The comparison of accidents in a foreign construction project with construction in Finland

Abstract

The town of Kostomuksha in the Soviet Union and its associated mining companies were built as a joint project by Finland and the Soviet Union in 1977–1985. At the height of the construction period, 3,500 Finns were working at the site. The safety level and the characteristics of accidents at the project were ascertained by analyzing 20% of the accidents that occurred during construction. Comparisons were made with Finnish construction activities. More accidents occurred at the foreign project site, but the accidents were less severe than those that occurred in construction in Finland. There were several reasons for the project's higher accident level: (a) the disorder in the working environment (especially when Finns and Soviets were working simultaneously), (b) the unstable labor force, and (c) the separation of safety activities from line organization and planning. On the other hand, injury severity may have been affected by a well organized and readily available occupational health care unit at the project site. Other findings showed that: (a) the number and severity of accidents increased with the duration of the project; (b) the learning and experience acquired during the project were used more to tighten time schedules than to improve safety; (c) more accidents occurred during autumn than the other seasons; and (d) the incidence rate was more closely related to the amount of natural light than to the temperature or the depth of the snow.