Factors influencing the occurrence of labour accidents in Vietnamese residential construction projects

Duong Hong Tham; Luu Truong Van; Le Hoai Long

Abstract

There was a sharp increase in the annual injury rate and the annual death rate per 100,000 employees in the Vietnam construction industry (VCI) from 2000 to 2006. This study aimed to identify and analyze factors affecting the occurrence of labour accidents (OLA) in residential construction projects. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from construction practitioners. The results show that labour accidents in the VCI resulted from factors related to unqualified construction resources, unsafe human behaviour and poor management. The results can be used to gain insight into the OLA in order to deal with high labour accident rate and to develop safety programs in Vietnam as well as in other developing countries.

Keywords

Construction; factor analysis; labour accidents; occupational safety and health; safety; Vietnam

Full Text:

PDF

References

Abdelhamid, T.S., and Everret, J.G. (2000). “Identifying Root Causes of Construction Accidents”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 124, 67-71.

Abudayyeh, O., Fredericks, T.K., Butt, S.E., and Shaar, A. (2006). “An investigation of management’s commitment to construction safety”. International Journal of Project Management, 24, 167-174.

Anton, T.J. (1989). Occupational safety and health management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Aksorn, T., and Hadikusomo, B.H.W. (2007). “Critical success factors influencing safety program performance in Thai construction projects”. Safety Science (in press).

Arditi, R.D., Akan, G.T., and Gurdamar, S. (1985). “Reasons for delays in public projects in Turkey”. Construction Management and Economics, 3, 171-181.

Ariss, S. (2003). “Employee involvement to improve safety in the workplace: an ethical imperative”. Mid-American Journal of Business, 18, 9-16.

Boden, L., Hall, J., Levenstein, C., and Punnett, L. (1984). “The Impact of Health and Safety Committees”. Journal of Occupational Medicine, 26, 829-834.

Bradsher, K. (2006). “Vietnam’s roaring economy is set for world stage”. The New York Times, October 25 2006.

Burt, C.D.B., Sepie, B., and McFadden, G. (2008). “The development of a considerate and responsible safety attitude in work teams”. Safety Science, 46, 79-91.

Cameron, I., and Duff, R. (2007). “Use of performance measurement and goal setting to improve construction manager’s focus on health and safety”. Construction Management and Economics, 25, 869-881.

Cameron, I., Hare, B., and Davies, R. (2007). “Fatal and major construction accidents: a comparison between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain”. Safety Science,doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2007.06.007.

Chi, C.F., Chang, T.C., and Ting, S.I. (2005).“Accident patterns and prevention measures for fatal occupational falls in the construction industry”. Applied Ergonomics, 36, 391-400.

Choudhry, R.M., and Fang, D. (2007). “Why operatives engage in unsafe work behavior: investiagting factirs on construction sites”. Safety Science,doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2007.06.027

Dessler, G. (2000). Human Resource Management, 8th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.

Erikson, D. (1997). “The relationship between corporate culture and safety performance”. Professional Safety, 12, 29-33.

Fang, D.P., Xie, F., Huang, X.Y., and Li, H. (2004a). “Factor analysis-based studies on construction workplace safety management in China”. International Journal of Project Management, 22, 43-49.

Fang, D.P, Huang, X.Y, and Hinze, J. (2004b). “Benchmarking studies on construction safety management in China”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 130, 424-432.

Fang, D.P., Chen, Y., and Wong, L. (2006). “Safety climate in construction industry: a case study in Hong Kong”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 132, 573-584.

Fung, I.W.H., Tam, C.M., Tung, K.C.F., and Man, A.S.K. (2005). “Safety cultural divergences among management, supervisory and worker groups in Hong Kong construction industry”. International Journal of Project Management, 23, 504-512.

Gambatese, J.A. (1998). “Liability in Designing for Construction Worker Safety”. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 4, 107-112.

Gambatese, J.A., and Hinze, J.W. (1999). “Addressing Construction Worker Safety in the Design Phase: Designing for Construction Worker Safety”. Automation in Construction, 8, 643-649.

Gambatese, J., Behm, M., and Hinze, J.W. (2005). “Viability of designing for construction worker safety”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 131, 1029-1036.

Gillen, M., Baltz, D., Gassel, M., Krisch, L., and Vaccaro, D. (2002). “Perceived safety climate, job demands, and coworker support among union and nonunion injured construction workers”. Journal of Safety Research, 33, 33-51.

Gun, R., and Ryan, C. (1994). “A Case-control Study of Possible Risk Factors in The Causation of Occupational Injury”. Safety Science, 18, 1-13.

