La preparación del sitio ayuda a prevenir lesiones y muertes en los sitios de construcción. La preparación del sitio incluye retirar escombros, nivelar el suelo, rellenar huecos, cortar raíces de árboles y marcar tuberías de gas, agua y electricidad.[50]​ Otro método de prevención en la obra es proporcionar un andamio que sea rígido y suficiente para soportar su propio peso más cuatro veces la carga máxima prevista sin asentarse ni desplazarse.[51]​.

Algunas formas de prevenir lesiones y mejorar la seguridad incluyen:.

Los empleados o empleadores son responsables de proporcionar sistemas de protección contra caídas y de garantizar el uso de los mismos. La protección contra caídas se puede proporcionar mediante sistemas de barandas, sistemas de redes de seguridad, sistemas personales de detención de caídas, sistemas de dispositivos de posicionamiento y sistemas de líneas de advertencia.[53]​ Deben asegurarse de que las escaleras sean lo suficientemente largas para llegar con seguridad al área de trabajo para evitar lesiones. Las escaleras, escalones y pasillos deben estar libres de objetos, escombros y materiales peligrosos. Un ingeniero profesional registrado debe diseñar un sistema de protección para zanjas de 20 pies de profundidad o más por razones de seguridad. Para evitar lesiones con las grúas "Grúa (máquina)"), es necesario inspeccionarlas para detectar posibles daños. El operador debe conocer el peso máximo de la carga que debe levantar la grúa. Todos los operadores deben estar capacitados y certificados para garantizar que operan carretillas elevadoras de manera segura.

Existen múltiples herramientas digitales que se pueden implementar para monitorear la seguridad en todo el sitio, incluidas las inducciones en línea a los sitios de construcción, un registro digital del sitio, la medición de la seguridad del sitio de construcción en línea y el control de acceso digital.[54]​ El software digital mantiene todas las inspecciones de construcción en un solo lugar y proporciona un registro de seguridad permanente para fines de generación de informes que ayuden a garantizar que los sitios de trabajo y los equipos sean seguros.[55]​.

Modelo de excelencia operacional para mejorar la seguridad en las organizaciones de la construcción.

Hay 16 factores de seguridad asociados a este modelo para mejorar la seguridad de las organizaciones de construcción:.

Cada factor de seguridad mencionado anteriormente tiene algunos subelementos atribuidos al mismo.

Education and safety

Construction workers need to receive proper training and education on the task or job before working, which will help prevent injuries and deaths. There are many methods to train construction workers. One method is to train construction site foremen to include safety in their daily verbal exchanges with workers to reduce workplace accidents.[24]​ It is important that workers use the same language to ensure the best communication. In recent years, in addition to traditional face-to-face security knowledge sharing, mobile applications also make knowledge sharing possible.[57]​.

Another method is to ensure that all workers know how to properly use electronic devices, conveyors, skid steers, trucks, aerial lifts, and other equipment on the construction site.[58]​ Equipment on the jobsite should be properly maintained and inspected regularly before and after each shift.[59]​ The equipment inspection system will help the operator ensure that a machine is mechanically sound and in safe operating condition. An employee must be assigned to inspect the equipment to ensure proper safety. The equipment must have lights and reflectors if it is intended for night use. The glass in the equipment cabin must be safety glass in some countries.[60]​[61]​ The equipment must be used for its intended task at all times in the workplace to ensure worker safety.

Every construction site must have a construction site manager. An occupational safety and health specialist who designs and implements safety standards to minimize injuries and accidents.[62] He or she is also in charge of conducting daily safety audits and inspections to ensure compliance with government regulations.[62] Most construction site managers have entry-level experience or a higher degree.

Before any excavation is carried out, the contractor is responsible for notifying all applicable companies that excavation work is being carried out. During excavation, the contractor is responsible for providing a safe working environment for employees and pedestrians.

Access and egress are also important parts of excavation safety.[63]​ Ramps used by equipment must be designed by a person qualified in structural design.[63]​ No person is permitted to cross or stand under any loading or excavation equipment. Employees must remain a safe distance from all equipment while it is in operation. Employees who have training and education in the areas mentioned above will benefit their coworkers and themselves on the construction site.

