Using association rules to investigate causality patterns of safety-related incidents in the construction industry

The aim of this study is to investigate causality patterns of safety-related incidents in the construction industry. Although there are many studies to find cause-and-effect relationships in the accident database, retrieving useful knowledge from the last database and taking additional variables into account are needed. Therefore, in the present study, the association rule method was utilized to investigate a large number of historical accident data in Iran's construction industry in the duration of 2014-2017. Based on association rules results, the combination of worker's individual and behavioral factors and supervisory conditions are more related to serious accidents. These results can provide practical insights for construction managers who need to be more concerned about the negative effects of the combination of some factors on serious construction accidents.