Identification of Safety Hazards in Highway Construction Projects

Despite a global emphasis on safety, construction personnel experience a sizable number of
occupational injuries. The dynamic nature of construction sites makes it extremely challenging to
completely eliminate the hazards associated with these injuries, but an awareness of them and
acknowledgement of their potential dangers are crucial first steps in improving the safety of the
workers. This paper’s goal is to add to the construction safety body of knowledge by conducting a
thorough literature review and identifying, defining, and categorizing the safety hazards that affect
the transportation sector of the construction industry. Through a literature review, fourteen (14)
construction highway safety hazards were identified and categorized as primary, physical,
chemical, and ergonomic or other, and based upon how often they were mentioned in the literature,
working at heights, material and equipment handling, and heavy machinery appear to be the most
hazardous to workers’ safety. Recognizing the hazards, taking preventative measures, and
implementing best practices for managing them are vital to improving worker safety and reducing
the severity of injuries when they do occur. The results of this study will help employers in the
construction industry detect potential safety hazards and lower the likelihood that highway workers
will sustain occupational accidents and injuries from them.