Relationship Between Technical Safety Guidance and Major Accident Prevention in Small- and Medium-Sized Construction Sites

This study examines how technical safety guidance at small- and medium-sized construction sites influences the prevention of five major serious accident types—falls, struck-by-object, collapse, hit-by falling or flying objects, and caught-in/between accidents—while comparing the relative roles of educational, technical, legal, and environmental dimensions. It aims to empirically present a field-oriented prevention framework that complements punishment- centered regulatory approaches under the Serious Accident Punishment Act. An online survey of 312 stakeholders conducted in November 2025 was analyzed using reliability testing, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling. Results show that educational and technical support significantly improve prevention of falls and struck-by-object accidents, while technical and legal management contribute to collapse prevention. For hit-by falling or flying object accidents, educational, technical, and legal factors demonstrate significant positive effects, whereas the environmental factor shows a negative direction without statistical significance. In caught-in/between accidents, educational and technical factors remain positive, while environmental factors indicate negative effects associated with work conditions, time pressure, and fatigue. Overall, effective accident prevention in small- and medium-sized construction settings relies on integrating technical improvements, practical risk assessment, and site-specific education. Legal measures function as complementary controls depending on accident type, highlighting the importance of a prevention-centered, field-driven safety framework.