KPI of the Day – # Construction-related incidents, injuries & fatalities

Written by Andrei Costea on May 4, 2020. Posted in News

Definition

Measures the total number of construction-related incidents, injuries and fatalities reported during the measurement period.

Purpose

To reflect how safe the construction sites are.

Recommendations

The construction industry is one with a relatively high degree of risk and thereby poses considerable challenges in the area of employee safety and health.

This particular sector of the economy is also very comprehensive, and includes activities ranging from building ample facilities such as hospitals or hotels, to maintaining, renovating, repairing or, conversely, demolishing houses, roads, tunnels, bridges, airports etc.

The high dynamics of this working environment, which by definition requires strong and sometimes fast structural changes, makes monitoring the # Construction-related incidents, injuries and fatalities of utmost importance for developing corrective and, most importantly, preventive measures.

Furthermore, the number of fatal and non-fatal incidents should ideally be accompanied by the reason for such occurrences (leading causes being falls from elevations, being hit by moving objects, getting stuck between objects, electrical shock).

Actions to be taken for the prevention of construction related incidents include the following:

Regulating and incentivizing the implementation of construction safety and health management systems;
Engaging the media in raising awareness of the prevailing issues and in disseminating confirmed solutions for ensuring workplace safety and health;
Facilitating the gathering, combining and sharing of best practices, safety checklists, programs and other tools and techniques among public and private sector entities.

Potential hazards for workers in the construction industry include * Falls (from heights); * Trench collapse; * Scaffold collapse; * Electric shock and arc flash/arc blast; * Failure to use proper personal protective equipment; * Repetitive motion injuries.

Targets may be set separately by cause and outcome of the incidents. When setting targets, one should consider the local average fatal injury rate for all industries. The number of workers at construction sites may also impact the level of this KPI.

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