0 11579 113771 1458892 1458892
Threshold medical payments
Medical and rehabilitation
costs
Rehabilitation
Health and medical costs
500
462
-
305
500
2187
-
656
500
12091
-
2055
500
12097
9667
1252
500
6111
-
367
Total medic
costs
1267 3343 14646 23716 6978
Administrative Legal fines and penalties - - - 828 13798
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costs(ACMINC)
Investigation costs
Travel expenses
Legal costs
Funeral costs
Travel concessions for
permanently incapacitated
workers
28
6
-
-
-
527
27
-
-
-
832
257
-
-
-
2374
11232
11970
-
5616
2840
404
11970
3617
-
Total ADMINC
costs
34 554 1089 32020 32629
Transfer
costs(TRANSC)
Deadweight costs of welfare
payments and tax losses
85 590 4484 31015 6205
Total TRANSC
costs
85 590 4484 31015 6205
Other costs Caretakers costs
Aids and modifications
-
-
-
-
-
-
32345
10169
-
-
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Total other costs - - - 42514 -
Total costs 3344 35638 260672 1686819 1571529
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.
By investing in safety measures and practices, construction industry organizations could
convert those otherwise high-cost losses resulting from accidents to savings instead. As such
construction organisations should ensure both physical and cultural inputs into safety
management so as to cut those unnecessary costs incurred due to accidents.
Case analysis
The case under scope involves a construction accident that led to injury of two of the manual
workers.one of the victims got severely injured on the leg that left him permanently unable to
walk ever and therefore would not return to work as before in terms of the type of job and
probably his future income if at all he gets employed again. The other one sustained minor
injuries that healed in a matter of days and was well again.
In these cases there both direct and indirect costs incurred and are both of high expense. The
direct costs incurred include the payment of the victim's treatment expenses for both of them
and the compensation for the injuries sustained with more expenses on the one that got
severely injured because of the extent of the severity of his injury(Veblen, 2017).
Indirect costs can also be clearly seen in this case as the victim with the severe injuries lost
productivity and past and future earnings. If he had continued working he would have been
able to earn income which he is no in a position to currently. Due to his injury, he may never
be able to work again and if h does he will most probably earn less than what he used to.
Therefore he was compensated for his current imposed situation, and that forms part of
indirect costs.
Indirect costs were also incurred by disruption of schedule as the construction activity had to
be paused in order to handle the emergency, loss of time as there had to be investigations and
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reports concerning the incident, clean up and repair to the pre-incident status which not only
involves time but labour and finance too and equipment damage (Douglas, M., 2013).
Indirect expenses were also incurred during replacement of damaged construction materials
which are in any case very expensive. The employer also had to pay workers to redo the work
that had already been paid before the structure collapsed.
As much as workers are majorly the leading causes of the accident in construction sites, this
case is however different from the mistake here should be placed on the contractors. The
contractors should have ensured that the particular structure formwork and back prop design
drawing were done to suit the project. This should have been done by having the formwork
design engineer carefully studying them and raise awareness of any problem which may
result from defective design.
The construction activities should also adhere to the project schedule step by step with close
supervision by the respective individuals depending on the current activity (Rummler. P.,
2012)
The principal contractor is responsible for involving the needed professionals for each and
every activity in the construction from the architect to the various engineers.
Also, it’s very important for the manual workers to report any unsafe condition which may
arise at any given moment in order for the management team to take the right measures.
The construction management team should, however, be able to determine unsafe condition
before the construction especially the ones that are as a result of the involved professionals
such as an error in the design drawings. Generally speaking, all construction industry
organisations should adopt effectively and up to date safety management practices in order to
not only improve their competence in the field but also safeguard the worker's wellbeing and
the community as a whole(Perrow,2011).
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Conclusion
Considering the implications that result from construct accidents a good example being the
one mentioned in the above case, it's important for all construction organisations to adopt the
best practices to ensure safety in such places. This includes but not limited to deploying the
right professionals in order to ensure the right procedures and resources are used, training the
workers, close supervision by the respective professionals, having a medical emergency team
close by.by doing this, it would ensure that cases like the ones above are avoided completely
or at least reduced. Such cases become a liability to the employer as some of the victims
cannot live comfortably without receiving huge amounts of compensation. From the report its
clear that indirect costs incurred in construction accidents are way greater than the direct
costs. This study has proved that comprehensive study of the costs of construction accidents
is necessary for any organization to fully comprehend the far-reaching implications of
construction accidents on both the individual and the employer organization. The victim may
become incapacitated to provide for their family while the organization's reputation is
tarnished. For this particular case, the organization needs to ensure the professionals
employed have the right qualification and attend to their job to the best of their knowledge
(Reason, 2016).
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References
Douglas, M. (2013). Risk and blame. Routledge
Drury, C. M. (2013). Management and cost accounting. Springer.
Dwyer, T. (2013). Life and death at work: industrial accidents as a case of socially produced
error. Springer Science & Business Media.
Guthrie, R., Ciccarelli, M., & Babic, A. (2010). Work-related stress in Australia: The effects
of legislative interventions and the cost of treatment. International Journal of Law and
Psychiatry, 33(2), 101-115
Perrow, C. (2011). Normal accidents: Living with high-risk technologies. Princeton
university press
The reason, J. (2016). Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Routledge.
Rummler Brache. (2012). improving performance: How to manage the white space on the
organization chart. John Wiley & Sons.
Sun Zou., 2010. Understanding the True Costs of Construction Accidents in Australian
Construction Industry. In W099-Special Track 18th CIB World Building Congress May 2010
Salford, United Kingdom (p. 184).
World Health Organization. (2015). Global status report on road safety 2015. World Health
Organization.
Zhang, S., Teizer, J., Lee, J. K., Eastman, C. M., & Venugopal, M. (2013). Building
information modeling (BIM) and safety: Automatic safety checking of construction models
and schedules. Automation in Construction, 29, 183-195.
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