Construction-related accidents remain a significant challenge in the Sindh province of Pakistan, contributing to safety concerns and economic losses. This systematic review aims to assess the severity of factors contributing to construction accidents using the Risk Matrix Assessment (RMA) method. The study analyzed peer-reviewed articles, government reports, and relevant literature published between 2017 and 2025, focusing on accident data specific to Sindh. The variables of study included Human Factors, Workplace Conditions, Regulatory and Operational Challenges. The findings highlight that inadequate safety training, lack of personal protective equipment, and poor site management are the primary risk factors leading to high accident severity. The RMA method proved effective in categorizing accident risks, offering a structured approach to prioritize safety interventions. The study also benchmarks Sindh's construction safety challenges against global best practices, providing actionable recommendations to enhance safety protocols and reduce accident rates. These insights to guide policymakers and industry stakeholders in implementing targeted safety measures, ultimately promoting a safer construction environment in Sindh.
Abdalla, S., Apramian, S. S., Cantley, L. F., & Cullen, M. R. (2017). Occupation and risk for injuries. Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 7): Injury Prevention and Environmental Health, 97–132. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0522-6_ch6
Abdul Hamid, S. (2022, July 1). Development of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) performance management framework for industries in Malaysia. UTHM Institutional Repository. http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/id/eprint/8491
Abid, M., Umer, M., Maqsoom, A., & Abid, Z. (2020). Disaster preparedness for metro projects: A social-cognitive perspective of Pakistan. Geoenvironmental Disasters, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40677-020-00168-6
Abrar, A., Cheema, K. J., Saif, S., & Mahmood, A. (2017). Health status assessment of workers during construction phase of highway rehabilitation projects around Lahore, Pakistan. Journal of Occupational Health, 59(1), 74–80. https://doi.org/10.1539/joh.16-0123-fs
Afzal, M., & Shafiq, M. T. (2021). Evaluating 4D-bim and VR for effective safety communication and training: A case study of multilingual construction job-site crew. Buildings, 11(8), 319. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11080319
Ahmed, A., Burdi, S., Vighio, A. A., & Ali, T. H. (2024). Comparative analysis of health and safety benefits: Prefabricated construction vs. traditional building methods in Sindh. International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science. https://doi.org/10.56726/irjmets50096
Almaskati, D., Kermanshachi, S., Pamidimukkala, A., Loganathan, K., & Yin, Z. (2024). A review on Construction Safety: Hazards, mitigation strategies, and impacted sectors. Buildings, 14(2), 526. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14020526
Asad, M. M., Sherwani, F., & Khand, Z. H. (2020). Risk factors for construction workforce safety towards Sustainability. International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Technology. https://publisher.uthm.edu.my/ojs/index.php/IJSCET/article/view/7403
Baghdadi, A. (2024). Navigating Occupational Safety and health challenges in Sustainable Infrastructure Projects: A Comprehensive Review. Frontiers in Built Environment, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbuil.2024.1414366
Baig, A. A., Khalid, Q., & Tufail, M. M. (2024). Analysis of risk management in construction of Bin Qasim Industrial Park, Karachi. International Student Conference on Business, Education, Economics, Accounting, and Management (ISC-BEAM), 1(1), 1049–1067. https://doi.org/10.21009/isc-beam.011.74
Bhangwar, S. N. (2022). Risk level of the types and causes of claims in construction projects of Pakistan. Quaid-e-Awam University Research Journal of Engineering, Science & Technology, 20(1), 13–20. https://doi.org/10.52584/qrj.2001.03
Cleary, O. (2024, December 10). Effective risk management for NSW Construction Projects. CPR First Aid. https://cprfirstaid.com.au/effective-risk-management-for-construction/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Costa, O., Matias, J., & Pimentel, C. (2021). Occupational Health and safety in construction projects: A case study on chemical industry sector. International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety, 5(2), 14–21. https://doi.org/10.24840/2184-0954_005.002_0002
Duryan, M., Xu, J., & Smyth, H. (2021, September 10). Cultivating a “just” culture in construction industry to improve health and Safety Management Systems. UCL Discovery - UCL Discovery. https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10134171
Dyreborg, J., Lipscomb, H. J., Nielsen, K., Törner, M., Rasmussen, K., Frydendall, K. B., Bay, H., Gensby, U., Bengtsen, E., Guldenmund, F., & Kines, P. (2022). Safety interventions for the prevention of accidents at work: A systematic review. Campbell Systematic Reviews, 18(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1234
Faqih, F., Zayed, T., & Alfalah, G. (2021). Technology-based multi-tiered building diagnosis framework. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 40(1), 101–133. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijbpa-10-2020-0088
Grill, M., & Nielsen, K. (2019). Promoting and impeding safety – a qualitative study into direct and indirect safety leadership practices of constructions site managers. Safety Science, 114, 148– 159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.01.008
Hubbard, D. W. (2020). The failure of Risk Management: Why it’s broken and how to fix it. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.
