Construction Safety Management

Dr. D A Patel
dap@ced.svnit.ac.in

Civil Engineering Department

Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology
SURAT-395007
1
 Contents

15.1 Introduction
15.2 Evolution of safety
15.3 Accident causation theories
15.4 Foundation of a major injury
15.5 Health and safety act, regulations
15.6 Cost of accidents
15.7 Roles of safety personnel
15.8 Causes of accidents
15.9 Principles of safety
15.10 Safety and health management system
15.11 Research results in safety management
 15.1 Introduction
 The unskilled workforce constitutes 73.1 per cent of the total
construction workforce of about 33 million people.
 A significant reduction in the number of fatal and non-fatal
injuries over the years.
 Human life is precious. Construction safety is of paramount
importance in any construction.
 Construction injuries have legal and economic aspects.
 The objective of this chapter is to introduce various facets of
construction safety to the readers.
 15.2 Evolution of safety
1867 Workers’ compensation laws, significant step in morden safety
movement
Heinrich Safety enlarged to protect workers’ health

ILO & Industrial was replaced with occupational in all type of employment
WHO
June 1937 Minimum safety standards in the building industry

ILO Adoption of Comprehensive convention (no.167)& Recommendation

June 1988 (no.175) on safety & health in construction industry

1966 National safety Council was Setup. March 4 of every year is

celebrated as National Safety Day.
August Lok sabha passed construction workers bill to regulate the work
1996 conditions on all construction sites.
1998 The central rules on building & other construction workers (regulation
of Employment & Condition of Service) also came in existence.
 15.3 Accident causation theories

