title: Effect of Occupational Health and Safety Management System on Work-Related Accident Rate and Differences of Occupational Health and Safety Management System Awareness between Managers in South Korea's Construction Industry.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study was conducted to investigate the current status of the occupational health and safety management system (OHSMS) in the construction industry and the effect of OHSMS on accident rates. Differences of awareness levels on safety issues among site general managers and occupational health and safety (OHS) managers are identified through surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  The accident rates for the OHSMS-certified construction companies from 2006 to 2011, when the construction OHSMS became widely available, were analyzed to understand the effect of OHSMS on the work-related injury rates in the construction industry. The Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency 18001 is the certification to these companies performing OHSMS in South Korea. The questionnaire was created to analyze the differences of OHSMS awareness between site general managers and OHS managers of construction companies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The implementation of OHSMS among the top 100 construction companies in South Korea shows that the accident rate decreased by 67% and the fatal accident rate decreased by 10.3% during the period from 2006 to 2011. The survey in this study shows different OHSMS awareness levels between site general managers and OHS managers. The differences were motivation for developing OHSMS, external support needed for implementing OHSMS, problems and effectiveness of implementing OHSMS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both work-related accident and fatal accident rates were found to be significantly reduced by implementing OHSMS in this study. The differences of OHSMS awareness between site general managers and OHS managers were identified through a survey. The effect of these differences on safety and other benefits warrants further research with proper data collection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Seok J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.affiliation: Mineral Industry Research Laboratory, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Hsing K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mining and Geological Engineering, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Shinjea
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Graduate Studies of Public Health, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeawook
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Independent Project Analysis Inc., Ashburn, VA, USA.
authors.forename: Zhenhua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Rui
keywords: accident rate; benefit of occupational health and safety management system; construction health and safety; occupational health and safety management system; work-related victims