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for 36% (29 cases), with 27% (22 cases) due to collisions and 23% (19 cases) due to falling objects. The
main cause of the accident was 32% (26 cases) of defects in materials and equipment itself, and 23% (19
cases) of unstable work areas / platforms), 10% (8 cases) of no PPE and 10% (8 cases) of improper
arrangement of workplaces were the main causes of accidents at the construction process.
5. Conclusions
Previous studies on safety management of modular construction did not include activities in
manufacturing process, and analysis of accident causes and research on the reduction plan were
insufficient. In this study, main causes of accidents and accident prevention strategies for modular
construction were derived using root cause analysis(RCA) based on accident cases documented in
OSHA. According to the results of this study, defects of materials and equipment themselves and
unsafe working spaces were the main causes of accidents, and falls accounted for 37% and accident by
falling objective accounts for 27%. It was also found that accident rates were high during the
manufacturing process, and it was confirmed that safety reductions were necessary considering the
characteristics of the activities. These findings extend safety management of modular construction
beyond the construction process to the manufacturing process, and it is meaningful that safety accident
cases were analyzed for activities at each process. It is expected that the results can be used as a basis
study for the modular construction safety management guidelines. In particular, when establishing a
safety plan for the modular project, it could be a guide to the cause analysis and prevention strategies.
However, due to the small number of accidents in OSHA database, there were some limitations in
determining the major cause of the accident. Although the analysis was performed with a small amount
of data, the results of this study can be applied that were statistically validated. Future study should
collect more accident data and improve its effectiveness by applying the analysis methodology of other
accident causes.
Acknowledgments: This research was supported by a grant (19RERP – B082884 - 06) from Housing Environment Research
Program funded by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Korean government.
Appendix A
The appendix is an optional section that can contain details and data supplemental to the main
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