Each spring in the United States, many safety organizations sponsor a week-long voluntary campaign to raise awareness about construction falls, the leading cause of death for construction workers.[64] This event provides employers the opportunity to discuss safety hazards such as falls and how to prevent them. Even if a company does not have employees exposed to fall hazards, the safety awareness campaign can be used to discuss other workplace hazards, prevention methods, and company safety policies.[64]​.

In 2016, high-height falls caused 92 of the 115 deaths in the roofing industry, as well as 384 of the 991 overall construction deaths recorded.[65]​ In 2016, high-height falls were the leading cause of death for construction workers in the U.S., causing fatal injuries to more than 310 construction workers and seriously injuring 10,350 others. due to falls from great heights. In 2016, the leading causes of these construction-related fall deaths were falls from roofs (124), ladders (104), and scaffolds (60). Eighty-one percent of deaths caused by roofing occur in the construction industry, 57% of deaths caused by ladders occur in the construction industry, and 86% of deaths caused by scaffolding occur in the construction industry.[66]​.

Several of the 10 most frequently cited OSHA violations each year involve fall protection safety standards.[65]​[67][68]​ The annual number of construction fatalities in the United States is listed in the following table:.

The program was originally launched as a two-year project on Workers' Memorial Day in 2012 to raise awareness about fall prevention in construction, but due to its success, it has been continued at the beginning of each construction season.[70] In 2015, more than 150 public events were held nationwide, involving more than 150,000 workers and 1.5 million United States Air Force personnel. United.[71]​.

Organizations that partner with OSHA to sponsor this annual event include the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),[72]​ the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR),[73]​ the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP),[74]​ the National Safety Council,[70]​ and many others.[65]​[75]​[76]​[77]​ There are also resources available from multiple sources for help employers find activities.[78]​[79]​ The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and NIOSH have made several fall prevention videos available to the public on YouTube,[80]​[81]​among others. The National Association of Roofing Contractors has published three video webinars available for viewing.[82]​ The developers at Lergent have published a mobile application available for download, which helps workers find an authorized provider of fall prevention courses.[83]​.

personal protective equipment

Hard hats, steel-toed boots, and reflective safety vests are perhaps the most commonly used personal protective equipment by construction workers around the world. A risk assessment may determine that other protective equipment is appropriate, such as gloves, goggles, or high-visibility clothing.[84]​.

Company size

As company size increases, the incidence rate decreases due to the provision of better occupational health and safety programs.[85]​.

On many construction sites it is not possible to completely exclude non-workers. Road construction sites often need to allow traffic to pass through. This exposes non-workers to some degree of risk.

Road construction sites are blocked and traffic is rerouted. Sites and vehicles are protected with signs and barricades. However, sometimes even these signs and barricades can be a hazard to vehicle traffic. For example, poorly designed barricades can cause cars that collide with or hit them to overturn or even fly away. Even a simple safety sign can go through the windshield or roof of a car if it hits it from certain angles.

Most construction deaths are caused by hazards related to construction activities. However, many deaths are also caused by non-construction activities, such as electrical hazards.

Construction safety has been considered a hot topic in academic research. According to the latest research. The largest number of construction safety papers published were published by academics from the United States and China; The total number of articles published by these two countries was 1,125, which represents 56% of the 2,000 articles that were published. Both countries showed high levels of collaboration in research. While the results suggest that economic development can boost academic research on construction safety, there has been an increase in construction safety research conducted by developing countries in recent years, probably due to an improvement in their economic development. While the authors' keywords evidenced the popularity of safety and climate management research, network analysis of all keywords, that is, keywords provided by Web of Science and the authors, suggests that construction safety research focused on three areas: construction safety management, the relationship between people and construction safety, and the protection and health of workers' impact on construction safety. There is a new interdisciplinary research trend where construction safety is combined with digital technologies, and most of it involves deep learning. Other trends focus on machine learning, building information modeling, machine learning and visualization[86].

