Road Safety Report: Seat Belt Laws and Accident Reduction Analysis

This report examines road safety interventions, specifically focusing on the effectiveness of seat belts in reducing injuries and fatalities in car accidents. It highlights the significant impact of seat belt laws, citing evidence of their effectiveness and economic benefits. The report presents data on the reduction of head, chest, and extremity injuries through seat belt use, while also addressing the economic aspects of such interventions. Additionally, the report briefly touches upon construction site safety, emphasizing the importance of safety helmets in preventing head injuries among workers and referencing relevant legislation and statistics related to workplace accidents. The analysis includes findings from various studies and reports to support its conclusions on road and construction safety measures. This report underscores the need for robust safety measures and legal frameworks to minimize accidents and associated costs.

Running head: ROAD SAFETY
Road Safety
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ROAD SAFETY
The answer of question 1 is a result of an in depth research related to this topic. The
quality of writing shows, the quality of good answer and it is clearly observed that, the
answer contains all the relevant information regarding this issue. The nature of intervention,
background of the issue, economic aspects of the intervention, role of intervention in
reducing accidents are clearly mentioned. However, the target population is not specified and
all the data are presented for drivers and passengers in a generalized way. The target
population should be specified that is either the data of passengers or the drivers can be
presented.
In construction industry, work related injuries is one of the major concern in
Australia. In a construction industry, there are various risk factors that can cause head
injuries to the workers of the working area and such incidents comprise of injuries due to a
collision with a falling objects from a countable height, hitting against an heavy objects. In
Australia, within 2012-13, almost 28% of fatalities were associated with falls and 11% of
fatalities were associated with hitting by a falling objects (Safe Work Australia 2015).
According to the study of Khodabandeh , Kabir-Mokamelkhah, and Kahani (2016), it was
reported that, the head related injuries are very common among the construction site workers
and in most of the cases it has become the reason of mortality among the workers, In this
study, author analysed the 967 postmortem reports from fatal occupational injuries and used
714 fatal injury cases in their cross-sectional study. Among the all injury cases it was
reported that, 21.1% had accident due to hit on their head by heavy equipment fall and among
total accidents 65.7% of workers had head and neck injury. The authors also found that,
56.9% of workers died due to head injury and 43.1% of workers died due to multiple
complication related to head injury (Khodabandeh, Kabir-Mokamelkhah, and Kahani 2016).
This health effect has been accounted for the decision making process and this issue is
incorporated in the Occupational health and safety act. Under this act, it has been made

2ROAD SAFETY
mandatory to wear a helmet in the construction site. In addition, employee is responsible for
ensuring safety in the work place. Breaching of this safety laws may cause serious
consequences such as imprisonment or penalties (Government of Western Australia 2019).

3ROAD SAFETY
References
Government of Western Australia, 2019. Safety helmets on construction sites. Government of
Western Australia. Retrieved from-
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/atoms/files/safety_helmets_on_construct
ion_sites.pdf [ Accessed on 14th May 2019].
Khodabandeh, F., Kabir-Mokamelkhah, E. and Kahani, M., 2016. Factors associated with the
severity of fatal accidents in construction workers. Medical journal of the Islamic Republic of
Iran, 30, p.469.
Safe Work Australia , 2015. Work-related injuries and fatalities in construction, Australia,
2003 to 2013. Safe Work Australia.. Retrieved from-
https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/fatalities-in-
construction