Fredericks, T K; Abudayyeh, O; Choi, S D; Wiersma, M and Charles, M (2005) Occupational injuries and fatalities in the roofing contracting industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 131(11), pp. 1233-1240. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to determine jobs/tasks associated with current injury, illness, and fatality trends in the roofing industry; and (2) to identify current safety practices associated with the prevention of these illnesses, injuries, and fatalities. In order to achieve the project objectives, a survey was designed and sent to Michigan roofing contractors. To design an adequate survey, the research team first collected background information using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics online database, published research, and contractor interviews. Of the 48 roofing companies asked to participate, 24 completed the survey. The survey results indicated that hand and finger injuries due to cutting operations and back injuries due to the manual handling of heavy and bulky materials to be the most frequent roofing contracting task/injury combination. Falls from elevations as well as on the same level typically occurred when carrying heavy and bulky materials such as bundles of shingles on slippery and inclined walking/working surfaces. These findings from this study may assist safety professionals in the construction industry in making effective changes for improving safety and productivity.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | accidents; construction sites; fatalities; injuries; occupational safety and health administration; roofs; safety |
| Index terms: | construction industry, roofing, economic indicator, roof, injury, interview, falls, occupational safety and health, construction site, survey, database, fatalities, prevention, illness, productivity |
| Subjects: | health conditions and diseases, management, data management, health risk and incident analysis, work location, financial risk, data analysis and analytics, data collection methods, design practice, occupational health and safety management, industry analysis |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Cost Management, Site Management, Research Practice, Health and Safety, Design Practice, Business Strategy |
| 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