Predicting Employer and Worker Responsibilities in Accidents That Involve Falls in Building Construction Sites

Abstract

Fall-related accidents have received more attention in building construction than in civil construction as fall-from-heights is more common in building construction. In addition to social costs, construction companies face a significant financial burden when fall-related accidents occur. The major portion of the direct cost of accidents that involve falls includes the compensation paid by the employer to the worker. The employer and the worker try to reach an agreement on the size of the compensation, however, most of the time the process is contentious. The objective of this study is to predict the parties' responsibilities for a fall-related accident by modeling the relationship between the employer and the worker using a multi-agent system. The research pursued a three-step method, including collection of data, development of a multi-agent model, and testing of the model. The model provides satisfactory results and can be used to quantify the employer's and the worker's responsibilities in construction fall accidents, hence avoiding any escalation to pursue arbitration or litigation.