Citation

Karimi H, Taghaddos H. Safety Sci. 2019; 117: 417-427.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ssci.2019.04.022

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite long-term improvement in construction safety over the past decades, this industry still suffers from significant disproportion and high fatality rate compared to other industries. It is widely accepted that human error is one of the main contributors to the majority of accidents in construction projects. Building based on controlling the consequence of human errors as a more productive approach compared to striving for their elimination, this study examines the influence of education and experience level of construction craft labors in mitigating the outcome of human errors. The study contributes to the body of knowledge by quantitatively elucidating the influence of craft workers' educational attainment and experience level on controlling the consequence of accidents specifically alleviating the fatal injuries to non-fatal ones in construction projects. A total number of 6,355 accidents occurred in construction projects in Tehran Province, Iran between 2011 and 2017 were analyzed. The results of the analysis show that in majority of accidents, higher educational attainment in craft workers resulted in significant lower risk of fatal injuries. In addition, the results indicate that in most accidents, the higher level of experience substantially reduces the fatality rate. It is also demonstrated that education and experience are independent of each other which makes both variables noteworthy for the intended purpose. The study suggests industry leaders, managers and construction stakeholders that one of the fundamental solutions to chronic problem of high fatality rate in construction projects is investing on hiring process, educational programs, rigorous training and retaining of craft workers.

Language: en

Keywords

Construction; Craft Labor; Education; Experience; Fatal Accident; Human Error