Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of the Causes of Occupational Accidents Related to the Use of Construction Scaffoldings

Abstract

This article proposes a methodology for classifying occupational accidents involving scaffolding based on the knowledge of the causes that led to their occurrence. Each occupational accident is caused by several causes belonging to three generic groups (technical, organizational, human) occurring in a different configuration. The aim of this research was to determine the qualitative and quantitative structure of the causes of accidents caused by falling from scaffolding. Significant causes were selected from the set of all the causes identified in the analyzed set of accidents. For this purpose, Pareto–Lorenz analysis and the ABC classification were used. Then, a set of significant causes containing technical, organizational and human causes was created, which was the basis for determining the subsets of accidents caused by similar causes. The hierarchical cluster analysis method, the agglomeration clustering technique and the binding of objects using the Ward method were proposed to determine the number of characteristic clusters. Three subsets of accidents with a similar set of causes were obtained. Information on the quality and number of causes in individual subsets was used to estimate the probability of an accident caused by a given set of causes and to assess occupational risk in construction. Calculations were performed using Statistica software.