Impact of social safety investments on social costs of construction accidents

Most contractors' financial losses associated with accidents, but not all, are also social costs. Some social costs are not incurred by contractors, but by society. Social costs of construction accidents have been gathered for years 1999–2001. The safety investments made by both contractors and society are also identified based on data assembled for these three years. These social costs and safety investments were identified from 119 construction projects involving 1414 accidents and from 18 government departments in Hong Kong. The data shows that there was an increasing trend in social safety investments and a decreasing trend in social costs of construction accidents from 1999 to 2001. During this period, for every extra $1 of social safety investments made, a reduction of $2.27 of social costs on construction accidents was achieved in Hong Kong.