Elias, I; Felix, H; David, P and David, O (2011) Improving construction health and safety: Application of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) for accident prevention. International Journal of Construction Management, 11(1), pp. 19-35. ISSN 1562-3599
Abstract
Past efforts to reduce accidents in the construction industry have failed to examine the application of CBA for accident prevention. Detailed information about the application of CBA for accident prevention on construction projects is deemed necessary to achieve high productivity. The CBA was proposed as the method to guide decisions on accident prevention in the UK construction industry. A quantitative method was used to collect data from health and safety managers in the UK construction industry for the survey. A total of 79 contractors (small, medium and large) participated in the questionnaire survey. The method used benefit-cost ratio (BCR) to determine if the benefits of accident prevention outweigh the costs of accident prevention. The research found that total benefits of accident prevention outweigh costs of accident prevention by a ratio of approximately 3:1 (62% benefit gain to 38% benefit loss). The method has the potential to improve decision-making process on accident prevention and contribute to a reduction in costs, deaths and injuries in the construction industry. The result of this investigation forms part of a study of cost and benefits of accident prevention in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cost benefit analysis; health and safety; accident prevention |
| Index terms: | decision-making process, productivity, investigation, construction industry, cost benefit analysis, injury, health and safety, accident prevention, manager, survey, questionnaire, quantitative method, construction project |
| Subjects: | environmental health, industry analysis, decision analysis, health conditions and diseases, health safety and environment, production management, management, data analysis and analytics, practitioner, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Project Management, Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here