Causes of scaffold accidents in construction industry

The construction industry is recognized as one of the most hazardous industries globally. Moreover, the rising trend of urbanization in many developing countries has ushered in a new era of high-rise construction, thus increasing the frequency of hazards related to working at height. Accident records in Saudi Arabia reveal that the construction industry accounted for 46.4% of industrial accidents, while fall-related injury accounted for 27% of the recorded injuries. Scaffolding is the most common access equipment used to work at height. Thus, the first stage in controlling the risks of falls from a height may be to identify the causes of scaffold accidents. This study presents 36 causes of scaffold accidents classified into five relevant groups, which have been identified through a thorough review of the extant literature. Additionally, the causes have been arranged in a survey designed based on a Likert scale of importance. Subsequently, 120 copies were administered to construction professionals in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, with a 75% response rate. The Relative Importance Index (RII) was adopted to analyze the feedback. The results revealed that the top three causes of scaffold accidents include: “insufficient bracing/anchorage” (RII of 0.927), “scaffolding erected by incompetent professionals” (RII of 0.926), and “missing/faulty guardrails” (RII of 0.919). This study is of potential benefit to concerned stakeholders in the construction industry.