Comparison of estimated occupational health and safety costs with actual costs in maintenance and repair projects of public buildings

Public building stock in Turkey is getting older and more funds are transferred for repairs and maintenance of these public buildings. Parallel to this growth, a significant increase is observed in the number of occupational accidents occurring in the Turkish construction sector. This case study focuses on compulsory investments in small or middle-scale repairs and maintenance projects of public buildings. In the determination of occupational health and safety (OHS) costs which are an integral part of the project costs, a model combining risk-based activity analysis and activity-based cost analysis is utilized and computer software developed as a calculation instrument for this model is used. The ratio of actual and estimated OHS costs to the approximate cost was found to be 3.98 and 3.58%, respectively. Further research should be conducted to test the reliability of this model and its calculation tool in estimating the actual OHS cost before the tender stage.