CE754 Construction Quality &

Safety Management

Safety management - Implementation and

application of QMS in safety programs, ISO
9000 series, Accident theories, Cost of
accidents, Problem areas in construction
safety, Fall protection, Zero
Incentives, accident concepts,
Planning for safety
Occupational health and ergonomics. ,
Accident theories
 Accident theories
High accident rate in construction is a universal
problem which needs to be by all parties
tackled concerned (Poon et al. 2008).

The direct financial costs of accidents are only the tip

of the iceberg when compared with the indirect ones.
The injured employees and their families suffer from
loss of earnings and grief. Accidents on site also lower
staff morale, induce negative corporate image and
lead to extension of time in the project because of
work rearrangements.

This presentation aims at studying and analyzing the

evolution in accident theories (aka accident causation
models).
 Accident theories
Accidents in Construction
• Why do accidents happen in construction?
– Physical hazards
– Environmental hazards
– Human factors
– No safety regulations or poor ones
– Poor communication within, between, and
among
various trades working on a job site
• Accidents should not be viewed as
inevitable just because hazards exist.
• For every accident that occurs, there is a
cause.
4
 Accident theories
ACCIDENT
 Accident theories
ACCIDENT CAUSATION

Each year, work-related accidents cost almost $50

billion in lost wages, medical expenses, insurance
costs, and indirect costs.

The number injured in industrial place accidents in a

typical year is 7,128,000.
ie., 3 per 100 persons per year.
There is an accidental workplace death about every
51 minutes, and one injury every 19 seconds.
Why do accidents happen?
To prevent accidents we must know why
they happen.
 Accident theories
ACCIDENT CAUSATION

The most widely theories of accident

known causation are:
The Heinrich’s Domino
Theory.
The human factors theory.
The accident / incident theory.
The epidemiological theory.
The systems theory.
The combination theory.
The behavioral theory.
 Accident theories

Heinrich’s Domino Theory of Accident Causation

 After studying 75,000 industrial accidents,

Herbert
W. Heinrich (of Travelers Insurance) concluded in
the 1920s, that 88% of industrial accidents are
caused by unsafe acts committed by fellow workers,
10% of accidents are caused by unsafe conditions
and 2% of accidents are unavoidable.

 Contemporary research considers domino theory as

outdated, however today’s more widely accepted
theories can be traced back to Heinrich’s study.
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s Domino Theory of Accident Causation

Accident Causes
• Unsafe Acts
– Most difficult to address
• Changing behavior isn’t easy
– Best prevented by developing a “safety
culture”.
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s Domino Theory of Accident Causation
Accident Causes
• Unsafe Conditions
– Easiest to correct (and very cost
effective)
– Easiest to prevent
• Safety audits
• Safety inspections
• Maintenance schedules for equipment
• Encouraging employee reporting
• Good housekeeping
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s Domino Theory of Accident Causation

The first sequential accident model was the

‘Domino theory’ (Heinrich, 1931).

The model is based in the assumption that:

The occurrence of a preventable injury is the natural

culmination of a series of events or circumstances,
which invariably occur in a fixed or logical order … an
accident is merely a link in the chain.
Accident
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s Domino Theory of Accident Causation
This model proposed that certain accident factors
could be thought of as being lined up sequentially like
dominos. Heinrich proposed that an: … accident is
one of five factors in a sequence that results in an
injury … an injury is invariably caused by an accident
and the accident in turn is always the result of the
factor that immediately precedes it.

In accident prevention the bull’s eye of the target is in

the middle of the sequence – an unsafe act of a person
or a mechanical or physical hazard.
 Accident theories

According to Heinrich, there are five factors in

the sequence of events leading up to an accident:

1. Ancestry and social environment : Negative

character traits that may lead people to behave in
an unsafe manner can be inherited (ancestry) or
acquired as a result of the social environment.
2. Fault of person: Negative character traits, whether
inherited or acquired, are why people behave in an
unsafe manner and why hazardous conditions
exist.
3. Unsafe acts and mechanical or physical hazards:
Unsafe acts committed by people and mechanical
or physical hazards are the direct causes of
accidents.
 Accident theories

Accident: Typically, accidents that result in injury are

caused by falling or being hit by moving objects.

