الفهرس 
INTRODUCTION AND AIM OF THE WORKOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The construction industry is known for having the highest number of occupational accidents and fatalities. Due to the complex and multidimensional nature of occupational accidents in this industrial sector, it is imperative to primarily understand the factors that contribute to accidents at construction sites to enable the management and minimization of these accidents. Accordingly, health and safety are crucial in all businesses, especially construction. ISO 45001:2018 is a key global normative reference for occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMS). It provides standards that improve proactive and reactive safety performance. This study aimed at assessing the safety performance of the construction sites of certified and uncertified companies, developing an accident rate model using the previous five-years accident records, validating the model using the current one-year records, and predicting the next five-years accident rates using the validated model.
The current study involved a convenient sample of two construction companies, ISO 45001:2018 certified and uncertified, that were enrolled until 140 previous seven-year accidents (2015–2021) were completed. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to predict the accident rates from the main predictors: unsafe work environments (UWEs), unsafe acts (UAs), unsafe personal factors (UPFs), and management failures (MFs). The information gathered from the two companies was loaded into two files in an IBM SPSS-25 (200); the first file contained the accident qualitative variables (agency, accident type, unsafe work environments (UWEs), unsafe acts (UAs), unsafe personal factors (UPFs), and management failures (MFs)) as well as the accident quantitative variables, including frequency rate (FR), severity rate (SR), frequency severity index (FSI), fatality rate, and disability rate. The second file included the percentage safety scores for the construction sites during the current year (2021) for ISO 45001:2018-certified and uncertified construction sites.
The multiple linear regression analysis was conducted for the prediction of FSI and the number of days lost due to accidents. The study compared occupational safety performance at ISO 45001:2018-certified and uncertified construction sites by developing an accident rate model using the six-year accident records (2015–2020) and validating the model using the current-year records (2021) to predict the next five-year accident rates using the validated model. Time series analysis for FSI using an expert modeler of SPSS was used to forecast FSI in the future over the next five years. Appropriate statistical procedures were then applied to process the data, and the following results were obtained.
According to the current study, the workshops of the certified construction sites were the most common accident location (48.4%), while in the uncertified company, it was the general sites (58.1%). There were a lot of scaffold accidents at the uncertified company, with two fatalities. Moreover, the most frequent job tasks of the injured workers in certified construction sites were the form fabrication welder (17.9%) and iron filler (10.3%), while in uncertified sites, the jobs of scaffolders (12.9%) and pouring refractory workers (12.9%) were the most frequent. There were totally two fatalities, one disability, and 59 injuries at the uncertified construction sites during the last five years; however, at the certified sites, there were no fatalities, two disabilities, and 76 injuries during the last seven years.
The most common agencies at the certified sites were the iron forms (17.9%) and ladders (17.9%), while in uncertified sites, they were the scaffolds (35.5%) and painting materials (12.9%). The most frequent accident type at both certified and uncertified companies was being struck by falling heavy equipment (25.6% and 27.9%), followed by falling to different levels (23.1 and 17.9), respectively. In addition, struck by moving objects (21.8I% and 17.9%) were common at the certified and uncertified construction sites, respectively.
The presence of defective, unsafe, or unsuitable PPE was the most frequent unsafe work environment (UWEs) at the certified (91.0%) and uncertified (98.4%) construction sites, followed by bad housekeeping (51.3% and 47.5%), and the presence of defective agencies (52.6% and 27.9%). In the current study, working at an unsafe speed (91.0% and 71%) and not wearing PPE (89.7% and 96.8%) were the most frequent unsafe acts
On certified construction sites, the highest percentage of unsafe personal factors (UPFs) was disregarding safety instructions (97.4%) followed by improper attitude (94.9%). However, lack of knowledge or skill accounted for 100% of the factors found in uncertified building sites, followed by disregard for safety regulations (95.2%).
In the current study, management failures (MFs) were seen as the major root causes of accidents at both certified and uncertified sites. However, the uncertified company disclosed more MFs than the certified one. According to this research, the three most common management failures (MFs) at the uncertified construction sites were the lack of safety policies, the shortage of trained safety supervisors, and poor documentation. About 96.8% of the uncertified accidents suffer from a lack of an accident investigation system and a lack of evaluation of the effectiveness of the training conducted. Moreover, 91.8% of them failed to use work permissions. Around 90.3% of the uncertified accidents were due to the failure to provide PPE. On the other hand, at the certified construction sites, the most frequent MFs were the lack of trained workers (97.4%), failure to use work permissions, and lack of trained safety supervisors (both 84.6%).
