An approach for determining the extent of contribution of construction project features to accident causation

Abstract

In the pursuit of Health and Safety (H&S) improvement within the UK construction industry, several studies have been conducted to identify accident causal factors to enable the development of accident prevention measures. Adding to such studies, a critique of H&S literature demonstrates that construction project features (CPFs) such as the nature of project, method of construction, site restriction, project duration, procurement system, design complexity, level of construction, and subcontracting contribute to accident causation and that their contribution is through the introduction of proximal accident causal factors into the construction process. However, the extent of this contribution by these CPFs remains sparingly known and requires further investigation. The study provides this insight by indicating that the extent to which CPFs contribute to accident causation is influenced by two factors; the extent to which the proximal factors contribute to accident causation; and the extent to which the proximal factors are prevalent within the CPFs. In line with this fresh insight, an approach for determining the extent to which CPFs contribute to accident causation is put forth. The approach proposes to use a qualitative–quantitative rating scale to determine the two determinant factors and then combine them using a mathematical formula to obtain the extent to which CPFs contribute to accident causation. By this approach the grey areas in literature concerning the extent to which CPFs contribute to accident causation will be illuminated and by that contribute to improvement in construction accident prevention.