Hair, J.F., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., and Black, W.C. (1998). Multivariate data analysis. 5th ed., New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Harper, R.S., and Koehn, E. (1998). “Managing Industrial Construction Safety in Southeast Texas”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 124, 452-457.

Haslam, R.A., Hide, S.A, Gibb, A.G.F., Gyi, D.E., Pavitt, T., Atkinson, S., and Duff, A.R. (2005). “Contributing factors in construction accidents”. Applied Ergonomics, 36, 401-415.

Hinze, J.W., and Pannullo, J. (1978). “Safety: Function of Job Control”. Journal of Construction Division (ASCE), 104, 241-249.

Hinze, J., and Gordon, F. (1979). “Supervisor-Worker Relationship Affect Injury Rates”. Journal of Construction Division (ASCE), 105, 253-262.

Hinze, J. (1981). “Human aspects of construction safety”. Journal of Construction Division (ASCE), 107, 61-72.

Hinze, J., and Harrison, C. (1981). “Safety programs in large construction firms”. Journal of Construction Division (ASCE), 107, 455-467.

Hinze, J.W. (1997). Construction Safety. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Hinze, J., Pedersen, C., and Fredley, J. (1998). “Identifying root causes of construction injuries”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 124, 67-71.

Hislop, R.D. (1991). “A construction safety program”. Professional Safety, 36, 14-20.

Holmes, N., Lingard, H., Yesilyurt, Z., and Munk, F.D. (1999). “An exploratory study of meanings of risk control for long term and acute effect occupational health and safety risks in small business construction firms”. Journal of Safety Research, 30, 251-261.

ILO (1980). Protection of workers against noise and vibration in the working environment. Geneva: International Labor Organization Office.

Johnson, S.E. (2003). “Behavioral safety theory: understanding the theoretical foundation”. Professional Safety, 48, 39-44.

Johnson, S.E. (2007). “The predictive validity of safety climate”. Journal of Safety Research, doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2007.07.001

Kaiser, H.F., and Rice, J. (1974). “Little Jiffy Mark IV”. Educational and psychological measurement, 34, 111-117.

Kaming, P.F., Olomolaiye, P.O., Holt, G.D., and Harris, F.C. (1997).“Factors influencing construction time and cost overruns on high-rise projects in Indonesia”. Construction Management and Economic, 15, 83-94.

Kartam, N.A., and Bouz, R.G. (1998). “Fatalities and injuries in the Kuwaiti construction industry”. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 30, 805-814.

Kartam, N.A., Flood, I., and Koushki, P. (2000). “Construction safety in Kuwait: issues, procedures, problems, and recommendations”. Safety Science, 36, 163-184.

Kunishima, M., and Shoji, M. (1996).The principles of construction management. Tokyo: Sankaido.

Krause, T.R. (1997). The behavior-based safety process: Managing involvement for an injury free culture, New York: John Willey & Sons.

Lan, D.T.X. (1997). Assessment of Productivity Perceptions and factors for

Vietnamese Construction Personnel. Master thesis. Bangkok, Thailand: Asian Institute of Technology (unpublication).

Larsson, S., Poustte, A., and Törner, M. (2007). “Psychological climate and safety in the construction industry-mediated influence on safety behavior”. Safety Science, doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2007.05.012

Laukkanen, T. (1999). “Construction work and education: Occupational health and safety reviewed”. Construction Management and Economics, 17, 53-62.

Lingard, H., and Rowlinson, S. (1997). “Behavior-based safety management in Hong Kong’s construction industry”. Journal of Safety Research, 28, 243-256.

Lingard, H., and Holmes, N. (2001). “Understandings of occupational health and safety risk control in small business construction firms: barriers to implementing technological controls”. Construction Management and Economics, 19, 217-226.

Lingard, H. (2002). “The effect of first aid training on Australian construction workers’ occupational health and safety motivation and risk control behavior”. Journal of Safety Research, 33, 209-230.

Luu, T-V., and Le-Hoai, L. (2007). Labor safety in the Vietnamese construction industry: Technology and Management. Ho Chi Minh city: HCMC Publishing House (Vietnamese).

Luu, V.T., Kim, S.Y, and Huynh T.A. (2007). “Improving project management performance of large contractors using benchmarking approach”. International Journal of Project Management, doi:10.1016/j.ijproman.2007.10.002

McGowan, D.E., and Norton, W.W. (1989). “Safety: a health service team approach”. Professional Safety, 34, 21-26.

Mitropoulos, P., Abdelhamid, T.S., and Howell, G.A. (2005). “Systems model of construction accident causation”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 131, 816-825.

