Evaluation of pile driving accidents in geotechnical engineering.

Pile driving accidents that occurred between 1984 and 2018 were selected from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration database, producing 84 cases. To evaluate the causes of accidents, pile driving stages were presented and the potential hazards were discussed. Two models were necessary to link the accidents with workers' behavior. An accident type model and a workers' behavior model were developed. The accident type model was related to physical factors leading to accidents, and the workers' behavior model determined the occupational behavior under the act of the incident. Among fatal accidents, unsafe site conditions had the highest frequency at 26.9%. Among non-fatal accidents, both poor attitudes toward safety and unsafe methods had the highest frequency at 28.1%. Furthermore, a map presenting work-specific accident frequencies in pile driving operations was created. Consequently, project-specific countermeasures should be taken regarding the root causes of accidents, leading to vigorous strategies to develop safety measures.

Impact of human development on safety consciousness in construction.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that the risk of fatal occupational injuries in developing countries is almost twice as high as in developed countries, indicating a potential relationship between the fatality rates and the development level. The human development index (HDI), based on life expectancy, knowledge level and purchasing power parity, endorsed by the United Nations Development Programme, is a widely accepted measure of the development level. This study investigates the relationship between the HDI and the fatality rates reported by the ILO. A 23-country data set is used to demonstrate the general trend of the relationship followed by country-specific analyses for Australia, Spain, Hungary and Turkey. The study conducted is limited to fatal occupational injuries in construction, where the accidents are notoriously high. The results demonstrate a statistically significant inverse relationship between the fatality rates and the HDI.

Work-related injuries and fatalities in the geotechnical site works.

Geotechnical site works are comprehensive, and they constitute the first step of the construction process. This study performs data mining of geotechnical works and analyzes the database for the root causes of accidents. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was chosen for the 1984-2013 time frame with 247 cases. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed to discuss variables such as the end use of the work, project type and cost, soil type and condition, type and degree of injury, cause and type of accident, unsafe acts, and occupation and union status of the victim. The results showed that these accidents have a high frequency of recurrence and have a high severity level (54.3% fatalities). In addition, a total of 838 violations were recorded with penalties reaching 5 million US dollars. This study emphasizes that project-specific countermeasures should be taken regarding the root causes of accidents, leading to vigorous strategies to develop safety measures.