IDENTIFICATION OF CAUSES AND MITIGATION MEASURES OF
CONSTRUCTION FALL ACCIDENTS OF CLASS A AND CLASS B
CONTRACTORS IN SHAH ALAM AREA
By
NORMADIANA BINTI MOHAMMAD HANAPI
MSc in Civil Eng. (Construction Management)
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA
OCTOBER 2010
I NORMADIANA BT MOHAMMAD HANAPI declare that the project report entitled
"Identification of causes and mitigation measures of constructions fall accident of Class A and
Class B contractor in Shah Alam area " Is my own work and that all the sources that i have used
or quoted have been acknowledged by means of complete references.
Signature
Name
:
NORMADIANA BT MOHAMMAD HANAPI
Student ID
: 2009480952
Date
: 25 Th October 2010
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, I would like to thanks to the Almighty ALLAH S.W.T for all his blessings upon
initiating this dissertation till its completion. Here, I want to extend my appreciation to my
dissertation supervisor, Ir.Hajah Che Maznah Binti Mat Isa of the Faculty Civil Engineering is
specially remembered for her time, patience and effort in moulding me and my thought process.
The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without her conscientious
guidance and encouragement.
Futhermore, I would like to express my sincere thanks to construction professionals, who
generously spent their time to participate in answering questionnaire survey and interviews of
this project. Their honest information, opinion and comments are very useful indeed. My deepest
appreciation to all my over lasting friends who are directly or indirectly involved in the
completion of this project.
Eventually, I am most thankful to my parents, En.Mohd Hanapi bin Abdul Ghani and Pn.Zainab
binti Ibrahim and also to my family for their continuous support and exhaustive encouragement.
Without the contribution of all those mentioned above, this work would not have been possible.
Thank you very much,
NORMADIANA BT MOHAMMAD HANAPI
Faculty of Civil Engineering,
University Technology MARA,
40450 Shah Alam,
Selangor, Malaysia.
ii
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TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
iii
LIST OF FIGURES
viii
LIST OF TABLES
ix
ABSTRACT
xi
1 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 Research Background
4
1.2 Problem statement
5
1.3 Objective of study
5
1.4 Scope and Limitation of Study
6
1.5 Significant of study
6
1.6 Summary of the Study
7
1.7 Definition of Terms/Concepts
7
1.7.1 Body Belt
8
1.7.2 Body Harness
8
1.7.3 Contractor
8
1.7.4 Construction project
8
1.7.5 Construction worker
9
1.7.6 Construction Accident
9
1.7.7 Designated Person
9
1.7.8 Employer
9
1.7.9 Guardrail System
10
1.7.10 Hazard
10
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1.7.11 Lifeline
10
1.7.12 Personal Fall Arrest System
10
1.7.13 Platform
10
1.7.14 Safety
11
1.7.13 Safety &Health Officer
11
1.7.14 Site Safety Supervisor
11
CHAPTER TWO
2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Framework
12
2.2 Overview of construction fall accident
13
2.3 Causes of Constmction Fall Accidents
14
2.3.1 Uns afe Conditions
15
2.3.2 Unsafe Actions
17
2.3.3 Workers Factor
18
2.3.4 Construction Tools and Equipments Factor
19
2.3.5 Management Inactions
20
2.4 Prevention of Construction Fall Accidents
2.4.1 Recommendations by OSHA
22
26
2.4.1.1 Management Leadership and Employee Involvement
27
2.4.1.2 Work-site Hazard Analysis
28
CHAPTER THREE
3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Brief methodology
29
3.2 Research Methodology
31
3.3 Type of Study
32
3.4 Sample selection
32
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3.5 Method of Data Collection
34
3.6 Questionnaire Design
34
3.7 Pilot Study
36
3.8 Summary of Pilot Study
37
3.9 Method and Data analysis
37
3.10 Reliability Test
38
3.11 Delimitations
39
3.12 Assumption and Limitations
39
CHAPTER FOUR
4 RESULTS ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Presentation and Process of Data Analysis
40
4.2 The Analysis
4.2.1 Research Sample
42
4.2.2 Non Response
43
4.3 The Analysis - Section A: Respondent Background
4.3.1 Discussion for Section A: Respondent Background
4.4 The Analysis - Section B: General Information on Construction
44
45
46
Fall Accidents
4.5 Investigate the Causes of Construction Fall Accident in Shah Alam
47
Construction Area.
