Understanding major construction safety risks: China versus Australia

Safety is a major concern in the construction industries around the world because worþlace fatalities and injuries bring great losses to both individuals and societies. This paper aims to understand how construction personnel perceive safety risks in China and compared it with those in Australia. Postal questionnaire surveys were used to collect data on safety risk perception from 290 participants from two nations -- I70 from China aîd I20 from Australia. The safety risk factors were assessed using a risk significance index which was based on the likelihood of occurences and their impacts on safety performance. The survey results revealed that in China the main safety risks came from human and /or procedure related, with 'loilno safety education' ranked the first followed by 'inadequate fire prevention and electrical prevention procedures'; 'Lack of poor crisis preparedness (emergency plan)'; 'hazardous materials'; and 'low hazard awareness from upper management'. In contract, the major safety risks in Australia came from physical site conditions being 'contamination of land, water and air'ranked the first, followed by 'unforeseen excavation of soil'; 'poor working from height precautions'; 'asbestos contamination'; and 'poor electrical safety'. However, the overall average safety risk significant scores were similar for China and Australia. To minimize the safety risks in China (either the likelihood occunence or impact), this paper suggested that 'the government should develop collective legislations and safety procedures'; 'industry training' should be provided and supports sought f¡om all levels including individual companies, the construction industry and at government departments / agencies, to improve safety performance; furthermore, 'safety review and planning' should be implemented in design phase.