Antonio López-Arquillos

Severity of electrical accidents in the construction industry in Spain

PROBLEM This paper analyzes the severity of workplace accidents involving electricity in the Spanish construction sector comprising 2,776 accidents from 2003 to 2008. METHOD The investigation considered the impact of 13 variables, classified into 5 categories: Personal, Business, Temporal, Material, and Spatial. RESULTS The findings showed that electrical accidents are almost five times more likely to have serious consequences than the average accident in the sector and it also showed how the variables of age, occupation, company size, length of service, preventive measures, time of day, days of absence, physical activity, material agent, type of injury, body part injured, accident location, and type of location are related to the severity of the electrical accidents under consideration. SUMMARY The present situation makes it clear that greater effort needs to be made in training, monitoring, and signage to guarantee a safe working environment in relation to electrical hazards. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS This research enables safety technicians, companies, and government officials to identify priorities and to design training strategies to minimize the serious consequences of electrical accidents for construction workers.

Safety risk assessment for vertical concrete formwork activities in civil engineering construction.

BACKGROUND The construction sector has one of the worst occupational health and safety records in Europe. Of all construction tasks, formwork activities are associated with a high frequency of accidents and injuries. OBJECTIVE This paper presents an investigation of the activities and related safety risks present in vertical formwork for in-situ concrete construction in the civil engineering sector. METHODS Using the methodology of staticized groups, twelve activities and ten safety risks were identified and validated by experts. Every safety risk identified in this manner was quantified for each activity using binary methodology according to the frequency and severity scales developed in prior research. A panel of experts was selected according to the relevant literature on staticized groups. RESULTS The results obtained show that the activities with the highest risk in vertical formwork tasks are: Plumbing and leveling of forms, cutting of material, handling materials with cranes, and climbing or descending ladders. The most dangerous health and safety risks detected were falls from height, cutting and overexertion. CONCLUSIONS The research findings provide construction practitioners with further evidence of the hazardous activities associated with concrete formwork construction and a starting point for targeting worker health and safety programmes.

Using Twitter as a Tool to Foster Social Resilience in Emergency Situations: A Case of Study

In this paper, the behaviour of Twitter activity under an emergency situation is explored. Concretely, the chemical accident occurred on February 8, 2017 in Paterna (Valencia) is analyzed. Then, we analyse how the information regarding this event is propagated through the twitter network in the hours and days following this disaster.

Analysis of Workplace Accidents in Automotive Repair Workshops in Spain

Background To analyze the effects of the factors associated with different types of injury (superficial wounds, dislocations and sprains, bone fractures, concussion and internal injuries, burns scalding and freezing) caused by occupational accidents in automotive repair workshops. Methods Study of a sample consisting of 89,954 industry accidents reported from 2003 to 2008. Odds ratios were calculated with a 95% confidence interval. Results Belonging to a small company is a risk factor for suffering three of the five types of injury studied. Women are less likely to suffer burns and superficial wounds, and more likely to suffer dislocations or sprains. Foreign workers are more likely to suffer concussion and internal injuries. Conclusion Health and safety strategies and accident prevention measures should be individualized and adapted to the type of worker most likely to be injured in each type of accident. Occupational health and safety training courses designed according to worker profile, and improving the participation of the workers in small firms creating regional or roving safety representatives would improve working conditions.

Accident data study of concrete construction companies' similarities and differences between qualified and non-qualified workers in Spain

The aim of this paper is to discuss findings from an analysis of accidents in concrete construction companies in Spain and to compare the accident rates of qualified and non-qualified workers. A total of 125,021 accidents between 2003 and 2008 involving both blue-collar and white-collar workers were analysed, comparing the variables of occupation, age, company staff, length of service, location of the accident, together with the severity of the accidents. Results showed that lack of experience in the first month is more significant in non-qualified workers and experienced supervisors and that head injuries are more likely to lead to fatalities. The most remarkable similarity was that fatal accidents to and from the worksite are a problem common to both groups of workers.

