U.S. Construction Worker Fall Accidents: Their Causes And Influential Factors

Authors

Sohaib SiddiquiFollow

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Science (MS)

Major/Program

Construction Management

First Advisor's Name

Youngcheol Kang

First Advisor's Committee Title

Major Professor

Second Advisor's Name

Irtishad U. Ahmad

Third Advisor's Name

Jose A. Faria

Keywords

fall accidents, construction, safety, fatalities, accidents, injuries

Date of Defense

2-27-2014

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the main causes of fall accidents and, to pinpoint the factors that influence the risk of falls in the U.S. construction industry. This study employed the Integrated Management Information System (IMIS) data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to examine 9,141 fall accidents, recorded for the period of last 20 years. The results show that specialty trade contractors working on low-budget, residential housing and commercial building projects are more susceptible to fall accidents. In terms of fall height, 85% of the fall accidents occurred on heights less than 30 ft., and most of them are not equipped with a fall protection tool. The main contribution of this study is that it has specifically analyzed fall heights and the current state of usage of fall protection using actual accident data. Since there has been hardly any research done in the last decade to study falls in the U.S. construction industry, by examining the IMIS database; this study also presents updated analysis on fall accidents.

Identifier

FI14040808

Recommended Citation

Siddiqui, Sohaib, "U.S. Construction Worker Fall Accidents: Their Causes And Influential Factors" (2014). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1157.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1157