According to the results of this study, the frequency rates (FR), severity rates (SR), and frequency severity index (FSI) in the uncertified construction sites (250.0, 6500.0, and 38.0, respectively) were extremely higher in comparison to that in the certified ones (1.3, 65.9, and 0.28). A multiple linear regression model (Model 1) was developed to establish the relation that link the number of days lost due to accidents with the company’s certification status and the scores of unsafe work environments (UWEs), unsafe acts (UAs), unsafe personal factors (UPFs), and management failures (MFs). After controlling for other variables, the scores of UAs and MFs were the only statistically significant predictors of the relatively high coefficients within Model 1. One more pair to investigate the most prominent hazardous acts (UAs) and management failures (MFs) that had the highest effects on the dependent variable (numbers of days lost due to accidents). Model 1 explained 21.9% of the number of days lost due to accidents.
Accordingly, two additional models were developed to correlate the number of days lost with different UAs (Model 2) and with MFs (Model 3). Model 2 explained about 54.3% of the outcome (no of days lost). It was evident that leaving log-out tag-out procedures and making safety devices inoperative were the only two important unsafe acts (UAs) that affected the dependent variable. Furthermore, Model 3 accounted for 55.0% of the outcome (no of fays lost) and the only prominent management failure in this model was the lack of waste disposal system.
To obtain the forecast points for FSI for the next five years, until 2026, time series analysis for certified organizations was conducted in the current study utilizing 14 time points, spanning from the first half of 2015 to the latter half of 2021. For the following five years, the predicted points remained unchanged. This makes sense given the small amount of time data points from the company’s records that were already accessible for study. Since there were no records for the uncertified corporation prior to 2015, there were only ten time points from the first half of 2017 to the final half of 2021. Considering that at least 40–50 time points are needed for time-series analysis, the forecast points for the following five years remained constant.
This research aligns the fact that ISO 45001:2018 is a management system that can be developed to support a systematic program of employee health and safety policy in the workplace. This is necessary to achieve, good business performance, and occupational health and safety. Its goals are to prevent accidents and occupational diseases, and to promote a safe and healthy work environment.
6.2. Conclusion:
1. Safety is a major problem in the global construction business. Occupational accidents in the construction industry are frequent and may lead to permanent disabilities and a high rate of fatalities.
2. Most accidents at ISO 45001:2018-certified construction sites occur in workshops, while accidents at uncertified sites occur in the general sites.
3. The most frequent accidents at certified sites occur for the form fabrication welders and iron fillers, while that at uncertified sites occur for scaffolders and pour refractory workers.
4. The most recurrent agencies for certified sites are iron forms and ladders, while that of the uncertified sites are the scaffolds and painting materials.
5. The most common types of accidents at certified and uncertified sites are being struck by falling heavy equipment, followed by falling to different levels, and struck by moving objects.
6. The highest frequent unsafe work environments in certified and uncertified sites are unsafe PPE, followed by bad housekeeping, and the presence of defective agencies.
7. Working at unsafe speed and not wearing PPE are of the most frequent unsafe acts in certified and uncertified construction sites.
8. The most prevalent unsafe personal factors in certified and uncertified sites are the disregarding of safety instructions, improper attitudes, lack of knowledge or skills, and lack of focus.
9. At the uncertified sites, the most predominant management failures are the lack of safety policy, shortage of trained safety supervisors, poor documentation, a lack of an accident investigation system, evaluation of the effectiveness of training, and work permission system.
10. At the certified sites, the most dominant management failures are the lack of trained workers, failure to use work permissions, and lack of trained safety supervisors.
11. The accidents frequency rates, severity rates, and frequency severity index are lower at certified than uncertified sites.
12. The number of days lost due to accidents are higher at certified than uncertified sites due to the underreporting of the accidents in uncertified sites.
13. Model 1 represents the relationships between the number of days lost and each of the certification state of company, and the four main accident causes.
14. Using time-series analysis for relatively accurate prediction of the number of days lost, more than 14 data points (seven years accidents) are needed.