An estimate of fatal accidents in Indian construction

In spite of being one of the large employers, construction sector is very hazardous. In some countries there is an absence of standard recording and notifications system for construction accidents while in countries such as India, the systems exist but their implementation is an issue. In both cases, statistics on construction accidents are either unavailable or highly underreported and this leads to a situation where due attention to safety is not paid.  This paper presents an estimate of fatal accidents of construction sector for all states in India. These estimates are based on reliable information derived for the construction sector of National Capital Territory (NCT) Delhi region using different sources. This study further projects the fatal accidents for all states based on working population data obtained from Census. The quantum of construction work in all states are differentiated based on their data on cement consumption using linear inter and extrapolation methods. According to this estimate the minimum number of people that would have died annually in Indian construction sector from 2008 to 2012 was 11,614. The estimates presented here would help to guide national policies and decision-making especially in the construction sector besides being useful to other industrial sectors and other countries.