The Risk Factor of Age in Construction Accidents: Important at Present and Fundamental in the Future

Occupational accidents in the construction sector are analyzed in this study of the relation between the age of the injured worker, days off work due to the injury, and accident severity. A further aim is to establish whether accumulated fatigue during the working day and throughout the week has a similar effect on all workers, regardless of age. A total of three million four hundred and thirty-eight thousand, one hundred and forty-five (3,438,145) accidents are analyzed in this study; the total of all accidents are notified in Spain by workers from the sector over the period 1996-2015. The results confirmed a direct link between worker age and both days off work due to the injury and accident severity. They also confirmed that the workers injured in accidents in the afternoon hours were older than the workers injured in the morning hours. In consequence, the average number of days off work due to injury following an accident of the older workers was also larger and the accidents are more severe. Likewise, the workers injured on a Friday were of an older average age than those injured on a Monday. In consequence, the average number of days off work due to injury on the last day of the week was also higher and the accidents were of more severity. All the above-mentioned differences were statistically significant.