CONSTRUCTION FATAL ACCIDENTS IN VIETNAM: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Construction activities are characterized as hazardous work. Therefore, it is very imperative to explore comprehensively fatal accidents and safety performance in both developed and developing countries. The goal of this study was to look at the reasons behind fatal accidents in HCMC, Vietnam's largest city. The survey sample consists of 91 fatal accident cases in total that occurred in construction sites during the years 1996-2005 and were reported to the Department of Labor-Invalids-Social Affairs in HCMC. The study was conducted by means of field surveys with relevant individuals working in construction sites and statistical analyses. The research resulted in failing to wear/use PPE as unsafe acts and in poor safety management procedures/methods in sites as insecurely working conditions behind serious accidents in the construction. The paper stresses that accidents tended to occur more in state-owned companies than in others and involved more with masonry/welding people and workers without labor contracts than with other workers.