Abstract
The impact of heat stress on human health has been extensively studied. Similarly, researchers have investigated the impact of heat stress on workers’ health and safety. However, very little work has been done on the impact of heat stress on occupational accidents and their severity, particularly in South Australian construction. Construction workers are at high risk of injury due to heat stress as they often work outdoors, undertake hard manual work, and are often project based and sub-contracted. Little is known on how heat waves could impact on construction accidents and their severity. In order to provide more evidence for the currently limited number of empirical investigations on the impact of heat stress on accidents, this study analysed 29,438 compensation claims reported during 2002–2013 within the construction industry of South Australia. Claims reported during 29 heat waves in Adelaide were compared with control periods to elicit differences in the number of accidents reported and their severity. The results revealed that worker characteristics, type of work, work environment, and agency of accident mainly govern the severity. It is recommended that the implementation of adequate preventative measures in small-sized companies and civil engineering sites, targeting mainly old age workers could be a priority for Work, Health and Safety (WHS) policies.
Highlights
It has been widely documented that exposure of construction workers to excessive heat stress has a paramount impact on their health and well-being as well as their productivity [1,2]
This paper aims to investigate the impacts of heat waves on construction accidents using a large number of compensation claims compiled by SafeWork South
This study looked at the differences of injuries suffered by construction workers during heat wave and control periods to identify groups and activities that are vulnerable to heat waves
Summary
It has been widely documented that exposure of construction workers to excessive heat stress has a paramount impact on their health and well-being as well as their productivity [1,2]. This exposure to heat stress has further been exacerbated by the increased frequency of heat waves due to global climate change [3,4]. Analysis of mortality due to heat stress during 2000–2010 revealed construction workers are extremely vulnerable to heat stress with the second highest risk rate among all industries in the United States [7]. Small companies are less likely to implement heat stress prevention procedures or monitoring guidelines due to capacity constraints compared to their larger counterparts [8]
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