4.5.1 Relative Index
4.5.1.1 Relative Index for four major factors related to the
47
51
construction fall accidents.
4.5.2 Discussion for Section : Causes of Construction Fall
60
Accident
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4.6 Investigate the Mitigation Measures of Construction Fall
65
Accidents in Shah Alam Construction Area.
4.7 Comparison of Class A and Class B Contractor Towards
69
Mitigation Measures of Construction Fall Accidents in Shah Alam
Construction Area.
4.7.1
Spearman Correlation Test
4.7.2 Discussion for Section D: Mitigation Measures of
69
72
Construction Fall Accident
CHAPTER FIVE
5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
74
5.2 Conclusion
74
5.2Recommendation
77
REFERENCES
78
APPENDICES
Appendix A - Survey Questionnaire
Appendix B - Spearman Rho Value Table
Appendix C - List of Contractor Companies
Appendix D - Schedule of Work
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LIST OF FIGURES
TITLE
PAGE
Statistic of Accident Rate due to Fall
2
Accident
by Industry in Year 2008.
Statistic of Accident Rate due to Fall
2
Accident by Industry in Year 2009.
Research Methodology Process
30
Flowchart.
Classification of the Respondents
42
The percentage of respondents
44
experience in construction industry
Proportion
of
response
about
the
47
respondent's view of construction fall
accidents.
Summary o f Causes of Construction Fall
Accidents from 34 respondents.
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64
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE
TITLE
PAGE
3.1
Output of Reliability Test
38
4.1
Percentage Frequency of Respondents
45
Designation
4.2
Example Index Calculation for Equipment
49
factors
4.3
Index for Equipment factors
51
4.4
Index for Personal factor (workers)
52
4.5
Index for Unsafe Action
53
4.6
Index for Unsafe Condition
54
4.7
Index for Management aspect
55
4.8
Mean Responses of Level of Agreements for
58
Factor Relative to the Construction Fall
Accidents in Malaysia Construction Industry.
(Section C)
4.9
Distribution of response about the causes of
60
construction fall accidents
4.10
The Index for Mitigation Measures of
Construction Fall Accidents.
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65
4.11
Mean Responses of Level of Agreements for
67
Mitigation Measures of Construction Fall
Accidents in Shah Alam Construction
Industry.
4.12
Priorities Perceived by Contractors
70
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ABSTRACT
The construction industry is one of the most hazardous industries. It is because those who spend
their working lives on construction sites have a higher probability of being killed at workplace.
Based on the statistics issued by the Social Security Organization (SOCSO) Malaysia, the
number of fatality and permanent disablement cases due to fall accidents at the construction sites
is one of the highest rates as compared to other sector. Therefore, this research is intended to
identify the cause and safety measure of construction fall accidents in Shah Alam construction
sites because there are a lot of high rise buildings project in this state. This study is carried out by
doing literature review and feedback through questionnaires. In order to find out cause and
mitigation measure of fall accident at the construction site, this study used SPSS test such as
Spearman's Rho to analyze the data. The finding of this study indicates that "poor safety attitude
and behavior of workers" is the main problem in obstructing the implementation of safety
procedures and guidelines for construction sites. The responses from the survey also show that
"sufficient safety training" and "equipments for working at height" are the adoptable mitigation
measure to enhance the workers' safety performance. It is believed that appoint the competent
person in inspection and maintenance works and by applying risk assessment in identifying fall
hazards could reduce the number of fall accidents.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Research Background
The construction industry plays an important role in any country's economic
development. It establishes the infrastructure required for socioeconomic development
while being a major contributor to overall economic growth (Drewer, 1980). However it
is also one of the most hazardous industries (Chua and Goh, 2004).
