In 2010, the accident ratio of construction industry (0.70%) was higher compared to the whole of business (0.69%). The number of business places and workers in this industry was respectively 221,617 and 3,200,645; it accounts for a high proportion of ...
In 2010, the accident ratio of construction industry (0.70%) was higher compared to the whole of business (0.69%). The number of business places and workers in this industry was respectively 221,617 and 3,200,645; it accounts for a high proportion of that of the entire industry. So, industrial accidents caused heavy casualties and a high death toll (22,504 and 611, respectively). The number of casualties and deaths increased (1,506 and 5, respectively) over 2009. The toll of casualties and deaths of the manufacturing industry in 2010 was 34,069 and 618, respectively. The number of casualties of construction industry was lower (33.9%) compared to the manufacturing industry, but the number of death of the former did not show a great difference from that of the latter. This shows that the proportion of casualties leading to deaths of the construction industry is greatly higher compared to the manufacturing industry. The analyses of the number of casualties, and the ratio of accident, of the construction industry showed the followings. The number has steadily increased since 2006 (18,300). The ratio decreased from 0.72% (2006) to 0.64% (2008), but it has increased; the ratio of 2010 was 0.70%. According to Construction & Economy Research Institute of Korea and the Korea National Statistical Office (NSO) in July 2011, the forties or more accounts for 77.4% of the total number of construction craftsmen (excepting engineer, technical expert and clerical worker as workers working in construction sites) at the end of 2010, and this ratio is higher (18.5%) than the proportion of the forties or more to the whole of employees (59.0%). Because the speed of aging of the workers in construction sites has increased for the recent 10 years, the component ratio of the forties or more to the whole employees increased by 18.5% from 2000 (47.5%) to 2010 (59.0%). However, the ratio of the forties or more to the whole of construction craftsmen increased by 18.6% during the same period. Technical skills of the construction industry has gradually grown over the past.
Further, the interest in industrial safety and the consciousness and effort to prevent industrial accidents are higher compared to the past. Nevertheless, the accident ratio of construction industry is not shrinking largely and the ratio of aging of the workers in the construction industry is gradually increasing. The above points motivated us to evaluate work ability and job stress according to age, continuous service year and task type of construction workers. We conducted a research of effects of their occupational performance abilities and decreased labor capability on the occurrence of industrial accidents, based on the results.
This research aims to supply working environments suitable for the gradually-aging workforce composition of construction industry and to be used as a fundamental material of working safety management for middle- and old-aged workers.