Quantitative Assessment of the State of Threat of Working on Construction Scaffolding

Abstract

Working at height, and especially on construction scaffolding, is one of the most accident-prone situations on a construction site. The article attempts to assess the state of threat of working on scaffolding on the basis of the proposed coefficients concerning the possibility of an occupational accident occurring. The article presents the analysis of 10 parameters, which were classified into three groups of factors that cause accidents: technical, organizational, and human factors. In order to assess the state of threat of working on scaffolding, partial hazard factors and a simplified and accurate factor of the state of threat of working were proposed. The coefficients were determined on the basis of the data collected from post-accidental control reports on occupational accidents occurring on scaffolding in the construction industry that took place in Poland in five voivodeships in the years 2008–2017, and also on the basis of the obtained results of research on 120 scaffoldings conducted in the years 2016–2018. Based on the determined factors, it was possible to determine the probability of an undesirable event, in other words, an occupational accident. In addition, the developed test method proposed numerical scales for assessing the state of threat of working on scaffolding. The form proposed in the article for assessing the state of threat of working on scaffolding, which was developed using a spreadsheet, can provide support for people managing work at workstations involving scaffolding, for example, construction directors, construction engineers, work managers, or construction managers.