Causal factors in construction accidents

Although the British construction industry is one of the safest in Europe, one third of all work fatalities happen in construction and construction workers are six times more likely to be killed at work than employees in other sectors. A similar situation exists for non-fatal accidents. Although previous research has led to a good understanding of the extent and pattern of accidents in the construction industry, there has been only limited objective analysis of the full range of contributory managerial, site and individual factors. With this background, the study had the following aims: 1. To collect rich, detailed data on the full range of factors involved in a large sample of construction accidents. 2. Using this information, to describe the processes of accident causation, including the contribution of management, project, site and individual factors in construction industry accidents. The research used a combination of focus groups and studies of individual accidents in pursuit of these.