Construction Accident Overview

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Fangxiao Liu, Ph.D. Candidate (Construction), The Pennsylvania State University

Table of Contents

Introduction

Common Types of Construction Accidents

Key Factors Leading to Construction Accidents

The Role of OSHA

Organizational Chart

OSHA Law & Regulations

"Fatal Four"

Top 10 Most Frequently Cited OSHA Standard Violations

Case Study - WTC Accidents

Lessons Learned

In Case of a Construction Accident

Prevention and Constructability

Conclusion

Annotated Bibliography

KEY WORDS: CONSTRUCTION ACCIDENTS, WORLD TRADE CENTER, FAILURES CASE STUDIES

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Introduction
In the construction industry, owners, contractors and designers have the obligation to provide a safe site working
environment, and their negligence on safety may cause severe accidents and injuries as well as economic loss
(Laufer, 1987). A large number of construction accidents are reported and thousands of workers are killed or injured
on construction sites each year. As a result, project owners lose large amounts of money and many families suffer
from permanent pain. In 2012, there were 4 accidents that occurred on the World Trade Center (WTC) construction
project, which serves as a case study to learn about construction accidents.

Common Types of Construction Accidents

There are many types of construction accidents, and they can be classified by different categories. In terms of
severity, a construction accident may or may not cause injuries and life loss, and the economic loss may be small or
huge. A construction accident can be rooted in equipment failure, design ignorance, working carelessness, and
natural disasters, etc. In addition, based on the locations, there are tunnel accidents, highway construction accidents,
and residential building site accidents, to name but a few. Table 1 shows some examples of construction accidents
(URL 1).
Table 1. Classification of Construction Accidents

Classification Labor Type Project Type Heavy Equipment Building Others

Category Component

Accidents
Painter Tunnel Crane and Ceiling Falling
Examples
Accidents Accidents Truck Accidents Collapse Object Accidents

Plumber Excavation Welding Wall Fire

Accidents Accidents Equipment Accidents Collapse and Explosions

Iron Worker Highway Ladder Stairs OSHA

Accidents Construction Accidents Accidents Failures Violations

Brick Layer Residential Scaffolding Window Etc.

Accidents Building Site Accidents Failure Installation Failure

Carpenter Bridge Elevator Slab

Accidents Accidents Accidents Failure

Maintenance Parking Power Tool Etc.

Worker Accidents Garage Collapse Accidents

Union Worker Demolition Cable and

Accidents Accidents Rope Accidents

Etc. Etc. Forklift

Accidents

Saw Blade
Accidents

Etc.

Key Factors Leading to Construction Accidents

Construction accidents can be caused by a variety of reasons, and different disciplines involved in a construction
project may all be responsible. In the planning phase, owners may fail to consider potential site safety issues, and
pay little attention to safety management. In the design phase, designers and architects may neglect all possible
safety-related design codes or not be able to eliminate all possible factors. In the construction phase, contractors may
fail to be cautious about site safety risks or report problems in time, and workers may do their job carelessly.
The following is a video clip from OSHA about "Struck-by Accidents in Construction/Swinging Cranes":

The most common causes of accidents in construction projects are (Haslam, et.al., 2005; URL 6):

