Cakan, H (2012) Analysis and modeling of roofer and steel worker fall accidents. PhD thesis, Wayne State University, USA.
Abstract
There are more than nine million construction workers in the US. Roofers and steel workers are the highest risk construction trades according to BLS, and fall from elevation accounts for a large percentage of fatalities and injuries among the construction trades. In this study, 2114 OSHA accident case reports involving roofers and steel workers were reviewed to identify and analyze the factors contributing to construction fall accidents. Using data for the years between 1994 and 2008, the relationships between these factors were determined and further studied to develop predictive models. Univariate frequency, cross tabulation and logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the effect of the statistically significant factors on the degree of injury (fatality vs. nonfatality). Chi square tests on the entire data showed that there is a significant relationship between the degree of injury and union status, SIC code, construction operation prompting fall, environmental factor, human factor, project type, construction end use, safety protective system provision, safety protective system usage, fall distance, and fatality/injury cause. Logistic regression model created for the combined SIC Codes of 1761 and 1791 showed that among the six independent dichotomous variables only four were significantly associated with the degree of injury. These factors were project type, SIC code, safety training and safety protection system usage. Two separate logistic regression models, one for roofers and another for steel workers were also developed. The roofers' model showed that among the five independent categorical dichotomous variables only three showed significant association with injury severity. These were project type, safety training, and safety protection system usage. The steel worker model showed that only two independent variables had significant association with the degree of injury, and they were union status and project type. The study showed that cross tabulation analysis and logistic regression modeling can be used for analyzing data on construction fall accidents in a meaningful way, producing useful results.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Usmen, M |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | injury; nD modeling; safety; training; construction worker; roofer |
| Index terms: | roofer, estimate, safety training, modelling, fatalities, construction worker, logistic regression analysis, construction operation, independent variable, logistic regression, nD modelling, human factor, environmental factor, injury |
| Subjects: | construction operations, environmental science, analytical methods, practitioner, digital design, financial and cost management, statistical analysis, occupational health and safety management, health conditions and diseases, health risk and incident analysis |
| Topics: | Roles and Professions, Cost Management, Research Practice, Site Management, Digital Applications, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCA |
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