According to Kartam and Bouz, (1998), those who spend their working lives on
construction sites have a higher probability which is about 1 in 300 chance of being killed
at work. Based on Kartam and Bouz, (1998) also, they states that over the years the
construction industry has had among the highest rates of reported work-related deaths and
injuries. It is same with Malaysia Construction accident rate. The Social Security
Organization (SOCSO) record shows that the number of fatalities that due to construction
accident always as the highest rate. In year 2008, the number of death cases in fall
accidents from construction sector is 72, while for the year 2009 this figure has decreased
to 57 cases. Although this number has be reduced from 72 to 57 cases, accident rate in
Malaysia construction industry is still high and need a huge and fast overhaul from the
current site safety practices.(Hinze and Haslam et al,2005).
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N u m b e r of Death Cases by Industry Year 2008
70
60
Z
ju
£
o
o
50
40
30
20
10
0
industry
• manufacturing
76
• mining & quarrying
5
• agriculture.forcstry & fishing
42
• Trading
3
• Construction
72
• Sec -
19
Figure 1.1: Statistic of Accident Rate due to Fall Accident by Industry in Year 2008.
N u m b e r of Death Cases by Industry Year 2009
50
i
i
;:
Z
I
n
industry
• manufacturing
41
• minings quarrying
2
• agriculture.forestiy & fishing
38
• Trading
2
• Construction
57
» Services
16
Figure 1.2: Statistic of Accident Rate due to Fall Accident by Industiy in Year 2009.
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According to Gibbs, Hide, Haslam and Hastings (2001), it is commonly known that
construction fall accidents have serious implications to the construction industry both in
financial and humanitarian terms. Construction fall accidents may cause many problems,
such as demotivation of workers; disruption of site activities; delay of project progress;
and adversely affecting the overall cost, productivity and reputation of the construction
industry (Mohamed, 1999). Therefore it is very important to improve safety in the
construction industry. Nowadays, Malaysia is the one of the growth country in the world
where it's moving towards an approach which believes that all occupational hazards can
be controlled through details regulations (Fadhlin Abdullah, 2004).
On 25th February 1994, Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA) came into
force provoding protection on safety and health for work activities in all economic sectors
especially in construction sector. Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA) also
provide rules and regulation regarding to the work at high elevation. The Department of
Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) and other government agencies have regulations
that lay down the legal requirements to ensure the safety and health of not only the
workers at the place of work but also the public as well.
This guideline applies to all place of work in building operation and work of engineering
construction activity in Malaysia covered by the Occupational Safety And Health Act
1994 (Act 514), the Factories And Machinery Act 1967 (Act 139), and all the regulations
made there under. It is designed to serve as a handy reference and to be read together with
the above mentioned legislations and other industry codes of practice. Every employer
involved in the construction industry is requires to comply with all the requirements of
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safety and health regulations as stipulated to OSHA 1994 and FMA 1967 at the work
place.
1.2 Problem Statement
In the year ahead, the construction industry would be challenged by increasingly difficult
and complex problems in both engineering and management. According to Hsiao et al
(2006), construction industry is a high risk industry because there is a high risk of
accident occurrence. Based on Dangelzer, Francais and Jacquin (2002), common types of
construction accident occurred is due to fall accidents.
According to the previous study, Abdul Rahim (2003) stated that Malaysia is also one of
the countries that cannot leave from this problem. He also stated that construction fall
accident become as one of the major problem that contribute to the increasing in number
of fatalities and injuries in construction industry. Based on Occupational Safety and
Health division report, 75% of fatalities were from construction site falls. Fall from height
is the number one accident types which contributed to workplace fatalities in the
construction sector for the period 2004 to 2009, which is 34% followed by struck by
falling objects (25%) and step on, strike against or by objects (10%). Fall from height
accident is mainly due to fall from scaffolds, fall from platform, fall from ladder, fall
from roof and also fall from aerial lifts (Huang and Hinze,2003).
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Reasons are time, cost and quality that are always the main factors considered ahead of
safety. Safety issues are always considered secondary and take a back seat in construction
(Mbuya and Lema, 2002). Based on the research undertaken by Sophie Hide and Sarah
Atkinson (2003), they stated that employer attitudes towards safety also as a problem in
reducing the number of construction fall accidents.
