The validity of the TR safety observation method on building construction

The safety inspectors carried out monitoring visits to 305 building constru ction sites, and the results were compared with the accident figures of the same sites. The average number of observations per site was 144, and the o bserved safety aspects were: working habits, scaffolding and ladders, machi nes and equipment, protection against falling, lighting and electricity, an d order and tidiness. Each item was scored as 'correct' if it met the safet y standards, otherwise the item was scored as 'not correct'. The safety ind ex was calculated as a percentage of the 'correct' items related to all the observed items. Only some hours of training were needed for making reliabl e observations, when the observers already knew the safety standards. Also the validity proved to be good. The sites were grouped according to the obs erved safety index in order to limit the huge random variation in the accid ent rates of single sites. There was a significant correlation between the observed safety index and the accident rate of the site groups. The sites w ith the lowest observed safety index had, on average, a three times higher accident rate than the sites with the highest safety index. The method is u sed by the site personnel as an internal weekly safety inspection and feedb ack tool. The state safety inspectors use the method as a means of objectiv e feedback for the companies. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights res erved.