Estimating Indirect Costs of Injuries to Construction Workers.

摘要

The true costs of construction injuries consist of both direct costs, principally the worker's compensation claims, as well as indirect costs, which are less tangible but certainly real in terms of lost profits. For too long, the construction industry has largely viewed accidents as the cost of doing business. The true costs of accidents are often ignored by allocating worker compensation claims to company overhead costs and permitting job site indirect costs to be hidden in the direct labor and equipment cost codes for the project. By doing so, management is unable to identify, monitor and control these costs. A previous study sponsored by the Construction Industry Institute (CII), sought to estimate these indirect costs for both medical cases and restricted activity/lost time accidents. The evidence of nearly 600 cases revealed that indirect costs exceed the direct costs by factors of 4:1 for medical cases and 20.1 for lost time accidents when an appropriate allowance is included in the indirect costs for liability claims.