Comparison of cost of accidents in construction Site against the cost of mitigation measures Through risk assessment

Abstract

Construction industry is booming day by day and it becomes one of the major economic forces of Bangladesh. Nevertheless, successful completion of construction project is a great challenge in terms of delays in project completion, cost overruns, and even failure. Apart from these, accidents in construction sites become another major concern which often leads to huge loss of properties, ill health/death of people, bad image of company and sometimes project failure. This problem is more severe in Bangladesh. Though risk management tools and techniques which have been developed to improve project success, are used too little, and many still wonder how helpful they are. Moreover, since accidents cannot be seen beforehand and protective measures involve additional cost, people are sometimes reluctant to adopt safety measure for their construction work. This paper aims to identify costs associated with safety measures of construction projects and compare it with costs that may occur because of accidents during construction works. In this study 50 hazards has been identified that consist risk of accidents during a construction work. Then the probable accidents relating to these hazards are enlisted and costs are estimated according to the likelihood of occurring and severity of the accident. Costs of accidents include medical cost of injuries, daily compensation for injured workers, death penalty, property damage and so on. On the other hand, costs of safety measures include PPE, safety guard, safety engineer and so on. Obtained results that using safety measures can save money, goodwill, delay of work and many other unexpected situations. It is important to implement required health and safety practices and training effectively to ensure that all workers acknowledge and follow these requirements regulations when working. This study will encourage construction people to adopt safety measures for their works and thus minimize accidents construction sites.