Injury: Typical injuries resulting from accidents

include lacerations (a deep cut or tear in skin or flesh)
and fractures.

Injuries are caused by the action of preceding

factors. Removal of the central factor (unsafe act
/
hazardous condition) negates the action of
factors and prevents accidents the
preceding and
injuries.
 Accident theories

 Extending the domino metaphor, an accident was

considered to occur when one of the dominos or
accident factors falls and has an ongoing knock-
down effect ultimately resulting in an accident
(Figure).

 Based on the domino model, accidents could be

prevented by removing one of the factors and so
interrupting the knockdown effect. Heinrich
proposed that unsafe acts and mechanical hazards
constituted the central factor in the accident
sequence and that removal of this central factor
made the preceding factors ineffective.
Accident theories
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s 10 Axioms of Industrial Safety
Heinrich’s philosophy is based on his 10 axioms (self
evident-truths):
1. Injuries result from a completed series of factors,
one of which is the accident itself.
2. An accident can occur only as the result of an
unsafe act by a person or a physical or mechanical
hazard, or both.
3. Most accidents are the result of unsafe act
(behavior) by people.
4. An unsafe act by a person or an unsafe condition
does not always immediately result in an accident
or injury.
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s 10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

5. The reasons why people commit unsafe acts can

serve as helpful guides in selecting corrective
actions.
6. The severity of an accident is largely fortuitous
(happening by chance rather than intention) and
the accident that caused it is largely preventable.
7. The best accident prevention techniques are
analogous with the best quality and
productivity techniques.
 Accident theories
Heinrich’s 10 Axioms of Industrial Safety

8. Management should assume responsibility for

safety because it is in the best position to get
results.
9. The supervisor is the key person in the prevention
of industrial accidents.
10. In addition to the direct costs of an accident (for
example, compensation, liability claims, medical
costs, and hospital expenses), there are also
hidden or indirect costs.

Any accident prevention program that takes all ten

axioms into account is more likely to be effective
than a program that leaves out one or more.
 Accident theories
Human Factors Theory

• Attributes accidents to a chain of events ultimately

caused by human error.
• Consists of three broad factors that lead to human
error:
– Overload
– Inappropriate Response
– Inappropriate Activities

21
 Accident theories
Factors Leading to Human Error

Overload

Inappropriate Inappropriat
Human Error
Activities e
Factors
Response
 Accident theories
2. Human Factors Theory
Overload
Overload - imbalance between a person’s capacity at
any given time & the load that person is carrying in a
given state.
Capacity is a product of natural ability, training, state of
mind, fatigue, stress & physical condition.

Load consists of tasks for a person is

which
responsible, and…
 Added environmental burdens (noise,
distractions, etc.)
 Internal factors (personal problems, emotional stress /
worry)
 Situational factors (level of risk, unclear instructions,
etc.)
 Accident theories
Human Factors Theory
Inappropriate Response (or Incompatibility)

• How a responds to a given situation can

personor prevent an accident.
cause
• Inappropriate response occurs when:
– A person detects a hazardous condition but
does
nothing to correct it.
–A person disregards an established
safety procedure.
• Incompatibility of a person’s workstation with regard
to size, force, reach, feel and similar factors can lead
to accidents and injuries.
24
 Accident theories
Human Factors Theory
Inappropriate
Activities
• Human error can be result inappropriate
activities.
of
• Examples:
• Person who undertakes a task that he / she
does not know how to do.
• A person who misjudges the degree of risk
involved in a given task and proceeds on
that misjudgment.
 Accident theories
Human Factors Theory
 Accident theories
Human Factors Theory - Example