Ilbahar, E., Kara?an, A., Cebi, S., & Kahraman, C. (2018). A novel approach to risk assessment for occupational health and safety using Pythagorean fuzzy AHP & fuzzy inference system. Safety Science, 103, 124–136. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2017.10.025
Jaafar, M. H., Arifin, K., Aiyub, K., Razman, M. R., Ishak, M. I., & Samsurijan, M. S. (2017). Occupational Safety and Health Management in the construction industry: A Review. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, 24(4), 493–506. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2017.1366129
Khahro, S. H., Ali, T. H., Hassan, S., Zainun, N. Y., Javed, Y., & Memon, S. A. (2021). Risk severity matrix for sustainable public-private partnership projects in developing countries. Sustainability, 13(6), 3292. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063292
Khokhar, M., Hou, Y., Sethar, I., Amin, W., & Shakib, M. (2019). Occupational Health & Safety Implementation Framework for pakistani construction industry in Sindh Province. 3C Tecnología_Glosas de Innovación Aplicadas a La Pyme, 253–285. https://doi.org/10.17993/3ctecno.2019.specialissue3.253-285
Kima, O., Urlainis, A., Wang, K.-C., & Shohet, I. M. (2024). Safety climate in small and Medium Construction Enterprises. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment. https://doi.org/10.1108/sasbe-01-2024-0038
Krisper, M. (2021). Problems with risk matrices using ordinal scales - arxiv. Cornell University. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.05440
Lakhiara, M. T., Abdullah, A. H., & Lakhiar, M. T. (2021). Investigating the neglected safety practices influencing safety performance of building construction projects in Sindh province of Pakistan | neutron. https://ejournal.worldconference.id/index.php/neutron/article/view/84
Lee, B. H. C., Chen, J. C., & Fo, K. W. (2018, March 1). Accidents in construction sites: A study on the causes and preventive approaches to mitigate accident rate. INTI Institutional Repository. http://eprints.intimal.edu.my/id/eprint/1136
Maliha, M. N., Abu Aisheh, Y. I., Tayeh, B. A., & Almalki, A. (2021). Safety Barriers Identification, classification, and ways to improve safety performance in the architecture, engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry: Review Study. Sustainability, 13(6), 3316. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063316
McKinnon, I. (2024, November 22). Chas Guide to Risk Management in Construction. CHAS. https://www.chas.co.uk/blog/chas-guide-risk-management-construction/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Memon, A. H., Rahman, I. A., Akhund, M. A., Abro, A. K., & Imad, H. U. (2018). Risk level of the factors affecting the quality of construction projects in Pakistan. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 11(48), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.17485/ijst/2018/v11i48/131226
Memon, M. H., Abas, N. H., & Sohu, S. (2023). Ranking the critical causes of accidents in construction projects of Sindh: Perspective of Safety Professionals. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science, 1205(1), 012035. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1205/1/012035
Minchin, B. (2021, July 15). The benefits of incident reporting and investigation. Integrate Sustainability. https://www.integratesustainability.com.au/2021/07/15/the-benefits-of-incident-reporting-and-investigation/
Mudashiru, Lateef. O., Sangotayo, E. O., & Olawuni, O. (2021). Assessment of workplace hazard and safety performance of the construction industry. Industrial Engineering Letters. https://doi.org/10.7176/iel/11-2-05
Othman, I., Al-Ashmori, Y. Y., Rahmawati, Y., Mugahed Amran, Y. H., & Al-Bared, M. A. (2021). The level of building information modelling (BIM) implementation in Malaysia. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 12(1), 455–463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2020.04.007
Qayoom, A., & Hadikusumo, B. H. (2019). A narrative review of Occupational Safety and health legislation in Pakistan. Construction Health and Safety in Developing Countries, 43–58. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429455377-4
Rafindadi, A. D., Napiah, M., Othman, I., Miki?, M., Haruna, A., Alarifi, H., & Al-Ashmori, Y. Y. (2022).
