[Prevention of building site accidents in Umbria during reconstruction after an earthquake: the experience of one local health unit].
OBJECTIVE
Building site related accidents are so frequent and are associated with such serious consequences that they constitute a major "health emergency" in Italy where dangerous work conditions in the construction industry often derive from excessive financial, organisational and time pressures. After the 1997 earthquake in Umbria an extensive re-building programme led to a concentration of innumerable construction firms, sub-tendering practices and the use of poorly skilled workforces who were often employed in the black economy. At the same time, SPSAL (Prevention Service for Occupational Settings) activity needed to be intensified in Perugia Health Unit No 2 in the District of Assisi, which had been devastated by the earthquake.


CONCLUSIONS
To monitor construction site development, related accidents and injuries, and surveillance activity, data were collected from building site notifications on the basis of Article 11, Law 494/96, outcomes of inspections, including sanctions, and INAIL (National Insurances) certificates of work-related injuries. Construction notifications showed building sites increased in number from the 200 sites/year before the earthquake to almost 1400 per year at maximum reconstruction activity. Inspections and surveillance also increased to over 350 inspections/year in 250 sites/year. About 600 firms were monitored and sanctions increased Sanctions mainly referred to high-level work, scaffolding, protection against falls from heights, and DPI. (Personal Protective Equipments). Accidents increased from 150/year before the earthquake to about 300/year. The annual incidence, a rough indicator of prevention, dropped, indicating good quality prevention strategies were in force. The drop in the annual incidence index would not have been evident without concomitant monitoring of notifications and certificates of work-related injuries. These two databases are invaluable tools when investigating changes in the reference stan dard of the construction industry and assessing the efficacy of implemented prevention programmes.
Unità Operativa Complessa Prevenzione e Sicurezza Ambienti di Lavoro, ASL2 Perugia. gmiscetti@ausl2.umbria.it
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Miscetti
Patrizia
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Bodo
D000062:Accidents, Occupational / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004190:Disasters; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy