Safe working on height

Falling accidents are frequently reported as occupational injuries among construction workers. The consequences of these accidents can result in fatal and non-fatal injuries among construction workers. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether the number of safety violations concerning the use of rolling scaffolds, ladders and stairs decreased among construction sites of painting companies after personal advice or information through general means of communication. In a three armed randomized controlled trial, 27 large Dutch cities are randomly assigned to a group that is subjected to ‘personal advice with inspection threat’, to a group that is subjected to ‘information and inspection threat’ or to a control group with ‘inspection threat only’. It is hypothesized that personal advice & inspection threat or information & inspection threat leads to a lower number of safety violations with rolling scaffolds, ladders and stairs compared to inspection threat only. Secondly, the personal advice strategy & inspection is thought to be superior to the information strategy & inspection threat.

It was hypothesized that personal advice & inspection threat or information & inspection threat leads to a lower number of safety violations with rolling scaffolds, ladders and stairs compared to inspection threat only. Secondly, the personal advice strategy & inspection is thought to be superior to the information strategy & inspection threat.

One time point after interventions

1) ‘Inspection Threat (I; Control condition)’; I=announcement of inspection on safety rules concerning rolling scaffolds, ladders and stairs through labor inspectorate.

2) ‘I’ in combination with ‘Communication (C)’; C=information (postal and internet) on safety rules concerning rolling scaffolds, ladders and stairs.

3) ‘I’ in combination with ‘Personal Advice (P)’; P=personal (face to face) advice on safety rules concerning rolling scaffolds, ladders and stairs.