The Number One Cause of Death in Industrial Sites is 'Construction'... The Leading Cause of Death is 'Falls'

KOSHA Reports Over Half of Industrial Accident Deaths Occur at Construction Sites
Safety Management Found Lacking More in Small and Medium Construction Sites Than Large Ones

Status of Occupational Accident Fatalities in the Construction Industry Major Accident Reports (2016~2018).

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] What industry has the highest number of fatal accidents in domestic industrial sites? And what type of accident causes the most worker deaths?

More than half of the workers who died in industrial accidents over the past three years since 2016 were employed in the construction industry. Among industrial accidents, fall-related fatalities were the most common.

According to data analyzed from the Serious Accident Investigation Reports of the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency's Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute over the past three years, the construction industry recorded the highest number of fatal accidents.

By industry, construction accounted for 1,312 deaths (51.0%), manufacturing 673 deaths (26.1%), and other sectors such as services 590 deaths (22.9%), in that order.

The main type of accident in the construction industry, which had the highest number of fatalities, was falls, accounting for about 60% of all accident types regardless of the year.

By type of construction work, ‘building construction’ accounted for about 60% (789 deaths) of the fatalities. By construction cost, projects under 2 billion KRW accounted for about 70% (892 deaths), suggesting that safety management is insufficient at smaller sites compared to large-scale construction sites.

About 30% (404 cases) of construction sites where fatal accidents occurred were found to have ‘no or defective protective equipment installed,’ and about 17% (232 cases) had ‘inappropriate work procedures,’ such as working without fall prevention measures.

The uninstalled protective equipment was analyzed in the order of work platforms (13.7%), safety railings (11.7%), and fall prevention nets (10.1%).

This analysis was conducted by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency’s research institute to identify the causes of industrial accident fatalities based on data and to establish preventive measures by analyzing the Serious Accident Investigation Reports from the past three years.

The study targeted 2,575 occupational accident fatalities from 2,999 Serious Accident Investigation Reports over three years (2016?2018), excluding reports related to medical treatment and general accidents.

Ko Jae-cheol, head of the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute, said, “Traditional fatal accidents still persist in industrial sites,” and added, “The agency will do its best to prevent fall accidents by conducting patrol visits for safety inspections at construction sites and providing financial support.”