An empirical study of the human error-related factors leading to site accidents in the Iranian urban construction industry

Abstract

Human errors are one of the major causes of accidents in the construction industry. Human errors can be caused by various factors across diverse types of projects. Hence, this research study seeks to determine the major factors influencing human errors associated with the urban construction industry (UCI). To achieve this, three rounds of Delphi survey were conducted with 17 experts engaged in construction site safety management. The Delphi panel members were determined using a targeted snowball sampling method. According to the results of the Delphi survey, 35 significant factors leading to the incidence of human errors in the UCI were identified and collated. Then, an empirical questionnaire was developed based on a five-point Likert measurement scale and distributed among construction experts to evaluate the impact level of each identified human error in the UCI. The questionnaire included 35 effective factors pertaining to human errors classified into five main groups of environmental factors, information systems/technological factors, individual factors (permanently related), individual factors (temporarily related), and organizational factors. Findings indicate that all evaluated factors are at a higher-than-average level and can be considered as the significant factors leading to the occurrence of site accidents attributed to human errors in the UCI. In addition, the top five most significant factors include improper work and safety culture, low level of technology deployed for equipment and safety protection, violation of safety regulations, rushing to do work, and lack of a proper education system in the organization. The results of this study can be useful for producing better-informed decisions by various major industrial practitioners and site safety managers.