-Falling Hazards
Falling accidents typically occur when a worker steps to or backwards an open-sided floor or slab and focuses on the
work. Slips, trips and low falls are the most common forms, and usually cause minor injuries (e.g. musculoskeletal
disorders, puncture wounds, etc.). By contrast, fatal accidents can be caused by falls from height, and in most cases
workers suffer from head or shoulder wounds. Lack of opening protections, inadequate edge protections, scaffolding
failures, and inappropriate use of ladders may lead to potential falling hazards.
-Unsafe Working ConditionsAccording to Abdelhamid, T. and Everett, J. (2000), an unsafe condition is a condition
in which the physical layout of the workplace or work locations, the status of tools, equipment, and/or material are in
violation of contemporary safety standards. Unsafe conditions on a construction site include exposed rebar,
uncovered holes or trenches, and inadequate personal protective equipment, etc. Accidents can be caused by failing
to identify an unsafe condition, ignorance of an unsafe condition reported by workers, or deciding to act unsafe in the
work environment.
-Struck By Tools, Equipment and Falling ObjectsSerious injuries may be caused by falling objects or tools, which
are due to lack of tool belts, inadequate site storage planning, and lack of toe boards on scaffolding. In addition,
improper use of construction vehicles and equipment (e.g. cranes, hoists, trucks, etc.) may also result in struck,
crushed or trapped accidents.
-Trenching and Excavation HazardsTrenching hazards may set workers in danger of being trapped by soil and
rocks, asphyxiation, inhalation of poisoning fumes and drowning in underground water. Inadequate excavation wall
support, protective system failure, soil inspection failure and unsafe passage into and out of the trench may generate
such kind of construction accidents.
-Stepladder MisuseThe majority of falls in construction accidents are due to stepladder misuse or failures. Ladder
injuries include loss of balance, improperly ladder setting up, loss of balance, and exceeding the ladder weight
capacity, etc. Information on the causes of ladder injuries, ladder types, ladder misuse and safe ladder practices can
be found in the document of Ladder Safety in Construction developed by Washington State Department of Labor &
Industries.
-Electrocutions and Power Tool AccidentsElectrocutions can be caused by body contact with power cables, cable
strikes on underground utilities, or defective of ground-fault protection. Power tool accidents, such as nail gun injuries,
are usually caused by inappropriate use or inadequate eye protection. Furthermore, improper guards in place on
power tool management may lead to more severe injuries.
-Scaffolding AccidentsScaffolding accidents cause large numbers of deaths and injuries every year. Most accidents
are caused by scaffold equipment failure, inadequate scaffolding safety training, lack of personal fall protective
systems, or improper scaffolding equipment operation. In addition, materials and tools falling off scaffolding may also
cause injuries.
-Construction Vehicle AccidentsLarge construction equipment (e.g. cranes, forklifts, dump trucks, road graders and
concrete mixtures, etc.) may become potential dangers on a construction site. Due to their weight and size, workers
and drivers can be seriously injured or killed in an accident. In some cases, drivers may not have competent driving
skills, or their visibility may be limited due to site constraints (URL 8).

The Role of OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the Department of Labor (URL 7). It was
created by the Congress with the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 with the aim to assure safe and
healthful working conditions for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing
training, outreach, education and assistance. OSHA is responsible to inspect construction sites, investigate
construction accidents, and enforce standards and regulations to reduce construction accident impacts. In 2011,
40,648 federal inspections and 52,056 state inspections were carried out with the budget of $573,096,000.

Organizational Chart
The organizational structure of OSHA can be found in the following document "OSHA Organizational Chart".
 OSHA Organizational Chart.pdf

Details

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OSHA Law & Regulations

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In 1970, the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act) became federal law and has been enforced by OSHA in
every state in the US. Under the OSH Act and other regulations (standards), employers are required to provide a safe
and healthful working environment and prevent workers from hazards and dangers in the working place.

"Fatal Four"
According to OSHA, 4,609 workers were killed on the job in 2011 (almost 90 deaths every week or 13 deaths every
day), out of which 721 workers (17.5%) were killed in construction. The leading causes, also called Fatal Four of
construction accidents in 2011 are falls, electrocutions, struck of object, and caught-in/between (Figure 2). Three out
of five construction worker deaths (410 workers lives in total) in the US were caused by the Fatal Four.

Top 10 Most Frequently Cited OSHA Standard Violations

According to OSHA, the top 10 most frequently cited OSHA standards violated in 2011 are:
o Hazard communication standard, general industry (29 CFR 1910.1200)o Respiratory protection, general industry
(29 CFR 1910.134)o Scaffolding, general requirements, construction (29 CFR 1926.451)o Fall protection,
construction (29 CFR 1926.501)o Control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), general industry (29 CFR
1910.147)o Electrical, wiring methods, components and equipment, general industry (29 CFR 1910.305)o Powered
industrial trucks, general industry (29 CFR 1910.178)o Ladders, construction (29 CFR 1926.1053)o Electrical
systems design, general requirements, general industry (29 CFR 1910.303)o Machine guarding (machines, general
requirements, general industry) (29 CFR 1910.212)

