Construction Safety during Pandemics: Learning from the Xinjia Express Hotel Collapse during COVID-19 in China

Yu-Jie Huang; Jing Tao; Fu-Qiang Yang; Chao Chen

doi:10.3390/ijerph182111498

Construction Safety during Pandemics: Learning from the Xinjia Express Hotel Collapse during COVID-19 in China

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Nov 1;18(21):11498. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111498.

Authors

Yu-Jie Huang¹, Jing Tao², Fu-Qiang Yang¹, Chao Chen³

Affiliations

¹ College of Environment and Safety Engineering, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China.
² School of Law, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China.
³ Safety and Security Science Group, Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Many construction accidents occur in China each year, leading to a large number of deaths, injures, and property losses. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, little attention is paid to construction safety, resulting in severe accidents. To prevent construction accidents and learn to how address safety issues in future pandemics, this study proposed an improved STAMP (Systems Theoretic Accident Modeling and Processes) model to analyze the collapse accident of the Xinjia Express Hotel used for COVID-19 quarantine in China. Through the application of the STAMP approach, the causes of the construction accident and the relationship between various causal factors are analyzed from a systematic perspective. The identified causes are divided into five categories: contractors, management of organizations, technical methods, participants, and interactive feedback. Finally, safety recommendations are drawn from this study to improve construction safety and safety management in pandemics.

Keywords: COVID-19; STAMP; accident analysis; construction accidents; safety management.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Accidents, Occupational
COVID-19*
China / epidemiology
Construction Industry*
Humans
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2
Safety Management