Chan, A P C; Yang, Y and Darko, A (2018) Construction accidents in a large-scale public infrastructure project: Severity and prevention. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 144(10): 05018010, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao bridge-related Hong Kong (HZMB-HK) project consists of a set of boundary crossing facilities and transport links that connect the main bridge (HZMB) to the Hong Kong territory. It is a featured large-scale public infrastructure project that involves construction works done above or near the sea. A number of accidents have occurred since the commencement of the project in November 2011. This study aims to analyze the construction accidents that occurred in the HZMB-HK project during the period from 2012 to the first half of 2017. The methodology comprises both quantitative and qualitative approaches. First, the safety performance of the project was quantitatively measured using three indicators: accident, fatality, and lethality rates. In this regard, it was identified that the safety performance of the project was worse than that of public work contracts and the construction industry in general. It was also found that fall and caught in-between were the deadliest types of accidents in the project. Second, eight fatal incidents that resulted in nine fatalities were qualitatively analyzed on the basis of relevant accident investigation reports. In this regard, it was found that of the nine decedents, five died from drowning. This indicates that working above or near the sea poses a high risk of drowning to construction workers. Furthermore, measures to prevent accidents in large-scale infrastructure projects such as the HZMB-HK project were analyzed in this study. This study adds to the construction safety body of knowledge by analyzing the accidents in a large-scale infrastructure project that involves both land- and sea-based construction works. The lessons from this study could help stakeholders, such as policy makers and practitioners, improve the safety performance of large-scale infrastructure projects worldwide.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | causes; drowning; hzmb-hk project; marine construction; preventive measures; safety performance |
| Index terms: | qualitative approach, public infrastructure, Hong Kong, construction industry, prevention, infrastructure project, land, construction worker, fatalities, construction work, public work, accident investigation, safety performance, body of knowledge, construction safety, practitioner, construction accident, methodology |
| Subjects: | practitioner, real estate economics, operations management, knowledge management, health risk and incident analysis, research methods, Geography, financial risk, infrastructure engineering, occupational health and safety management, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, environmental health |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Cost Management, Health and Safety, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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