According to the Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Datuk Maznah Mazlan also
remained concerned with this situation. He said that the problem that is still happens
because many employers not emphasize on construction workers safety (Harian Metro,
2010). Besides that, increasing in the number of construction fall accident in Malaysia is
due to lack of safety awareness among employee that involved in construction industry.
(Abdul Rahim, 2003). The attitudes of workers that unwilling to follow the rules and
regulation in construction also will be the causal for the influencing fall accidents occur
(Donald, 1995). Inability of responsible person to identify the risk hazard in working at
height and to provide the proper training for their workers also as an obstacles in
mitigating this problem ((AbdelHamid and Everett, 2000).
In order to reduce the number of death and injuries related to fall accidents in
construction sites prevention action needs to be taken. According to the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), there are two types of system to prevent and
protect workers from falls which are passive system and active system. Passive systems
can prevent workers from falls by placing a physical barrier between the worker and the
fall hazard such as parapet walls and guardrails. The active systems could protect workers
that have already fallen by limiting the fall to a specified distance and also limiting the
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force that the worker is subjected to such as personal fall arrest systems. This research
also carried out to investigate the mitigation measures regarding to their causes of
construction fall accidents.
1.3 Objectives of Research
The aim of the study is to investigate the causes and safety measures of construction fall
accidents at construction sites in Shah Alam, Selangor. The specific objectives of this
study are as follows:
i.
To investigate the causes of construction fall accident in Shah Alam construction
area,
ii.
To investigate the mitigation measures of construction fall accidents in order to
reduce the number of death and injuries related to construction fall accident,
iii.
To compare Class A and Class B contractor towards mitigation measures of
construction fall accident in Shah Alam construction area.
1.4
Scope and Limitation of Study
The scope of study is focused on the causes and mitigation measures of construction fall
accidents at the construction site in Shah Alam. This study is limited to the construction
fall accidents particularly in fall of person from height accidents where the most type of
construction accident happened. This study is focused on the construction firm especially
Class A and Class B contractor at Selangor, particularly in Shah Alam area. This is
because both of this class of contractor has involved in many project that work being
carried out in Shah Alam especially in high rise building projects.
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The information research was obtained from the report by The Social Security
Organization (SOCSO), Department of Safety and Health (DOSH) and questionnaires
survey. Then all the data obtained from questionnaires will be evaluated using Statistical
Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 18.0 and Excel.
1.5
Significant of study
Safety aspect in construction industry is the most important part that needs to be taken
into account. However, several studies indicated that there is lack of consideration of
safety and risk evaluation among employer in construction industry especially in high rise
building project. Thus, this study will provide construction professionals with the major
causal factor that commonly contibuted to the construction fall accidents. This study also
provides construction professionals with some guidance to improve the safety
management
in
their
organization
in
order
to
minimize
the
number
of
accidents.Meanwhile, this research can improve safety awareness among parties that
directly involve in construction project. Besides that, this research also can reduce the
effect of construction fall accident to the Shah Alam construction industry especially due
to financial and humanitarian terms.
1.6
Summary of the Study
In this study, the causes and mitigation measures of construction fall accidents are
determined. The next section proceed by reviewing the cause of construction fall accident
literature in terms of management aspect, unsafe action and condition, personal factors
related to the construction workers and also equipment and construction tools and also the
prevention of construction fall accidents. The purpose of the literature is to provide a
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general overview of the cause and mitigation measure of construction fall accidents in the
construction industry. Next, the survey method is outlined in the chapter 3, followed by
the result and discussion of the overall study. Finally, conclusion and recommendations
for this study is presented.
1.7 Definition of Terms/Concepts
1.7.1
Body belt
Body belt is a strap with means both for securing it about the waist and for
attaching it to a lanyard, lifeline, or deceleration device.
1.7.2
Body harness
Straps which may be secured about the employee in a manner that will distribute
the fall arrest forces over at least the thighs, pelvis, waist, chest, and shoulders,
with means for attaching it to other components of a personal fall arrest system.
