scholarly journals Characteristics of the Construction Industry in Developing Countries and Its Implications for Health and Safety: An Exploratory Study in Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (11) ◽  
pp. 4110
Author(s):  
Elijah Frimpong Boadu ◽  
Cynthia Changxin Wang ◽  
Riza Yosia Sunindijo
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys ◽  
Industry Professionals ◽  
Country Specific

From both practical and theoretical perspectives, understanding the health and safety (H&S) implications of the characteristics and foundation upon which the construction industry in developing countries is built and operates is essential for H&S management within the industry. While many studies have provided evidence of factors affecting construction H&S in developing countries, none has fully considered the H&S implications of the industry’s characteristics. The current study thus examined how the peculiar characteristics of the construction industry in developing countries impact on the industry’s H&S management. Data were collected using questionnaire surveys from construction industry professionals in Ghana. Nine distinct characteristics were identified and ranked, as well as their relationships and statistical significance determined through correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA), respectively. The findings showed that these characteristics of the construction industry in developing countries, particularly the lack of skilled and educated workforce, reliance on labour intensive methods and lack of single regulatory authority, present huge challenges to the management of H&S. Accordingly, this research recommended strategic interventions which are tailored towards the context of the industry’s characteristics. With the construction industry in developing countries exhibiting similar characteristics, the findings of this research can serve as a framework for country-specific study. The study contributes to the broader H&S performance improvement research in developing countries by throwing light on the characteristics of the industry that pose challenges to H&S performance.

scholarly journals Challenges for Occupational Health and Safety Enforcement in the Construction Industry in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elijah Frimpong Boadu ◽  
Cynthia Changxin Wang ◽  
Riza Yosia Sunindijo
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Research Findings

Many previous studies have reported that the occupational health and safety (OHS) enforcement is poor in developing countries, however these studies have mainly focused on the broader enforcement problems and not fully considered the challenges confronting the institutions responsible for enforcing OHS standards at workplaces.  In this study, twelve potential challenges were identified from an extensive literature review, then an empirical investigation was carried out via a questionnaire survey from OHS inspectors and professionals in the Ghanaian construction industry. The twelve challenges were confirmed and ranked. Also, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation were used to determine the statistical significance of the responses and the relationships between the challenges. Based on these findings, this study provides practical strategies for government, OHS inspectors and other professionals within the construction industry to improve the OHS enforcement. The research findings can also be adopted as a basis to assess challenges confronting OHS institutions in other developing countries.

scholarly journals Building Information Modeling Based Building Sustainability Assessment Framework for Kazakhstan

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 384
Author(s):  
Gulzhanat Akhanova ◽  
Abid Nadeem ◽  
Jong R. Kim ◽  
Salman Azhar ◽  
Malik Khalfan
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Building Information Modeling ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Information Modeling ◽  
Assessment Framework ◽  
Considerable Time ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Country Specific

The use of building information modeling (BIM) for building sustainability assessment (BSA) is a thriving topic within the architecture, engineering, and construction industry. Despite the various research approaches to employing BSA with BIM support, the research is limited to the BIM implications of BSA methods in developing countries. This paper presents how BIM can assist the BSA processes in Kazakhstan, using a previously developed building sustainability assessment framework for Kazakhstan (KBSAF). This framework has 46 assessment indicators grouped into nine assessment categories. The categories and assessment indicators of KBSAF were derived considering the regional variations and country-specific differences in the assessment factors. In this paper, BIM functions for BSA were identified through literature review; their applicability for KBSAF was evaluated by mapping the functions with the assessment indicators of KBSAF and a BIM-based BSA framework (BIM-KBSAF) was proposed. The proposed framework was validated through a three-round Delphi survey. One of the results demonstrates that for KBSAF, BIM can assess 24 out of 46 assessment indicators. The proposed framework could serve as a systematic guide to the application of BIM for BSA. Furthermore, it can facilitate the BSA process and save considerable time and effort.

scholarly journals Study of factors affecting the performance of construction projects in AEC industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 2275-2282
Author(s):  
Saurav Dixit
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Financial Management ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Construction Project ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Management Planning ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Living Entity ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys

Abstract A construction project is like a living entity and requires the interconnection and coordination of several stakeholders and many of them have their objectives, which sometimes create a conflict of interest between the teams and within the teams. The success of any project is repeatable, and a set of attributes for the success of a construction project can be identified, requiring discipline and hard work. The construction sector is the engine of growth for a nation and supplies services and goods to other industries. The objective of the study is to analyse the enabling factors affecting the performance construction projects in Architecture Engineering and Construction industry. The methodology chosen for the study is to collect primary data from the Indian construction industry using structured questionnaire surveys. The collected data are analysed using reliability and factor analyses. The findings of the study provide the value of reliability, that is, Cronbach's alpha value of (0.86) of the data collected using a questionnaire survey. Furthermore, exploratory factor analysis produced five main significant factors based on covariance between the attributes and grouped into factors such as site management and coordination, leadership and financial management, planning, commitment, and coordination having a variance of 17.65, 11.8, 9.1, 8.5, and 7.5%, respectively. This article is the extended version of the paper accepted and presented at CCC2019.

