Occupational risk of tunneling construction

This paper presents the quantification of occupational risk of the construction of a highway tunnel, located in Northern Greece. Risk assessment is based on the Workgroup Occupational Risk Model (WORM) project, developed in the Netherlands. This model can assess occupational risk at hazard level, activity level, job level and overall company risk. Seventeen job positions have been identified for this construction project, such as operators of a drilling machine, a loader, an excavator, a spraying machine, a crane operator, a blaster, a welder, the supervisor of the project, truck drivers and various other workers participating in the major construction phases. All risk profiles of workers have been quantified and jobs have been ranked according to their risk. Occupational risk has been assessed for two major tunnel construction phases which are (a) the excavation and primary support and (b) the final lining and support of the tunnel. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.