European Union

In Europe, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work coordinates actions at European Union (EU) and national level, and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is responsible for regulation at EU level.[87]​.

Under European Union law, there are European Union directives "Directive (European Union law)") to protect workers, in particular Directive 89/391 (Framework Directive) and Directive 92/57 (Temporary and Mobile Workplaces Directive). This legislation is transposed across Member States and imposes obligations on employers (and others) to assess and protect the health and safety of workers.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcement, while the Health and Safety Executive Agency for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is responsible in Northern Ireland. In Ireland "Ireland (island)"), the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is responsible for the standards and their implementation.

USA

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes and enforces standards regarding safety and health in the workplace. In the first decade of the century, efforts have been made to improve the safety of both highway workers and drivers in construction zones. In 2004, Congress updated Title 23 Part 630 Subpart J of the Code of Federal Regulations to include new regulations directing state agencies to create and systematically adopt comprehensive plans to address safety in highway construction zones that receive federal funds.[88]​.

OSHA implemented the Final Rule to Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, which went into effect on January 1, 2017. It requires employers to submit incident data electronically to OSHA. This data will allow OSHA to use compliance and enforcement assistance resources more efficiently. The amount of data required varies by company and industry.[89]​.

According to OSHA statistics, more than 13 work-related deaths occur every day in the United States and one in five of them occur in the construction industry.[90]​.

Hong Kong

The employer must provide different degrees of protection when deciding what precautions to take against hazards. When one task turns out to be more dangerous than another, a greater degree of care must be taken, but when the employer cannot eliminate the dangerous task, reasonable precautions need to be taken to reduce the risk, according to Nguyen Van Vinh v. Cheung Ying Construction Engineering Ltd. (2008). This does not imply, however, that the employer is required to eliminate all risks. Lord Oaksey stated in Winter v. Cardiff Rural District Council (1950) "but this does not mean that an employer must decide on every detail of the system of work or mode of operation. There are areas in which the employer must exercise his discretion and there are other areas in which foremen and workers must exercise theirs... With respect to the decision about how to take safety precautions it should often be left to the foreman or workers on site. While the employee's immediate employer is responsible for safety, Morris v. Breaveglen (1993) ruled that the main contractor cannot escape liability. General employers argued that they should not be liable for injuries as they did not exercise direct control over workers. However, judges overruled such an argument in Rainfield Design & Associates Ltd v Siu Chi Moon (2000), “[t]he purpose of the Regulations was clearly to ensure worker safety and for this the primary responsibility must lie with the contractor responsible for the site. Even where a subcontractor had a contractual obligation to provide facilities and equipment, the contractor responsible for the site would not be relieved of its obligation under the Regulations."[91]​.

Hispanics make up a sizable portion of the construction workforce: In 2019, 30.4% of construction workers were Hispanic, compared to 17.7% of workers across all industries.[92] About 1 in 4 construction workers in the United States did not have health insurance in 2018, more than double the uninsured rate among all US workers.[93] Nearly half (48%) o 2 in 4 Hispanic construction workers were uninsured, more than triple that of their non-Hispanic counterparts (13%). Compared to their white counterparts, the fatal injury rate among Hispanics is 41% higher.[94] Additionally, research has found that nearly half of all work-related deaths among Hispanics occur in small construction establishments with between 1 and 10 employees. In the period 2003-2008, falls from elevated heights were the leading cause of 40% of all Hispanic construction worker deaths.[95]​ In terms of non-fatal injuries experienced by Hispanic workers, contact with objects (43.0%) was the leading cause. Of great concern is that minority workers are at increased risk for workplace illnesses and injuries.[96]​ United States labor laws that create barriers to organizing a union, immigration policies, unregulated and unsafe workplaces, lack of health insurance, misclassified workers losing protections, being an essential worker, not having sick leave, distrust in the health care system, language barriers, and the cost of missing work are just some of the possible factors that contribute to this disparity in health.[96][97][98][99]​.

Li (2019) proposes that there are three generations of construction safety informatics "Information science (technology)" that are relevant to improving construction safety:.

