A Research Study on Prevention of Occupational Accidents in the Construction Sector during the Design Process

Abstract

Safety by design has recently become one of the most significant research topics. It is believed that safety by design will provide profits to the construction sector by improving efficiency, reducing operating costs, reducing hazards and risks, and decreasing expensive accident prevention methods on the site. The aim of this study is to determine the awareness of the safety by design in the Turkish construction sector, and to raise awareness of the importance among the professional stakeholders in order to anticipate occupational accidents at the design stage, and implement the accident prevention applications early in the design process. Because the construction sector is hasty and fast, pre-construction executions have always been perceived as a waste of time, and the issue of prevention through design, which is the subject of this study, also takes place in the pre-construction stage. Due to the fact that the work related to the health and safety of the workers takes time and creates financial requirements, it is sometimes perceived as unnecessary by employers. Particularly, small-scale construction companies, make investments on safety only to protect themselves from legal sanctions. In order to identify the awareness of safety by design among the stakeholders in the sector, the data required for this study were collected through a questionnaire. The results of this study show that although the sector awareness on safety by design has emerged, there is still a huge gap in terms of implementation. It will be possible to fill this gap by increasing the awareness of the designers (architects, civil engineers) and increasing the legal supervision and penal sanctions.

Keywords

• safety by design
• safe design
• safety through design
• occupational accidents
• construction sector

References

1. 1. G.Carter and S. Smith, “Safety Hazard Identification on Construction Projects.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 132(2), (2006), 197−205.
2. 2. W.Wang, J. Liu, & S.Chou, “Simulation-Based Safety Evaluation Model Integrated with Network Schedule.” Automation in Construction, 15(3),(2006), 341−354.
3. 3. J.J. Lew and T.J. Lentz, “Designing for Safety – Applications for the Construction Industry.”, 18th CIB World Building Congress, United Kingdom, (2010), 37-45.
4. 4. SİG Meclisi’nin İlkeleri, İşleyişi, İşçi Sağlığı ve İş Güvenliği Meclisi (2018), Accessed March 10, 2019. Retrived from http://www.guvenlicalisma.org/site_icerik/2019/3mart/2018_ic.pdf 5. T.C. Çalışma ve Sosyal Güvenlik Bakanlığı İş Teftiş Kurulu Başkanlığı, Yapı İşlerinde İş Sağlığı ve Güvenliği Teftiş Projesi Genel Değerlendirme Raporu, (2007), Ankara.
5. 6. F.A. Manuele, “Principles for the Practice of Safety.” American Society and Safety Engineers, 4(7), (1997), 27-31.
6. 7. T.M. Toole and J. Gambatese “The Future of Designing for Construction Safety.” Journal of Safety Research, 39, (2008), 225-230.
7. 8. X. Sun, H. Chong, P. Liao, D. Fang, and Y. Wang, “A System Dynamics Model of Prevention through Design towards Eliminating Human Error.”, KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, 23(5), (2019), 1923–1938.
8. 9. G.E. Gürcanlı, “Yeni ve Zorunlu Bir Kavram Olarak "İş Güvenliği İçin Tasarım.". 3. İşçi Sağlığı ve İş Güvenliği Sempozyumu, Çanakkale, (2011),133-141.

9. 10. Gambatese J. and Hinze J., Addressing Construction Worker Safety in the Design Phase: Designing for Construction Worker Safety, Automation in Construction, 8(6),(1999), 643-649.
10. 11. N. Tymvios, M. Behm, J. Gambatese, H. Lingard, A. G. Gibb, J. Smallwood, & C., McAleenan, “Benefitting Workers and Society Through Inherently Safe(r) Construction.” Revisiting Lorent. In Proceedings of CIB W099, Belfast,(2015),449–457.
11. 12. D. M. Aires, M. C.Rubio, & A. G. F. Gibb, “The Impact of Occupational Health and Safety Regulations on Prevention Through Design in Construction Projects: Perspectives from Spain and the United Kingdom.” Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 53(1), (2016), 181–191.
12. 13. R. Lopez, P. E. Love, D. J. Edwards, and P. R Davis, “Design Error Classification, Causation, and Prevention in Construction Engineering.”, Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, 24(4), (2010),399-408.
13. 14. M.Dalton, “Fatal Accidents in the Irish Construction Industry 1991–2001: A Survey of Contributory Factors.” Health and Safety Authority, (2002), 1–71.
14. 15. M. Behm, “Linking Construction Fatalities to the Design for Construction Safety Concept. Safety Science, 43(8), (2005), 589–611.
15. 16. S. H. Gürsoy, “Risk Yönetimi Çerçevesinde Türkiye'de Mevzuata Uygun Bir Güvenli Tasarım Modeli.”, İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Fen Bilimleri Enstitüsü Mimarlik Anabilim Dalı Doktora Tezi, (2014),1-229.
16. 17. Ş. E. Ulukan, “Sağlık ve Güvenliği Tasarlamak.”, Mimarlık Dergisi, (2015), 384.
17. 18. Gambatese, J. A., J. Hinze, and C. T. Haas, “Tool to design for construction worker safety.” ASCE J. of Arch. Eng. (1997), 3(1): 32-41.