• Jones Cabinets & Construction Company sees

rapid growth in sales overwhelmed
company’s work force.which
• New teams of cabinet makers and installers hired.
• Authorized unlimited overtime.
• Numbers of accidents and injuries increased.
 Accident theories
Human Factors Theory - Example

• Investigation revealed human errors

in the three categories:
– Overload:
• Employees working beyond their
personal limits and beyond their
capabilities.
• Stress, insufficient training and fatigue
– Inappropriate response:
• Carpenters removing the safeguards to speed up
construction.
– Inappropriate activities:
• Assigning employees to duties for which they are
not fully trained.
 Accident theories
3. Accident / Incident Theory

• Extension of human factors

theory.
• Developed by Dan Petersen
• New elements:
– Ergonomic traps
– The decision to err
– Systems failures

29
 Accident theories
Accident / Incident Theory

The won’t
happen to
“It
syndrome. me”
 Accident theories
Accident / Incident Theory
Some of the reasons why systems may fail:
1. Management does not establish a
comprehensive safety policy.
2. Responsibility and authority with regard to
safety are not clearly defined.
3. Safety procedures, such as measurement,
inspection, correction, and investigation, are
ignored or given insufficient attention.
4. Employees do not receive proper orientation.
5. Employees are not given sufficient safety training.

31
 Accident theories
Accident / Incident Theory - Example
• Panhandle Precast Concrete has
developed a well-earned reputation as a
“safe company”.
• When the safety manager of the firm,
Jack Bond,
statewide safetywas elected assafety
organization, thepresident of
problems
a
within the firm began.
• Jack Bond neglected his duties at PPC.
• Workers stopped following the
precautions once they safety
realized he had stopped
observing and correcting them.

32
 Accident theories
4. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL THEORY OF CAUSATION
Current safety theories / programs trend to a
broad perspective encompassing industrial hygiene.
 Concerns environmental factors that can lead to
sickness, disease, or other forms of impaired
health.

Epidemiology is the study of causal relationships

between environmental factors and disease.
 The epidemiological theory uses those models to
study relationships between environmental
factors & accidents or diseases.
 Accident theories
4. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION
 Accident theories
Epidemiological Theory - Example
• Jane Andrews was the newest member of the loading
unit for Construction Products, Inc.
• She had 2 days of training on proper lifting
techniques before beginning the work and mandatory
use of back-support belts.
• Her supervisor and colleagues pressured to disregard
the proper lifting methods she learned in training.
• She followed her supervisor and after 2 months had
to undergo major surgery to repair two ruptured
disks.
• Predisposition factor: Her susceptibility to
pressure
from her coworkers and supervisor.
• Situational factors: Peer pressure and priorities of
supervisor.
 Accident theories
5. SYSTEMS THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION

• System – a group of regularly interacting and

interrelated components that together form a unified
whole.
• An accident occur as a system which is
may composed
of:
– Person
–
– Machine
Environment
• The likelihood of an accident to occur is determined
by how these components interact.

• Example: A worker who temporarily replaces an

experienced crane operator increases the probability
of an accident.
 Accident theories
SYSTEMS THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION

• The primary components of the systems model are

the person, machine, environment, and information;
decisions; risks; and the task to be performed.
• Each of these components has a bearing on the
probability that an accident will occur.
 Accident theories
SYSTEMS THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION
Five factors should be considered before beginning
the process of collecting information, weighing risks,
and making a decision:

1.Job requirements.
2.The workers’ abilities and limitations.
3.The gain if the task is successfully accomplished.
4.The loss if the task is attempted but fails.
5.The loss if the task is not attempted.

