The costs of construction site accidents to Australia's building contractors

![CDATA[Problem: Occupational accidents may incur considerable financial losses for companies. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the losses incurred by building contractors in Australia due to construction workplace accidents. Method: The research aim was achieved using a case study approach. A reputable Australian contracting firm, Kell & Rigby was the subject of the case study. Twenty-seven accidents were recorded at Kell & Rigby during the year 2011. The financial costs related to the twenty-seven accidents were estimated and recorded using a validated data collection instrument. The intangible costs incurred by the accidents were assessed by interviewing the top management personnel. Findings: The results show that the tangible costs and intangible costs of accidents account for 0.55% and 0.19% respectively of the company’s 2011 annual turnover, or 11% and 3.8% respectively of the company’s profit margin in 2011. The findings indicate that the costs of workplace accidents are significant as the total costs accounted for more than 14% of the company’s profit margin in 2011. The results may be helpful for Kell & Rigby to take efforts to improve its safety performance. The methodology of this research may be useful for a similar study conducted with different companies.]]