Analysis of occupational accidents for safety design.

BACKGROUND Safety design covers proactive actions as it analyzes accident risks early in the enterprise life cycle, and considers the designer acting on accident prevention as a member of the construction team. OBJECTIVE This paper proposes an accident investigation to establish links between accident causes and design to support Prevention through Design (PtD) tools. METHODS This article analyzed more than a thousand severe and fatal accident cases in the construction sector. A systematic analysis method was structured based on descriptions of accident causes and measures that could be taken to avoid accidents. RESULTS Analyzing the severe and fatal accidents, the safety measures implemented in the project design could avoid at least 23.6% of the events. As a result, the architectural and structural designs were more effective in accident prevention. The reference percentages and the design types that are more effective in preventing accidents are analyzed through a representative sample of the analysis of the accident. CONCLUSIONS This research contributes to applying safety guidelines in design projects, directly assisting in project and construction management.