 An accident is defined as an event that is unplanned,

undesired, unexpected and uncontrolled, and one that may or
may not result in damage to property or injury to person, or
both, in the course of employment.
 ILO: occupational accident as an unexpected and unplanned
occurrence, including acts of violence, arising out of or in
connection with work, which results in one or more workers
incurring a personal injury, disease, or death.
15.3.1 Theories in safety management
1. Heinrich (1931)-Domino theory
2. Vincoli (1994)-Uses domino theory
3. Peterson (1971)-Non domino based management model
(Multiple causation theory)
4. Human Error Theories
5. Behavioral model & Human factor model
6. Goal-freedom-alertness theory
7. Ferrell's theory –Accident Causation Model
8. Abdelhamid & Everett (2000)- Accident root cause tracing
model
9. Hinze- Distraction theory
15.3.2 Domino theory by Heinrich
(1931)
 He propagated the domino theory to explain the causation of
accidents.
 According to Heinrich, accidents are the result of a chain of
sequential events.
 He compared these events with dominoes. When one of the
dominoes falls, it triggers the collapse of the next domino,
and the next, and so on.
 The five dominoes used by Heinrich are:
 Social environment and ancestry,
 Fault of person,
 Unsafe act and/or unsafe condition,
 Accident,
 Injury.
 15.3.3 Vincoli(1994)
 One updated model was given by Vincoli, the dominoes are as
per below;
 Management: Loss of control
 Origins: Basic causes
 Immediate causes: Symptoms
 Contact: Incident
 Loss: People and/or property
 Lack of control by management initiates the process that
eventually results in incidents.
 Failure of management to fulfil its responsibility leads to basic
causes from which incidents arise.
15.3.4 Multiple causation model by
Peterson (1971)
 Root causes of accidents often relate to the management
system
 A number of causes and sub-causes combined together in
random fashion are responsible for an accident,
 It is not possible to attribute the causation of an accident to a
single cause as suggested simplistically in the domino theory.
 By using this model, the investigator would recommend
improved inspection procedures, improved training, better
definition of responsibilities, and pre-job planning by
supervisors.
15.3.5 Behavioral model & Human
factor model
 Proponents of the behavioural model believe that accidents are
caused mainly due to the fault of workers.
 The behavioural models are based on the accident proneness of
a person.
 It says that accidents are not randomly distributed and certain
characteristics inherent in a person make him/her accident-
prone. Under a similar set of circumstances, an accident prone
person is more likely to be involved in the accident than a
person, who is not accident-prone.
 The theory emanates from the analysis of accidents of a large
population, in which the majority of people have no accidents,
small percentages have one accident, and a very small
percentage (‘accident repeaters’) has multiple accidents.
 15.3.6 Goals-freedom-alertness
theory’
 Safe work performance is the result of a psychologically rewarding work
environment.
 Accidents are viewed as low-quality work behaviour occurring in an
unrewarding psychological climate, which does not contribute to a high
level of alertness.
 Management should let a worker have a well-defined goal and give the
worker a freedom to pursue that goal.
 The result will be worker focusing on the task that leads to that goal.
 The worker’s attentiveness to the job will reduce the probability of being
involved in an injury.
 A worker who knows what to do on a job will be well focused on the task
to be performed and, therefore, will be safe.
15.3.7 Human Factor Model by Ferrel
(1980)
 Ferrel developed the accident causation model based on a causal
chain of human factors.
 He believed that accidents are caused due to human errors that
result from;
 Overload beyond the capacity of a human being
 Incorrect response by the person
 Performing an improper activity due to either lack of
awareness or deliberately taking the risk.
 He emphasized overload and incompatibility factors.
 15.3.8 Cause tracing model by
Abdelhamid & Everett (2000)
 Accidents occur due to one or more of the three root causes;
 Failing to identify an unsafe condition that existed before
an activity was started, or that developed after an activity
was started
 Deciding to proceed with a work activity after the worker
identifies an existing unsafe condition,
 Deciding to act unsafe regardless of initial conditions of
the work environment.
 In this model, a series of questions are asked in a systematic
manner to find out why the accident occurred, how the root
cause of the accident developed, and how it could be
eliminated.
 15.3.9 Hinze’s Distraction theory
 To explain accident causation in situations, where there is an existence;
 A recognized safety hazard or a mental distraction
 A well-defined work task
 She defined hazard as:
 A physical condition with an inherent quality that can cause harm,
 The preoccupation with work-related or non-related issues such as approaching
deadline, anticipated parties, or death in the family.
 The lower the distractions from a known hazard, the greater is the probability
of completing a task safely. On the other hand, the higher the level of focus on
the distractions posed by the hazard, the lower is the probability of achieving
the task safely.
 Under similar hazardous and well defined situations, the worker with more
heavy mental baggage (mental distraction) has the maximum chances of
not completing the task in a safe manner.
15.4 Foundation of a major injury
 15.4.1 Unsafe Conditions
 An unsafe condition is one in which the physical layout of the
workplace or work location, and the status of tools, equipment
and/or material are in violation of contemporary safety
standards.
 A few examples of unsafe conditions are:
 Defects of agencies such as rough, sharp, or slippery work,
defective equipment, overloaded tools or equipment,
defective ladders at site, and improperly constructed
scaffolds
 Dress or apparel hazards such as lack of protective
equipment and improper clothing
 Environmental hazards such as inadequate aisle space,
insufficient work space, inadequate ventilation and
improper illumination
 15.4.2 Unsafe Acts
 An unsafe act may be an act of commission (doing something
that is unsafe) or an act of omission (failing to do something
that should have been done).
 Not every unsafe act produces an injury or a loss, but by
definition it has the potential for producing an accident.
 A worker may commit unsafe acts regardless of the initial
conditions of the work (i.e., whether the condition was safe or
unsafe).
 15.5 health and safety act &
regulations
 Building and other Construction Workers Act 1996
 Building and Other Construction Workers-Central Rules 1998
 Factories Act 1948
 The Delhi Building and Other Constructions Workers Rules
2002
 Indian Electricity Act 1948
 Indian Electricity Regulations 1956
 Motor Vehicle Act 1998
15.5.1 Building and other Construction
Workers Act 1996
 It is divided into 11 chapters and contains 64 sections. The
objectives of the safety and health provisions therein are:
 To regulate the employment and conditions of service;
 To provide for safety, health and welfare measures;
 To extend social security to the building and construction
workers.
 15.5.2 Building & Construction
Workers Central Rules, 1998
 Divided into five parts, containing 30 chapters, 12 schedules
and 26 forms.
 Part III comprises 20 chapters in which chapters VI to XXV
deal with safety and health.
 Chapter II, Rule Number 5 deals with responsibilities and
duties of employers, architects, project engineers and
designers, building workers, etc.
 15.6 Cost of accidents
 Global losses on account of accidents every year are almost
more than the total loss due to World Wars I and II combined.
 According to NSC-US estimates of 1996, occupational death
and injuries cost the nation about US $121 billion.
 The total cost of accidents can be broken up into direct cost
and indirect cost.
 Direct cost could be further broken up into direct cost to
workers and direct cost to employers.
 Similarly, indirect cost can also be broken up into indirect cost
to workers and indirect cost to employers.
 15.7 Roles of safety personnel

