This master thesis addresses the issue of construction site accidents from the health and safety perspective. It defines the basics concerning the lack of safety procedures during work, which may lead to work-related accidents at a construction site.
To set the basis, statistical data from the construction site accidents, as well as work accidents in general, are presented. Additionally, types of the most common accidents, their occurrence, and preventive measures are presented. These accidents are further discussed and analyzed to provide a comprehensive comparison of the risks concerning these accidents. By doing so, its avoidance or the reduction in occurrence is further presented. Furthermore, reasons behind the accidents are presented, including the technical preparedness of the construction site to reach the highest security as well as site management team, which might influence the accident occurrence.
Current health and safety legislation is presented along with the actual requirements which are established to be kept during the construction work, in order to distinguish whether these are adhered by the site staff, or further improvement might take place to decrease the existing accidents rates and employees’ awareness.
Lastly, the thesis aims to assess the process of the return of the workers back to the construction site, who presently experienced an accident with the actual sick leave. It focuses on the perspective of the accident by the injured, co-workers, and management, whether additional preventive measures are taken, if yes, in what sense and, whether overall site employees accidents perception and seriousness have transformed in any way.
The investigation has discovered that principles of Occupational Health and Safety at the construction site adhere to some extent. At the same time, there is a noticeable area for an improvement as mostly communication issues were discovered, where site management did not update their employees properly regarding details of operating when in an emergency. At the same time, alignment with the OHS rules and wearing of PPE that is able to avoid accidents was satisfactory. The outcome of the study also indicated that the consequences for the workers
that were involved in an accident at the construction site might often be very serious. Fortunately, the awareness of the employees at the site about this matter is rather distinctive.