La preparación del sitio ayuda a prevenir lesiones y muertes en los sitios de construcción. La preparación del sitio incluye retirar escombros, nivelar el suelo, rellenar huecos, cortar raíces de árboles y marcar tuberías de gas, agua y electricidad.[50]​ Otro método de prevención en la obra es proporcionar un andamio que sea rígido y suficiente para soportar su propio peso más cuatro veces la carga máxima prevista sin asentarse ni desplazarse.[51]​.

Algunas formas de prevenir lesiones y mejorar la seguridad incluyen:.

Los empleados o empleadores son responsables de proporcionar sistemas de protección contra caídas y de garantizar el uso de los mismos. La protección contra caídas se puede proporcionar mediante sistemas de barandas, sistemas de redes de seguridad, sistemas personales de detención de caídas, sistemas de dispositivos de posicionamiento y sistemas de líneas de advertencia.[53]​ Deben asegurarse de que las escaleras sean lo suficientemente largas para llegar con seguridad al área de trabajo para evitar lesiones. Las escaleras, escalones y pasillos deben estar libres de objetos, escombros y materiales peligrosos. Un ingeniero profesional registrado debe diseñar un sistema de protección para zanjas de 20 pies de profundidad o más por razones de seguridad. Para evitar lesiones con las grúas "Grúa (máquina)"), es necesario inspeccionarlas para detectar posibles daños. El operador debe conocer el peso máximo de la carga que debe levantar la grúa. Todos los operadores deben estar capacitados y certificados para garantizar que operan carretillas elevadoras de manera segura.

Existen múltiples herramientas digitales que se pueden implementar para monitorear la seguridad en todo el sitio, incluidas las inducciones en línea a los sitios de construcción, un registro digital del sitio, la medición de la seguridad del sitio de construcción en línea y el control de acceso digital.[54]​ El software digital mantiene todas las inspecciones de construcción en un solo lugar y proporciona un registro de seguridad permanente para fines de generación de informes que ayuden a garantizar que los sitios de trabajo y los equipos sean seguros.[55]​.

Modelo de excelencia operacional para mejorar la seguridad en las organizaciones de la construcción.

Hay 16 factores de seguridad asociados a este modelo para mejorar la seguridad de las organizaciones de construcción:.

Cada factor de seguridad mencionado anteriormente tiene algunos subelementos atribuidos al mismo.

Education and safety

Construction workers need to receive proper training and education on the task or job before working, which will help prevent injuries and deaths. There are many methods to train construction workers. One method is to train construction site foremen to include safety in their daily verbal exchanges with workers to reduce workplace accidents.[24]​ It is important that workers use the same language to ensure the best communication. In recent years, in addition to traditional face-to-face security knowledge sharing, mobile applications also make knowledge sharing possible.[57]​.

Another method is to ensure that all workers know how to properly use electronic devices, conveyors, skid steers, trucks, aerial lifts, and other equipment on the construction site.[58]​ Equipment on the jobsite should be properly maintained and inspected regularly before and after each shift.[59]​ The equipment inspection system will help the operator ensure that a machine is mechanically sound and in safe operating condition. An employee must be assigned to inspect the equipment to ensure proper safety. The equipment must have lights and reflectors if it is intended for night use. The glass in the equipment cabin must be safety glass in some countries.[60]​[61]​ The equipment must be used for its intended task at all times in the workplace to ensure worker safety.

Every construction site must have a construction site manager. An occupational safety and health specialist who designs and implements safety standards to minimize injuries and accidents.[62] He or she is also in charge of conducting daily safety audits and inspections to ensure compliance with government regulations.[62] Most construction site managers have entry-level experience or a higher degree.

Before any excavation is carried out, the contractor is responsible for notifying all applicable companies that excavation work is being carried out. During excavation, the contractor is responsible for providing a safe working environment for employees and pedestrians.

Access and egress are also important parts of excavation safety.[63]​ Ramps used by equipment must be designed by a person qualified in structural design.[63]​ No person is permitted to cross or stand under any loading or excavation equipment. Employees must remain a safe distance from all equipment while it is in operation. Employees who have training and education in the areas mentioned above will benefit their coworkers and themselves on the construction site.

