Assessment of Work Accidents in Highway, Street and Bridge Construction

Occupational health and safety is an important work discipline that must be included in the working life. Especially, developed countries have been able to place this discipline in working life, while developing countries have still problems. These problems take place both in terms of legislation and practice. The situation is similar to that of developing countries, in Turkey. The construction sector is in line with the development status of a country. The construction sector contributes both directly and indirectly to the country’s economy. It has become indispensable for the economy of a country with its share in employment and it stimulates production of goods and services related to the sector. The construction sector is not just about building constructions. We also need bridges, metros and high-speed train lines. Transports have a major contributor to the development of a country. In parallel with technological developments, large investments related with transports become increase. Due to the revival in this sub-sector, the number of work accidents has also tended to increase. Therefore, the work accidents in the highway, street and bridge constructions, which are the sub-activities of the construction sector, must be examined. In this study, work accidents in the sector were analyzed for Turkey and U.S. Also, the share of the sector in total work accidents and construction accidents were determined for Turkey and U.S. The causes of fatal work accidents in highway, street and bridge constructions were mentioned.