Comparision between cost of accidents in construction site and cost of preventive measures through risk assessment

Abstract

In the era of modern globalization and increased competition, construction project has become one of the most crucial factors for achieving success in business sector. Huge number of construction is going on and it is flourishing day by day in Bangladesh and globally. However, many construction projects suffer from delay and even stopped due to accidents in construction site. These accidents involve property damage, severe injury, and even death which subsequently cost huge money, delay in construction completion, loss of company image and so on. To prevent accidents in construction, risk management tools and techniques have been developed for successful project. Nevertheless, these techniques are used too little and many still wonder how helpful they are. The problem is more severe for construction in Bangladesh. Most of the construction companies in Bangladesh are reluctant to take preventive measure because it needs some extra cost. Since accidents cannot be seen beforehand, people do not want to invest this extra cost of preventive measures. This paper reviews the literature to identify essential costs associated with safety measures of construction projects and to compare it with costs that may arise due to accidents during construction works. The study uses risk assessment procedure used in some developed countries to identify the hazards, probable accidents, likelihood and severity of these accidents for typical building construction in Bangladesh. Using a case study, costs of accidents are estimated considering the medical cost and daily wage of injured workers, death penalty, property damage and other indirect costs. The costs of preventive measures are also estimated considering the safety measure to be taken to prevent the accidents. It has been found that costs of accidents are much higher than the cost of preventive measures. Hence, this study can be useful to build awareness to the construction people to take preventive measure during construction. This will eventually eliminate or at least minimize accidents in construction site and construction can be completed on time and budget with better health and safety.