Case Study - WTC Accidents

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3 World Trade Center and 4 World Trade Center (Figure 3 & 4), part of the World Trade Center reconstruction in New
York City, were designed by Kenneth Gardner and Herbert Belton. 3 World Trade Center will provide 2.8 million
square feet of working space, and is schedule to be completed by 2014. 4 World Trade Center is designed to offer
1.8 million square feet of office space, and will be completed by 2013. Since the beginning of 2012, four accidents at
the World Trade Center construction site have been reported, among which 3 were on the Tower 4 site and 1 was on
the Tower 3 site.
Tower 4 Construction SiteSeveral steel beams (20 ton) fell 40 stories and crushed a truck on February 16 with no
injuries reported (Figure 5). The accident occurred in the morning when a crane was lifting metal beams to the top of
Tower 4. The cables in the crane snapped suddenly and dropped three 62-foot-long beams (appropriately 20 tons)
near Church Street and Cortlandt Street. As a result, the load fell 40 stories from the crane onto a flatbed truck.
Luckily no one was seriously injured in this accident, and only one worker got checked for minor injuries. Service for
the 1 train was also delayed. (URL 9)
On June 26th, a 37year-old worker was impaled by a piece of rebar after a 5-feet fall (URL 5). The man lost his
balance when working to the top of Tower 4 and the falling force made the piece of rebar that he was holding straight
through his stomach. His liver was bruised and two of his ribs were fractured. This accident belongs to the slips, trips
and low falls type but has led to serious injuries.
The next day (June 27th), shattered glass caused by a tilted crane fell from the 54th floor onto Liberty Street (URL 3).
A steel beam smashed some windows due to a sudden gust of wind and the glass pieces of 2 windows fell down.
Thanks to the closure of the street and the protective shed over the pedestrian sidewalk, no injuries were reported.

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On the Tower 3 Construction Site, a worker was seriously injured after falling 15 feet to the ground while installing a
beam in the afternoon on August 29th, 2012 (URL 4). The 36-year-old man was from Falcon Steel Co., Inc.,
Wilmington, Del and suffered serious arm and head injuries. He was working at the base of Tower 3 in the afternoon
when he slipped and fell onto the ground.
Table 2. WTC Accidents Summary in 2012

Date Location Discription Accident Type Injuries

Feb.16, 2012 Tower 4 Site Crane Cable Failure Heavy Equipment Accident 1 worker received minor injuries.

Jun.26, 2012 Tower 4 Site Worker Impaled by rebar Falling Hazards 1 worker was seriously injured.

Jun.27, 2012 Tower 4 Site Glass Falls Falling Hazards No injuries were reported.
 Aug.29, 2012 Tower 3 Site Worker Falls Falling Hazards 1 worker was seriously injured.

Similar Case-UW Demolition Accident

On July 21th, 2012, a large concrete slab fell and crushed onto the cab of a crane on the University of Washington
campus. The slab was 15 feet by 30 feet and fell six stories onto the crane, trapping the operator inside the cab with
severe injuries. It took about 2 hours for the emergency crews to free him and then he was rushed to the hospital.
The operator was working to demolish a residential building on the campus at the time of being injured. Figure 6
below was taken at the accident site.

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Lessons Learned
In Case of a Construction Accident
 All parties must react to a construction accident immediately, and take measures to minimize the impacts of injuries
and economic loss (URL 2). The most important thing is to give prompt medical care to injured workers and ensure
the safety of other on site workers. Project managers need to contact owners in time, and coordinate with designers
for best solutions. It is also important to preserve and investigate the site immediately, as well as reporting to OSHA.
A post-accident meeting should be coordinated by all related parties and measures need to be taken to prevent
similar accidents in the future.

Prevention and Constructability

In 1986, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) defined Constructability as the optimum use of construction
knowledge and experience in planning, design, procurement, and field operation to achieve overall project
objectives. Safety should be paid the first attention throughout the whole project process, and it is one of the most
important components of constructability.

Construction accident prevention involves all related parties and requires the collaboration of all disciplines in a
project (Chi, et al., 2005; Gyi, et al., 1999). The implementation of accident prevention should be embedded
throughout the planning, designing, construction and maintenance phases. A safety plan should be well developed
based on the specific project conditions in the planning phase, and agreed by all parties involved in the project. In the
design phase, designers and engineers should take safety in the first place. According to Behm (2006), designing for
safety is the consideration of construction site safety in the preparation of plans and specifications for construction
projects. All potential hazards in the site should be identified and minimized prior to the installation of protective
systems. During the construction and maintenance phases, everyone on the site must follow OSHA law and
regulations, and any violations should be documented and reported. All the workers should be trained for safety
concerns, and they should use protective equipment or tools when working in dangerous zones. General contractors
and engineers should provide and maintain a clean and safe working environment. All safety equipment and systems
on the site should also be supervised and maintained regularly.