Each spring in the United States, many safety organizations sponsor a week-long voluntary campaign to raise awareness about construction falls, the leading cause of death for construction workers.[64] This event provides employers the opportunity to discuss safety hazards such as falls and how to prevent them. Even if a company does not have employees exposed to fall hazards, the safety awareness campaign can be used to discuss other workplace hazards, prevention methods, and company safety policies.[64]​.

In 2016, high-height falls caused 92 of the 115 deaths in the roofing industry, as well as 384 of the 991 overall construction deaths recorded.[65]​ In 2016, high-height falls were the leading cause of death for construction workers in the U.S., causing fatal injuries to more than 310 construction workers and seriously injuring 10,350 others. due to falls from great heights. In 2016, the leading causes of these construction-related fall deaths were falls from roofs (124), ladders (104), and scaffolds (60). Eighty-one percent of deaths caused by roofing occur in the construction industry, 57% of deaths caused by ladders occur in the construction industry, and 86% of deaths caused by scaffolding occur in the construction industry.[66]​.

Several of the 10 most frequently cited OSHA violations each year involve fall protection safety standards.[65]​[67][68]​ The annual number of construction fatalities in the United States is listed in the following table:.

The program was originally launched as a two-year project on Workers' Memorial Day in 2012 to raise awareness about fall prevention in construction, but due to its success, it has been continued at the beginning of each construction season.[70] In 2015, more than 150 public events were held nationwide, involving more than 150,000 workers and 1.5 million United States Air Force personnel. United.[71]​.

Organizations that partner with OSHA to sponsor this annual event include the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),[72]​ the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR),[73]​ the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP),[74]​ the National Safety Council,[70]​ and many others.[65]​[75]​[76]​[77]​ There are also resources available from multiple sources for help employers find activities.[78]​[79]​ The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and NIOSH have made several fall prevention videos available to the public on YouTube,[80]​[81]​among others. The National Association of Roofing Contractors has published three video webinars available for viewing.[82]​ The developers at Lergent have published a mobile application available for download, which helps workers find an authorized provider of fall prevention courses.[83]​.

personal protective equipment

Hard hats, steel-toed boots, and reflective safety vests are perhaps the most commonly used personal protective equipment by construction workers around the world. A risk assessment may determine that other protective equipment is appropriate, such as gloves, goggles, or high-visibility clothing.[84]​.

Company size

As company size increases, the incidence rate decreases due to the provision of better occupational health and safety programs.[85]​.

On many construction sites it is not possible to completely exclude non-workers. Road construction sites often need to allow traffic to pass through. This exposes non-workers to some degree of risk.

Road construction sites are blocked and traffic is rerouted. Sites and vehicles are protected with signs and barricades. However, sometimes even these signs and barricades can be a hazard to vehicle traffic. For example, poorly designed barricades can cause cars that collide with or hit them to overturn or even fly away. Even a simple safety sign can go through the windshield or roof of a car if it hits it from certain angles.

Most construction deaths are caused by hazards related to construction activities. However, many deaths are also caused by non-construction activities, such as electrical hazards.

Construction safety has been considered a hot topic in academic research. According to the latest research. The largest number of construction safety papers published were published by academics from the United States and China; The total number of articles published by these two countries was 1,125, which represents 56% of the 2,000 articles that were published. Both countries showed high levels of collaboration in research. While the results suggest that economic development can boost academic research on construction safety, there has been an increase in construction safety research conducted by developing countries in recent years, probably due to an improvement in their economic development. While the authors' keywords evidenced the popularity of safety and climate management research, network analysis of all keywords, that is, keywords provided by Web of Science and the authors, suggests that construction safety research focused on three areas: construction safety management, the relationship between people and construction safety, and the protection and health of workers' impact on construction safety. There is a new interdisciplinary research trend where construction safety is combined with digital technologies, and most of it involves deep learning. Other trends focus on machine learning, building information modeling, machine learning and visualization[86].

European Union

In Europe, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work coordinates actions at European Union (EU) and national level, and the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion is responsible for regulation at EU level.[87]​.