Analysis of the causes and preventive measures of fatal fall-related accidents in the construction industry. Ain Shams Engineering Journal, 13(4), 101712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asej.2022.101712
Sanni-Anibire, M. O., Mahmoud, A. S., Hassanain, M. A., & Salami, B. A. (2020). A risk assessment approach for Enhancing Construction Safety Performance. Safety Science, 121, 15–29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2019.08.044
Sembiring, J., & Wiharni, F. (2019). Risk assessment of information production using Extended Risk Matrix Approach. TELKOMNIKA (Telecommunication Computing Electronics and Control), 17(3), 1324. https://doi.org/10.12928/telkomnika.v17i3.10050
Shaikh, H. H., Zainun, N. Y., Khahro, S. H., & Khahro, Q. H. (2024). Factors affecting health and safety performance in building projects of Sindh Pakistan. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, 48–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8345-8_7
Taibi, Y., Metzler, Y. A., Bellingrath, S., Neuhaus, C. A., & Müller, A. (2022). Applying risk matrices for assessing the risk of psychosocial hazards at work. Frontiers in Public Health, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.965262
Tarique, M. (2021, October 1). Relationship between significant construction safety parameters and on site safety performance of High Rise Building in Karachi, Sindh Province, Pakistan. UTHM Institutional Repository. http://eprints.uthm.edu.my/id/eprint/6445
Williams, O. S., Adul Hamid, R., & Misnan, M. S. (2018). Accident causal factors on the building construction sites: A Review. International Journal of Built Environment and Sustainability, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.11113/ijbes.v5.n1.248
Winge, S., Albrechtsen, E., & Mostue, B. A. (2019). Causal factors and connections in construction accidents. Safety Science, 112, 130–141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.10.015
Xia, N., Griffin, M. A., Xie, Q., & Hu, X. (2023). Antecedents of workplace safety behavior: Meta-analysis in the construction industry. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149(4). https://doi.org/10.1061/jcemd4.coeng-12492
Yap, J. B., Lam, C. G., Skitmore, M., & Talebian, N. (2022). Barriers to the adoption of new safety technologies in construction: A developing country context. JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT, 28(2), 120–133. https://doi.org/10.3846/jcem.2022.16014
Yiu, N. S. N., Sze, N. N., & Chan, D. W. M. (2018). Implementation of Safety Management Systems in Hong Kong Construction Industry – a safety practitioner’s perspective. Journal of Safety Research, 64, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2017.12.011
Zahoor, H., & Chan, A. P. (2019). The strategies to enhance safety performance in the construction industry of Pakistan. Construction Health and Safety in Developing Countries, 85–102. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780429455377-6
Zahoor, H., Chan, A. P. C., Gao, R., & Utama, W. P. (2017). The factors contributing to construction accidents in Pakistan. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 24(3), 463–485. https://doi.org/10.1108/ecam-01-2016-0027
Mahdi, M., Nagapan, S., Sohu, S., & Ali, I. (2026). Assessing Severity Level of Factors in Construction Accidents Using Risk Matrix Assessment: A Case Study of Sindh Province, Pakistan. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 16(5), 730–750.
Copyright: © 2026 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