Conclusion
Construction accidents cause a large number of deaths, injuries and economic loss each year. They can be classified
into different categories, and the leading causes are falling hazards, unsafe working conditions, and scaffolding
accidents, etc. In the US, OSHA is responsible to inspect construction sites, investigate construction accidents, and
enforce standards and regulations to reduce construction accident impacts. They have made OSHA law and
regulations and enforced them in every state. Thanks to the work of OSHA, fatalities at workplace have been reduced
by over 65 percent and injuries have been reduced by 76 percent since 1970. In terms of construction accident
prevention, owners, contractors and designers need to collaborate efficiently throughout the lifecycle of a project and
all efforts should be taken to eliminate the possibility of an accident. The concept of constructability should be
embedded early in the design phase to minimize the impacts of accidents.

Annotated Bibliography
Abdelhamid, T., Everett, J. (2000). Identifying Root Causes of Construction Accidents. Journal of
Construction Engineering and Management. 126, Pages 5260.

Three root causes of construction accidents are identified by using the accident root causes tracing model
(ARCTM).
 Behm, M. (2006). An Analysis of construction Accidents from a Design Perspective. The Center to Protect
Workers' Rights.http://www.cpwr.com/pdfs/pubs/research_pubs/krbehm.pdf (Oct 1, 2012).

This report analyzes construction accident issues from the design perspective and provides an investigation
model.

Bernard, K. EzineArticles. <http://ezinearticles.com/?9-Common-Causes-of-Construction-

Accidents&id=3202446> (Dec 2, 2012) (URL 6)

Nine common causes of construction accidents are discussed in this article.

Block O'Toole & Murphy: <http://www.blockotoole.com/>(Nov.15, 2012) (URL 1)

A thorough introduction of construction accidents can be found on this website.

Breakstone, White & Gluck. <http://www.bwglaw.com/> (Dec 2, 2012) (URL 2)

Information regarding with how to deal with a construction accident can be found on this website.

Chi, C., Chang T., Ting H. (2005). Accident patterns and prevention measures for fatal occupational falls in the
construction industry, Applied Ergonomics, Volume 36, Issue 4, Pages 391-400.

Different measures to prevent fatal falls and accidents at construction sites are discussed.

Conley, K. (June 27, 2012). Crane tilt causes glass to fall from 54th floor of 4 World Trade Center. New York
Post.
<http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/crane_tilt_shatters_glass_center_dG6lHJknuZ5c5C3sxGWS
zL> (October 2, 2012) (URL 3)

This article documented the construction accident of falling glass at the Tower 4 site (with photos).

Gyi, D.E., Gibb, A.G.F., Haslam, R.A. (1999). The Quality of Accident and Health Data in the Construction
Industry: Interviews With Senior Managers. Construction Management and Economics 17, Pages 197204.

This paper describes the quality of accident data using interviews with managers from nine large
engineering companies, and explores the methods to integrate the management of health and safety performance.
 Haslam, R.A., Hide, S.A., Gibb, A.G.F., Gyi, D.E., Pavitt, T., Atkinson, S., Duff, A.R.. (2005). Contributing factors
in construction accidents, Applied Ergonomics, Volume 36, Issue 4, Pages 401-415.

By analyzing findings from previous researches on over 100 construction accidents, several factors that may
lead to construction accidents are identified.

Hawkins, E.B.(2012). "Impaled At WTC: Construction Worker Suffers Injury At 4 World Trade Center." The
Inquisitr. <http://www.inquisitr.com/264206/impaled-at-wtc-construction-worker-suffers-injury-at-4-world-
trade-center/> (October 2, 2012) (URL 5)

The construction accident of the impaled worker at the Tower 4 site is described by the author.

Laufer, A. (1987). Construction accident cost and management safety motivation, Journal of Occupational
Accidents, Volume 8, Issue 4, Pages 295-315.

The author explores the relationship between the safety management motivation and the firm's economical
interests, and indicates recommendations of practical implementations for safety management.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. <http://www.osha.gov/> (Dec 1, 2012) (URL 7)

Homepage of OSHA.

Rosen, E.D.. (August 29, 2012). Construction Worker Injured at 3 World Trade Center. Commercial Observer.
<http://commercialobserver.com/2012/08/construction-worker-injured-at-3-world-trade-center/> (October 2,
2012) (URL 4)

The construction accident of the falling worker at the Tower 3 site on August 29, 2012 is reported in the
article.

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries. <http://www.lni.wa.gov/> (Dec 1, 2012) (URL 8)

A lot of construction safety training materials can be found on this website.

Wingate, Russotti, Shapiro & Halperin, LLP. New York Injury Talk Blog.
<http://www.nyinjurytalk.com/construction_accident/> (Dec 2, 2012) (URL 9)
 The crane accident in WTC Tower 4 in Feb.21, 2012 was documented in this article