Under European Union law, there are European Union directives "Directive (European Union law)") to protect workers, in particular Directive 89/391 (Framework Directive) and Directive 92/57 (Temporary and Mobile Workplaces Directive). This legislation is transposed across Member States and imposes obligations on employers (and others) to assess and protect the health and safety of workers.

United Kingdom

In the UK, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcement, while the Health and Safety Executive Agency for Northern Ireland (HSENI) is responsible in Northern Ireland. In Ireland "Ireland (island)"), the Health and Safety Authority (HSA) is responsible for the standards and their implementation.

USA

In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) establishes and enforces standards regarding safety and health in the workplace. In the first decade of the century, efforts have been made to improve the safety of both highway workers and drivers in construction zones. In 2004, Congress updated Title 23 Part 630 Subpart J of the Code of Federal Regulations to include new regulations directing state agencies to create and systematically adopt comprehensive plans to address safety in highway construction zones that receive federal funds.[88]​.

OSHA implemented the Final Rule to Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses, which went into effect on January 1, 2017. It requires employers to submit incident data electronically to OSHA. This data will allow OSHA to use compliance and enforcement assistance resources more efficiently. The amount of data required varies by company and industry.[89]​.

According to OSHA statistics, more than 13 work-related deaths occur every day in the United States and one in five of them occur in the construction industry.[90]​.

Hong Kong

The employer must provide different degrees of protection when deciding what precautions to take against hazards. When one task turns out to be more dangerous than another, a greater degree of care must be taken, but when the employer cannot eliminate the dangerous task, reasonable precautions need to be taken to reduce the risk, according to Nguyen Van Vinh v. Cheung Ying Construction Engineering Ltd. (2008). This does not imply, however, that the employer is required to eliminate all risks. Lord Oaksey stated in Winter v. Cardiff Rural District Council (1950) "but this does not mean that an employer must decide on every detail of the system of work or mode of operation. There are areas in which the employer must exercise his discretion and there are other areas in which foremen and workers must exercise theirs... With respect to the decision about how to take safety precautions it should often be left to the foreman or workers on site. While the employee's immediate employer is responsible for safety, Morris v. Breaveglen (1993) ruled that the main contractor cannot escape liability. General employers argued that they should not be liable for injuries as they did not exercise direct control over workers. However, judges overruled such an argument in Rainfield Design & Associates Ltd v Siu Chi Moon (2000), “[t]he purpose of the Regulations was clearly to ensure worker safety and for this the primary responsibility must lie with the contractor responsible for the site. Even where a subcontractor had a contractual obligation to provide facilities and equipment, the contractor responsible for the site would not be relieved of its obligation under the Regulations."[91]​.

Hispanics make up a sizable portion of the construction workforce: In 2019, 30.4% of construction workers were Hispanic, compared to 17.7% of workers across all industries.[92] About 1 in 4 construction workers in the United States did not have health insurance in 2018, more than double the uninsured rate among all US workers.[93] Nearly half (48%) o 2 in 4 Hispanic construction workers were uninsured, more than triple that of their non-Hispanic counterparts (13%). Compared to their white counterparts, the fatal injury rate among Hispanics is 41% higher.[94] Additionally, research has found that nearly half of all work-related deaths among Hispanics occur in small construction establishments with between 1 and 10 employees. In the period 2003-2008, falls from elevated heights were the leading cause of 40% of all Hispanic construction worker deaths.[95]​ In terms of non-fatal injuries experienced by Hispanic workers, contact with objects (43.0%) was the leading cause. Of great concern is that minority workers are at increased risk for workplace illnesses and injuries.[96]​ United States labor laws that create barriers to organizing a union, immigration policies, unregulated and unsafe workplaces, lack of health insurance, misclassified workers losing protections, being an essential worker, not having sick leave, distrust in the health care system, language barriers, and the cost of missing work are just some of the possible factors that contribute to this disparity in health.[96][97][98][99]​.

Li (2019) proposes that there are three generations of construction safety informatics "Information science (technology)" that are relevant to improving construction safety:.