Resilience Engineering: Concepts of the New Paradigm

Resilience Engineering is a new safety paradigm that considers that the way duties are normally performed is something that is subject to variability, and since change is necessary to achieve success it should not be restricted. People in this complex context are continuously making adjustments to the original design, enabling them to achieve success, but occasionally accidents also arise due to an incomplete analysis of the current conditions. Thus, linear, simple or complex causation models do not reflect the ongoing reality, which is essentially non-linear, besides being complex. The accident “emerges” from normality, due to concurrent events that “resonate”, and are not “caused” by a simple chain of errors. Therefore, new tools are required to analyse accidents and indicators to monitor processes, even though most simple incidents continue to be dealt with in the usual manner.

Drivers’ Perception of the Major Advantages of Electric Vehicles

Governments support the use of electric. These vehicles have environmental, economic and technical advantages. However, drivers of electric vehicles perceive the environmental benefits as most important advantages.

Poka-Yokes as Occupational Preventive Measures in Construction Safety. A Review

Poka-yoke systems (from the Japanese “mistake-proofing”) are defined within the construction sector as a group within specific tools available to implement the principles of Lean Construction. These principles are a way of designing construction projects in such a way that waste of materials, time and effort are minimized in order to generate the maximum possible value for the final customer. Objective: The aim of current research is to perform an analysis of the state of the art about publications dealing with Lean construction, poka-yokes, and preventive measures in the construction sector. Methodology: Main scholar databases were accessed by entering keywords related to the scope of the research. Results: In general, the impact of Lean technologies in the construction sector, including poka-yokes methodologies, has been investigated in some previous research. The main challenges that present the implementation of this type of techniques in a sector such as construction have been identified: the change in the work culture of the organizations, the lack of knowledge about the Lean techniques, or the costs and complexity of the implementation of the techniques. Some authors consider the Lean tools effective in increasing the safety conditions of workers and reduce the accident rate in construction sites, but other authors do not believe that there is empirical evidence to justify a significant improvement in the conditions of work. Conclusions: In order to increase the effectiveness of the poka-yoke in the form of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), it is necessary to know more about the human failures present in incidents and accidents. Similarly, the design and implementation of poka-yokes in construction activities is difficult because many activities are based on the taking of previous decisions, which generate a dynamic planning in which the conditions of risks and defects are in continuous change. Additionally, some examples of poka-yoke device in construction sector were proposed by the authors at the end of the results section.

Workers’ medication as occupational risk at construction site with formworks

BACKGROUND Accidents in the construction sector are a cause for concern. The influence of many different factors in construction accidents have been studied (age, company size, length of service, deviation, drugs or alcohol consumption, etc.) but the influence of medicinal substances in specific construction activities has not been evaluated until now. OBJECTIVE The aim of the research presented here is to identify the effect of different medicinal substances on the occupational risk levels of construction activities with formworks. METHODS An expert panel was selected in order to quantify the individual risk of each medication for each individual construction activity. RESULTS Results showed that narcotics, antipsychotics, and hypnotics had the highest risk values, and the use of cranes and cutting materials were considered the most dangerous activities for a medicated worker. CONCLUSIONS Data obtained in this research can help reduce the negative effects of the substances studied on the occupational safety of construction workers. A better knowledge of the risk levels according to the current capabilities of workers under the effects of medication is a powerful tool in planning safer construction activities.

Proposed Indicators of Prevention Through Design in Construction Projects

The construction industry has a high accident rate worldwide. Because of these negative figures, there are numerous studies by prestigious authors about how to measure the levels of safety and health in construction through indicators. These indicators can be classified based on the following categories: a) Accidents recorded b) Risk assessment, c) Workload, d) Health and safety training, e) Perception of safety and health and f) Health and safety management. However, despite the importance of indicators as a preventive tool, no studies have been found regarding the most appropriate indicators to measure the degree of implementation of the concept of Prevention through Design in civil engineering construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main existing indicators to quantify the levels of safety and health in construction, and based on this analysis to propose and validate indicators to measure the Prevention through Design in civil engineering projects, using the staticized groups methodology. The information provided by the new proposed indicators is useful for improving safety levels in construction companies.