1.7.3 Contractor
Means a person who has entered into a contract for the purpose of carrying out
any building operations or work of engineering construction and includes a main
contractor or subcontractor. (Regulation 2, Building Operations And Works Of
Engineering Construction) (Safety) Regulations,1986).
1.7.4
Construction project
The process of constructing a planned endeavor, usually with a specific goal and
accomplished in several steps or stages.
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1.7.5
Construction worker
Construction workers are employed in the construction industry and work
predominately on construction sites and are typically engaged in aspects of the
industry other than design or finance.
1.7.6
Construction Fall Accident
Construction fall accident is a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual and
unintended external event which occurs in construction site either causes by fall of
person from height, falls from scaffolds, falls from platform and other elevations.
This accident might be cause of deaths and injuries among workers in construction
industry.
1.7.7
Designated Person
Means a competent person appointed by an employer to carry out any supervision
or inspection or to perform any tasks or duty prescribed by Building Operations
and Works of Engineering Construction (Safety) Regulations, 1986.
1.7.8
Employer
Employer means immediate employer or the principal employer or both.
(Section 3, Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994)
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1.7.9
Guardrail system
A barrier erected to prevent employees from falling to lower levels.
1.7.10 Hazard
According to OHSA 18001:1999, hazard is source or situation with a potential for
harm in terms of human injury or illness health, damage to property, damage to
the workplace environment, or a combination of these.
1.7.11 Lifeline
A component consisting of a flexible line connected vertically to an anchorage at
one end (vertical lifeline), or connected horizontally to anchorages at both ends
(horizontal lifeline), and which serves as a means for connecting other
components of a personal fall arrest system to the anchorage.
1.7.12 Personal fall arrest system
A system used to stop an employee in a fall from a working level. It consists of an
anchorage, connectors, a body harness, and may include a lanyard, deceleration
device, lifeline, or suitable combinations of these. As of January 1, 1998, using a
body belt for fall arrest is prohibited.
1.7.13 Platform
Platform is a work surface elevated above lower levels. Platforms can be
constructed using individual wood planks, fabricated planks, fabricated decks, and
fabricated platforms.
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1.7.14 Safety
Those activities that seek either to minimize or to eliminate hazardous conditions
that can cause bodily injury. Safety precautions fall under two principal headings,
occupational safety and public safety. Occupational safety is concerned with risks
encountered in areas where people work: offices, manufacturing plants, farms,
construction sites, and commercial.
1.7.15 Safety and Health Officer
Means a person who registered under provision of regulation 6(1), Occupational
Safety and Health (Safety and Health Officer) Regulations 1997.
1.7.16 Site Safety Supervisor
Means a site safety supervisor appointed under regulations 25, Building
Operations and Works of Engineering Construction (Safety) Regulations, 1986;
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Framework
The literature review carried out basically covered the following areas;
• Overview of the Construction Fall Accidents
• Causes of Constructions Fall Accidents
•
Unsafe Conditions
•
Unsafe Actions
•
Individual Factor
•
Construction Equipments
•
Management Inactions
• Prevention of Construction Fall Accidents
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2.2
Overview of construction fall accident
Fall accidents in construction projects have long been a major problem and the prevention
of accidents involving falls from height remains a high priority for the construction
industry (Glasgow Caledonian University, 2005). According to Kangari (1995), safety is
considered to be one of the highest risk allocations and is has been marked at 8.3 on a 10
point scale. By assigning safety the highest importance rating, contractors believe that
they have and will continue to have sole responsibility for this risk in the future especially
in identifying hazards when working at height.
In the construction industry, falls are the most frequently occurring types of accidents
resulting in fatalities. Over the years construction fall accidents always gives the highest
rate in fatalities and injuries among their workers. Obviously, in the SOCSO report
construction sector gives a big number to the fatalities and injuries compared to other
sectors with a number of 4654 cases in 2003 to 2007.
Based on Huang and Hinze (2003), construction fall accident especially fall of person
from height accidents is the major type of accidents that commonly occurred in
construction industry. Huang and Hinze (2003) also stated that falls of person from height
accidents are mainly due to fall from platform, fall from scaffolds, fall from roofs, fall
from ladders and also fall from aerial lifts.
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