 It says that appointment of safety officer is a must for

employing 500 or more workers.
 For strength up to 1,000, one safety officer is a must, while
two safety officers are required for workers up to 2,000.
 Likewise, depending on the strength of workers present at
construction site, the number of safety officers required to be
present is specified.
 15.8 Causes of accidents
 Accidents can occur at construction sites on account of a
number of factors.
15.8.1 Study in USA & UK
 15.9 Principles of safety
1. An unsafe act, an unsafe condition, and an accident are all symptoms of something wrong
in the management system.
2. We can predict that certain sets of circumstances will produce severe injuries. These
circumstances can be identified and controlled.
3. Safety should be managed like any other company function. Management should direct the
safety effort by setting achievable goals and by planning, organizing and controlling for
their achievement.
4. The key to effective line-safety performance is management procedures that fix
accountability.
5. The function of safety is to locate and define operational errors that allow accidents to
occur.
6. The causes of unsafe behaviour can be identified and classified. Some of the
classifications are—overload (the improper matching of a person's capacity with the load);
traps; and the worker's decision to error.
7. Each cause can be controlled. In most cases, unsafe behaviour is normal human behaviour;
it is the result of normal people reacting to their environment. Management's job is to
change the environment that leads to unsafe behaviour.
8. There are three major subsystems that must be dealt with in building an effective safety
system: physical, managerial and behavioural
9. The safety system should fit the culture of the organization.
10. There is no one right way to achieve safety in an organization, however, for a safety
system to be effective, it must meet certain criterions.
15.10 Safety & health management
system
1. Safety Policy and Organization
2. Safety Budget
3. Safety Organization
4. Education and Training
 Induction Programmes
 Toolbox Talks
5. Safety Plan
6. Safety Manual
7. Safety Committee
8. Incentive Programmes
9. Accident Reporting, Investigation and Record-Keeping
10. Accident Statistics and Indices
11. Safety Inspection
12. Safety Audit
13. Workers’ Health and First-Aid Facilities
15.10.1 Accident Statistics and Indices
Frequency Rate

Severity Rate
15.10.1 Accident Statistics and Indices
Contd…)
Incidence Rate

Workmen’s compensation claim frequency

 15.10.3 Other Indices

 EMR (Experience Modification Rate):

 Employer specific
 Takes into account the claim history of the employer, frequency and
severity of injuries associated with employer.
 It gives proper weightage to minor injuries and major injuries
 Loss ratio:
 It is the ratio of cost of claims to premium paid to the insuring agency.
 Loss ratio of more than one indicates that the cost of claims is more
than the premiums paid to insuring agency. This means, Insurance
company paid more in claims than it received as premiums from the
contracting company.
 15.11 Research results in safety
management
 New workers are more vulnerable to injuries at project sites.
 A high rate of employee turnover is found to have an adverse impact on the
frequency of injuries.
 The chances of accidents are reduced, if the top management involves itself
in safety-related reviews of project sites.
 It is noteworthy that if the margin on a project is less and the project has
been won amidst stiff competition, accident frequency is likely to go up.
 Hinze: Safety expenses should be considered in the category of general
overheads and should be de-linked from project cost. By doing so, the
project manager would not be compromising on safety appliances such as
safety helmet, safety belt and other basic safety accessories even for
projects having low margin.
 It has been found that the accident rates for contractors that keep records of
accidents by projects are substantially lower than those companies that do
not keep these records.