D6-3　Evaluation of Safety Behavior and Work-related Injuries among Foreign Construction Workers in Malaysia

抄録

Construction sector is one of the largest sectors in many parts of the world due to the various types of activities taking place onsite as well as the nature of construction work. This particular sector is also regarded as the most dangerous and hazardous workplace. Workers are constantly in contact with dangerous equipment and substances which often affect their health condition. Unsafe behavior of workers, such as human error or inappropriate operation is a major risk factor that occurs across construction projects, and leads to the occurrence of accidents or any related injuries. This study was conducted to investigate safety behavior and work-related injuries in construction projects. 323 construction workers from six different projects in Kang Valley participated in this study. Questionnaire was used to determine the occurrence, severity and causes of work-related injuries. On-site observation using checklist was performed to assess the workers’ safety behavior in the workplace. Workers were observed independently in the natural surroundings when carrying out their activities. Wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), housekeeping, access to heights, plant and equipment were measured as safe or unsafe based on the trades and the type of work performed by each worker. The results showed that 22.6% of the total participants experienced a work-related injury at least once in the last one year period. 17.8% of the work-related injuries were serious, 39.7% were moderate and 42.5% were minor. Falls from height recorded the highest cause of work-related injuries (31.5%) followed by lifting and handling (24.7%). The on-site observation recorded safe and unsafe behaviors from the workers; thus, the overall safety behavior (percent safe) was at 51.62%. The results revealed a significant association between wearing PPE and work-related injuries t(321)=7.65, p<0.001. Results showed that work-related injuries is significantly associated with handling and storing materials (χ²=21.107, p<0.001), throw objects from heights (χ²=11.719, 89, p<0.001), storage of tools and machinery (χ²=8.027, p<0.001), use of ladders (χ²=11.536, p<0.001) and insecure loads (χ²=7.165, p=0.007). Safety behavior was the most significant influencing factor on work-related injuries in construction sites. Therefore, Behavior Based Safety (BBS) program is highly recommended to be implemented in construction projects in order to reduce the occurrence of accidents and work-related injuries in construction sector.