Control measures of electrical hazards: An analysis of construction industry

The construction industry has adopted control measures of electrical hazards for decades, however construction workers are still electrocuted in the workplace every year. This problem leads to a need for assessing the quality of control measures. The goal of this study is to assess the control measures of electrical hazards using a perspective of hierarchy of controls (HOC). HOC counts control measures of five levels in descending effectiveness, which are Elimination, Substitution, Engineering, Administration, and Personal protective equipment. This study uses mixed methods of narrative text analysis and statistical analysis in examining 486 NIOSH recommended controls from fatality investigations. Findings reveal that behavioral controls remain prevalent in electrical hazard mitigation even though the knowledge of construction safety and health has increased in the past decades. This study also finds that effectiveness of controls is not statistically different by construction type nor occupation. Proposing a solution, the authors suggest that construction managers strictly stick to HOC rules by giving priority to higher level of controls and highly recommend that the U.S. construction industry leverage its prevention strategy by embracing more technological innovations and incentivizing prevention through design.