An investigation of the influence of managerial factors on industrial accidents in the construction industry using the gray FTA method

Abstract

Purpose – The statistical report published by the Iranian Social Security Organization in 2012 showed that, of all industries, the construction industry is associated with the highest number of work-related accidents. Furthermore, as this sector contains a large human workforce, identification of the factors contributing to the occurrence of such accidents is vital. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Furthermore, as this sector contains a large human workforce, identification of the factors contributing to the occurrence of such accidents is vital. In the present study, such factors were initially identified, after which the most important of these, managerial factors, were selected. Subsequently, the identification of the causes of the managerial factors was carried out with the use of the fault tree analysis (FTA) method and application of OR and AND entries. Findings – Since it is difficult to determine the probability of occurrence of events in this industry with certainty, and because gray numbers (numbers of which the exact value is unknown, and which represent uncertain information) have a strong relationship with human expressions, the probability of occurrence of the main undesired events was also evaluated using the gray numbers as input entries, in addition to ranking the probability of occurrence of intermediate events. Originality/value – The findings revealed that FTA using gray numbers is a useful and effective tool in risk assessment.