Particularly important when stressors such as noise,

time constraints, or supervisor pressure may tend to
cloud one’s judgment.
 Accident theories
SYSTEMS THEORY OF ACCIDENT CAUSATION

Stressorscan cloud judgment of those

collecting information, weighing risks & making
the decision:

 A machine operator working in an

unusually hectic environment.
 Intense pressure to complete an order
already behind schedule.
 Accident theories
Systems Theory - Example
• Construction Service (CSC) makes
customized
Company trusses for residential construction jobs.
• Workers including the apprentices use
manually
operated machines which causes two problems:
– It is difficult for even experienced workers to make
clean accurate cuts
– Machines are so old that they frequently
break
down.
• While working under a major contract, an apprentice
gets careless and runs his hand into the saw blade.
• The person-machine-environment chain:
– Personenvironment
– The involved was inexperienced.
was stressful pressure-
– Machine
and packed. involved was old and prone to breakdown40
 Accident theories
6. COMBINATION THEORY OF CAUSATION

Often the cause of an accident cannot be adequately

explained by one model or theory.

According to the combination theory, the actual

cause may combine parts of several different
models.

Safety personnel should avoid the tendency to try to

apply one model to all accidents.
 Accident theories
Combination Theory - Example

• Crestview Construction Company (CCC)

maintains four large warehouses.
• Ventilation of these warehouses are important
and the vent filters need to be changed periodically.
• Changing the vents filter involves two
potential
hazards:
– Unvented dust and fumes can make breathing
difficult.
– Vents are located 110 feet above the ground level,
which can be accessed through a narrow cat walk
that has knee-high guardrails.
 Accident theories
Combination Theory - Example
– CCC has well defined rules which are strictly enforced.
– However an employee fell from the catwalk while he
was trying to change one of the filter. His lifeline held
him for 20 minutes. When he panicked and tried to pull
himself up he knocked the buckle of his safety
harness open and fell to the concrete floor, breaking
his neck.
• Critical factors:
– Absence of supervisor
– Inexperience of worker
– A conscious decision by the worker to disregard the
safety procedures
– A faulty buckling mechanism on the safety harness
– An unsafe design (only a knee-high guardrail
on the catwalk)
 Accident theories

Behavioral Theory
 Accident theories
7. Behavioral Theory

• This theory of accident causation &

prevention is often referred to as Behavior-
based safety (BBS).
• E. Scott Geller – Safety Performance
Solutions, Inc., and professor of psychology
– Believes in 7 basic principles of BBS:
1. Use intervention that is focused on
employee
2. Identify external factors that aid in
behavior.
understanding and improving employee
behavior.
 Accident theories
Behavioral Theory
3. Direct behavior with or events
activator
antecedent to the desired behavior, and motivate
employees to behave as desired with incentives
and rewards that follow desired behavior.
4. Focus on the positive consequences that result
from the desired behavior as a way to motivate
employees.
5. Apply scientific method to improve attempts at
behavioral interventions.
6. Use theory to integrate information rather than to
limit possibilities.
7. Plan interventions with the feelings and attitudes
of the individual employee in mind.
 Accident theories
Behavioral Theory
ABC
Antecedents
(trigger behavior)

Behavior
(human performance)

Consequences
(either reinforce or punish behavior)
 Accident theories
DRUGS AND ACCIDENT CAUSATION
Drugs & alcohol are the root or contributing cause of
many accidents on the job every year.
 According to Health & Human Services surveys,
an estimated 6.5% of full-time & 8.6% of part-time
workers use illicit drugs.
 More than a third of all workers between the ages
of 18 and 25 are binge drinkers.

Many companies implement drug-free

workplace programs, typically with the following
components:
 Drug-free workplace policy; Supervisory training.
 Employee education; employee
assistance programs.
 Alcohol and drug testing.
 Accident theories
DEPRESSION AND ACCIDENT CAUSATION
 People who suffer from clinical depression are
seriously impaired and pose a clear & present
safety risk to themselves, fellow workers & their
employee.
 Mental health professionals estimate up to 10% of
the adult population in the US suffers from clinical
depression.
 Depression results costs the US economy over 200
million lost workdays & $43.7 billion annually
Including $23.8 billion in absenteeism & lost
productivity.
 Studies suggest that depressed workers may be
more prone to accidents : Lack of concentration,
fatigue, failing memory and slow reaction time are
reasons workers may not work safely.
 Accident theories
Warning Signs
Safety & health professionals should be alert to the
warning signs of clinical depression in employees.
 Persistent dreary moods. (sadness,
anxiety, nervousness)
 Sleeping on the job or persistent drowsiness.
 Sudden weight loss or gain; Chronic
physical problems.
 General loss of interest, restlessness, inability to
concentrate, or irritability.
 Forgetfulness or an inability to make
simple decisions.
 Persistent feelings of guilt; Feelings of low self-
worth.
 Focus on death or talk of suicide.
 Accident theories
Supervisor Role in Workplace Safety & Health
Key responsibilities of supervisors relating
to workplace safety and health include the following:

