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Exploring Fatalities and Injuries in Construction by Considering Thermal Comfort Using Uncertainty and Relative Importance Analysis

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  • Minsu Lee

    (Department of Safety Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01811, Korea
    These authors contributed equally to this work as first author.)

  • Jaemin Jeong

    (Department of Safety Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01811, Korea
    These authors contributed equally to this work as first author.)

  • Jaewook Jeong

    (Department of Safety Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01811, Korea)

  • Jaehyun Lee

    (Department of Safety Engineering, Seoul National University of Science and Technology, 232 Gongneung-ro, Nowon-gu, Seoul 01811, Korea)

Abstract

Fatal injury and accidents in the construction industry occur under the influence of outdoor weather conditions such as temperature, humidity and wind speed in all four seasons. Previous research in this area has focused on hot and cold weather conditions: hot weather causes heat rash, heat cramps and heat fainting, while cold weather causes fatigue, lumbago, and cold finger sensations. However, other weather conditions are also associated with, and cause, fatal injury and accidents. Accordingly, this study analyzes injury and fatal accidents in the construction industry based on the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) as it pertains to thermal comfort using an uncertainty analysis. Furthermore, using a neural network, relative importance is analyzed considering injury and fatal accidents. This study is conducted in five steps: (i) Establishment of the database, (ii) Classification of accident types and weather conditions, (iii) Calculation of thermal comfort, (iv) Analysis of injury and fatal accidents based on thermal comfort, and (v) Calculation of the relative importance of thermal comfort during injury and fatal accidents. Via the research process, 5317 fatal incidents and 207,802 injuries are analyzed according to 18 accident types in all seasons. It was found that ‘falls’, were the most frequent fatal incident and injury (2804 fatal incidents and 71,017 injuries), with most of these occurring during the autumn season. The probabilities of injury and fatal accidents in the ‘fall’ category are 86.01% and 85.60%, respectively, in the outside comfort ranges. The contribution of this study can provide data for a database on safety management considering weather conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Minsu Lee & Jaemin Jeong & Jaewook Jeong & Jaehyun Lee, 2021. "Exploring Fatalities and Injuries in Construction by Considering Thermal Comfort Using Uncertainty and Relative Importance Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-30, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5573-:d:560523
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Orosa, José A. & Oliveira, Armando C., 2011. "A new thermal comfort approach comparing adaptive and PMV models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 951-956.
    2. Rameez Rameezdeen & Abbas Elmualim, 2017. "The Impact of Heat Waves on Occurrence and Severity of Construction Accidents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, January.
    3. Payel Acharya & Bethany Boggess & Kai Zhang, 2018. "Assessing Heat Stress and Health among Construction Workers in a Changing Climate: A Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Evan A. Nadhim & Carol Hon & Bo Xia & Ian Stewart & Dongping Fang, 2016. "Falls from Height in the Construction Industry: A Critical Review of the Scientific Literature," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Minwoo Song & Jaewook Jeong & Louis Kumi & Hyeongjun Mun, 2024. "Analysis of the Effect of Outdoor Thermal Comfort on Construction Accidents by Subcontractor Types," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-23, June.
    2. Yukyung Shim & Jaemin Jeong & Jaewook Jeong & Jaehyun Lee & Yongwoo Kim, 2022. "Comparative Analysis of the National Fatality Rate in Construction Industry Using Time-Series Approach and Equivalent Evaluation Conditions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-20, February.
    3. Jaehyun Lee & Jaewook Jeong & Jayho Soh & Jaemin Jeong, 2021. "Development of Framework for Estimating Fatality-Related Losses in the Korean Construction Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-23, August.

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