Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of construction health and safety management: A theoretical discussion

Research in construction health and safety has focussed on improving management strategies and policies that can effectively improve safety performance. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in 2005 developed on-line interactive tools for contractors to assess the cost of accidents to their organisations. Although providing good guidance, these tools developed do not provide sufficient detail to specifically assist contractors and designers in developing effective and efficient health and safety management systems. Therefore, it is considered important to develop a methodology to enable contractors to assess the true costs of accidents and the associated benefits of accident prevention as part of pre and post contract project evaluation. A framework is proposed based on an examination of economic viability of management of construction health and safety. The method developed incorporates accident cost elements, health and safety measures and benefit elements to improve decision making processes and guide contractors and designers in developing efficient and effective construction health and safety management practices.