 Orienting new employees to the safe way to do their

jobs.
 Ensuring new & experienced employees receive
safety & health training they need on a continual
basis.
 Monitoring employee performance and enforcing
safety rules and regulations.
 Assisting safety & health professionals in conducting
accident investigations and developing accident
reports.
 Keeping up-to-date on safety issues.
 Setting a positive example for employees that says
“The safe way is the right way”.
 Accident theories
Management Failures That Cause Accidents

If management is serious about providing a safe

and healthy work environment for employees it must…

 Show employees that safe, healthy work practices are

expected by including such practices in job
descriptions.
 Monitor employee work practices, and set an example
of safe & healthy work practices
 Provide training in how to work safely, including
orientation training for new employees and ongoing
updated training for experienced employees.
 Include safe & healthy work practices as criteria
in
the periodic performance appraisals of employees.
 Reinforce safe & healthy work practices by rewarding
Cost of accidents
 Cost of accidents

Accident Cost

Every accident has something in common:

• It costs everyone involved something.
•There are direct and indirect costs, both to the
employee who was injured and the employer who
eventually will pay for the accident.
Many employers believe that the insurer will pick up the
costs of an accident, and that's why they pay their
insurance. However the costs of an accident can be
broken down into the direct costs and indirect
(uninsured) costs.

Direct costs of an accident

Direct costs are those costs that are accrued directly
from the accident. They are quite easy to calculate, and
include the medical costs incurred and the
compensation payments made to the injured workers.
Direct costs are usually insurable by businesses.
 Cost of accidents
Indirect costs of an accident
Indirect costs are the less obvious consequences of an
accident that can be costed. While the indirect costs
created by accidents are hidden, they too must be paid
from profits made from the sale of products. They are
more difficult to calculate and tend not to be insured.

Indirect costs include:

 Time away from the job not covered by

workers' compensation insurance;
 Payment of other workers who are not injured, for
example those who stopped work to look after or help
the injured worker;
 Cost of accidents
Indirect costs include:

 The cost of damage to materials equipment

involved
or in the accident;
 The cost of overtime imposed by the accident (lost
production, additional supervision, and additional
heat, light, etc.);
 The cost of wages paid to the supervisor for
time
spent on activities related to the accident. This
includes caring for the injured, investigating the
accident and supervising the activities necessary to
resume the operation of business. All of these
activities will disrupt the supervisor's productivity;
 Costs with instructing, training,
repositioning
associated employees
and in order to resume
production.
 Cost of accidents
Indirect costs include:

 Medical costs paid by the employer are

that
covered by the insurance. This may include treatment
not
facilities, personnel, equipment and supplies;
 Cost of managers and clerical personnel investigating
and processing claim forms and related paperwork,
telephone calls, interviews, etc.
 Wage costs due to decreased productivity once the
injured employee returns to work. This is due to
restricted movement or nervousness / cautiousness
on the part of the injured employee and time spent
discussing the accident with other employees etc.
 Costs brought about from any enforcement action
following the accident such as prosecution fines and
costs of imposed remedial works.
Cost of accidents
 Cost of accidents

Hidden Cost of Accidents

Indirect Costs:
 4 or more times $1
direct cost
 Not typically
covered by
$4 or more
insurance
 Deducted from
company
profit margin
EN
D