Mohamed, S. (2002). “Safety climate in construction site environments”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 128, 375-384. Neal, A., and Griffin, M.A. (2002). “Safety climate and safety behavior”. Australian Journal of Management, 27, 66-77.

Nguyen, L.D., Ogunlana, S.O., and Lan D.T.X. (2004). “A study on project success factors in large construction projects in Vietnam”. Engineering Construction and Architectural Management, 11, 404-413.

Pierce, F.D. (1995). “Setting effective goals and objectives in safety and health programs”. Occupational Hazards, 57, 169-174.

Ulloa, B.R., and Adams, S.G. (2004). “Attitude toward teamwork and effective teaming”. Team performance management, 10, 145-151.

Rechenthin, D. (2004). “Project safety as a sustainable competitive advantage”. Journal of Safety Research, 35, 297-308.

Salminen, S., Saari, J., Saarela, K., and Rasanen, T. (1993). “Organizational Factors Influencing Serious Occupational Accidents”. Scandinavian Journal of Work and Environmental Health, 19, 352-357.

Salminen, S. (1995). “Serious occupational accidents in the construction industry”. Construction Management and Economics, 14, 299-306.

Saurin, T.A., Formoso, C.T., and Cambraia, F.B. (2007). “An analysis of construction safety best practices from a cognitive engineering perspective”. Safety Science,doi:10.1016/j.ssci.2007.07.007

Schultz, D. (2004). Employee attitudes: a must have. Occupational Health and Safety, 73, 66-71.

Seppala, A. (1995). “Promoting safety by training supervisors and safety representatives for daily safety work”. Safety Science, 20, 317-322.

Shannon, H.S., Mayr, J., and Haines, T. (1997).“Overview of relationship between organizational and workplace factors and injury rates“. Safety Science, 26, 201-217.

Sharma, S. (1996), Applied multivariate techniques. USA: John Willey & Sons Inc.

Simard, M., and Marchand, A. (1994). “The Behavior of First-line Supervisors in Accident Prevention and Effectiveness in Occupational Safety”. Safety Science, 17, 185-191.

Sklet, S. (2006). “Safety barriers: definition, classification, and performance”. Journal of Loss prevention in the process industries, 19, 494-506.

Smith, G. R., and Roth, R. D. (1991). “Safety programs and the construction manager”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 117, 361-371.

Smith, S. (2003). “The top 10 ways to improve safety management”. Occupational Hazards, 65, 33-36.

Stranks, J. (1994). Human factors and safety. London: Pitman Publishing.

Suraji, A., and Duff, A. R. (2001). “Development of Causal Model of Construction Accident Causation”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 127, 337-344.

Tam, C.M., Fung, I.W.H., and Chan, A.P.C (2001). “Study of attitude changes in people after the implementation of a new safety management system: the supervision plan”. Construction Management and Economics, 19, 393-403.

Tam, C.M., Fung, I.W.H., Yeung, TC.L., and Tung K.C.F. (2003). “Relationship between construction safety signs and symbols recognition and characteristics of construction personnel”. Construction Management and Economics, 21, 745-753.

Tam, C.M., Zeng, S.X., and Deng, Z.M. (2004). “Identifying elements of construction safety management in China”. Safety Science, 42, 569-586.

Teo, E.A.L., and Ling, F.Y.Y. (2006). “Developing a model to measure the effectiveness of safety management systems of construction sites”. Building and Environment, 41, 1584-1592.

Tirachai, P. (2000). Identification and statistical analysis of the root causes of labor accidents in the Thai construction industry. Master thesis. Bangkok, Thailand: Asian Institute of Technology. (unpublication).

Toole, T.M. (2002). “Construction site safety roles”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 128, 203-210.

Vaid, K.N. (1988). Construction Safety Management. Bombay: National Institute of Construction Management and Research Press.

Vredenburgh, A.G. (2002). “Organization safety: which management practices are most effective in reducing employee injury rate?” Journal of Safety Research, 33, 259-276.

Weber, J.O. (1992).“Developing a comprehensive safety program”. Professional Safety, 37, 33-38.

Wildman, W., and Castelli, T.H. (2004). “Minimizing liability for construction accidents through good contracting”. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 130, 306-310.

Wilson, H.A. (1989). “Organizational behavior and safety management in the construction industry”. Construction Management and Economics, 7, 303-319.

Wilson, J. M., and Koehn, E. E. (2000). “Safety management: problems encountered and recommended solutions”. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management (ASCE), 126, 77-79.

1 (1) 2011

Factors influencing the occurrence of labour accidents in Vietnamese residential construction projects

Abstract

Keywords

Full Text:

References