Identification of factors affecting productivity in Thailand’s construction industry and proposed maturity model for improvement of the productivity

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 849-861
Author(s):  
Patraporn Pornthepkasemsant ◽  
Santi Charoenpornpattana
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Equipment Management ◽  
Maturity Model ◽  
Material Management ◽  
Productivity Improvement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys

Purpose Low productivity is one of the main challenges facing the Thai construction industry. The purpose of this study is to identify factors affecting the productivity of Thailand’s construction industry and to develop a maturity model for improvement of the productivity. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected quantitatively through questionnaire surveys targeting different Thai construction companies to identify factors affecting the productivity in the Thai construction industry. Based on the identified factors and opinions of experts, a maturity model was then developed and validated. Findings The top five factors affecting the productivity are labor skills, material management, equipment management, site management and safety. A maturity model for the productivity improvement has been developed, and its performance is satisfactory. Research limitations/implications The productivity maturity model is based on data collected in Thailand, and the model is valid only in Thailand or other countries which have similar social and economic circumstance. Practical implications Construction companies may use the proposed maturity model as a framework for improving their productivity. Originality/value Unlike other studies, which usually rely on an issue-based approach, this study uses a systematic company-wide approach to improve the productivity.

Assessment of health and safety culture maturity in the construction industry in developing economies

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-881
Author(s):  
Justice Williams ◽  
Frank Fugar ◽  
Emmanuel Adinyira
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The State ◽  
Actual State ◽  
State Of Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Construction Companies

Purpose The degree to which accidents happen or are prevented in any organisation is the function of both the health and safety culture and the safety culture maturity level of the organisation. Therefore, this paper aims to determine the state of health and safety culture in the construction industry in developing economies and to assess their category on the safety maturity ladder using the Ghanaian construction industry as an example. This is to help construction companies in developing countries become conscious of the state of health and safety in the industry so they can be motivated to improve along the ladder. Design/methodology/approach In total, 250 contractors made up of 155 building contractor,s and 95 road contractors took part in the survey. The sample size was determined by Yamane’s (1967) formula with stratified simple random sampling technique adopted in selecting the companies in the survey. This paper also uses (Guttman Scale) Scalogram analysis to measure the state of health and safety culture in the Ghanaian construction industry. Findings The results show that health and safety culture of the Ghanaian construction industry is at the first level, the pathological stage. Even though Ghanaian contractors have health and safety policies and codes of conduct in place, safety is not seen as a key business risk. Consequently, management and most frontline staff do not emphasise the importance of integration of safety measures in the various activities on the site. Thus, safety is not seen as unavoidable and a part of the construction activity. Practical implications The findings of this study inform state authorities, consultants and contractors of areas that they need to focus more on improving health and safety culture in developing countries. This would go a long way in protecting construction workers in the industry. Originality/value This study, to the best of the authors’ current knowledge, is the first of its kind in the Ghanaian construction industry. The study brings to the fore the actual state of health and safety in the construction industry in developing countries such as Ghana. The value of the findings lies in the fact that it will provide the motivation for construction companies in developing countries to develop a commitment to safety, and to provide appropriate and effective safety improvement techniques to progress to the subsequent stages of the safety culture maturity ladder.

scholarly journals Factors affecting safety performance on construction sites: An overview

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 32-37
Author(s):  
Nour Eldeen Abo Nassar
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Health And Safety Issues ◽  
Made In

The construction industry is one of the most significant industries that contribute greatly to achieving economic development. However, it is also considered one of the industries that is always exposed to a high risk of hazards in addition to being full of risky activities. Accidents that occurred in construction industries have caused many defects in project progress, for example, delays in completing the project, increasing project cost, reducing productivity, and creating negative impressions about the company. The major reason for the accidents is poor worker safety performance, with a host of contributing causes. For improving safety performance, the root causes of incidents that occur in construction as well as the factors influencing them must be studied. Health and safety issues are the main problem and concerns in the building industry. Though much development has been made in construction safety, the industry still lacks a lag behind most other industries in terms of safety. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the factors that could affect the safety performance of a construction site to reduce the frequency of accidents.

scholarly journals OHSAS 18001: Sustainable construction

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (9) ◽  
pp. 95-104
Author(s):  
Mohd Arif Marhani ◽  
Hamimah Adnan ◽  
Faridah Ismail
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Safety Culture ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Sustainable Construction ◽  
International Publishing ◽  
The Government ◽  
Questionnaire Surveys ◽  
Open Access Article

OHSAS 18001 was proposed to promote an organisation manages occupational health and safety (OH&S) risks and further improved work operations. However, the positive efforts by the government of Malaysia to improve the implementation, use and acceptance level of OHSAS 18001 are still not remarkable. Hence, the objectives of this paper are to determine the level of acceptance and to establish the best alternative practice in implementing OHSAS 18001. Questionnaire surveys were used as the research method. It is hoped that the implementation of OHSAS 18001 can stimulate the atmosphere of safety culture towards sustainable construction in the Malaysian construction industry. Keywords: Acceptance; OHSAS 18001; Sustainable Construction; Malaysian Construction Industry eISSN 2514-751X © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

scholarly journals Measures for Curbing Unethical Practices among Construction Industry Professionals: Quantity Surveyors’ Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christiana Ada Paul ◽  
Douglas Omoregie Aghimien ◽  
Ahmed Doko Ibrahim ◽  
Yahaya Makarfi Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Quantitative Approach ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Ethical Awareness ◽  
Unethical Practices ◽  
Industry Professionals

Unethical practices have been a reoccurring menace in the construction industry globally, with its negative impact reported in existing studies. While several studies have explored issues touching on ethics, ethics compliance and unethical practices within the construction industry, the problems persist especially in developing countries. It is based on this notion that this study assessed the possible measures that could help curb unethical practices in the construction industry with specific reference to Quantity Surveyors (QS). The study adopted a quantitative approach with structured questionnaires used to garner information from registered QS in Nigeria. Data analysis was done using relevant descriptive and multivariate analysis. The reliability of the instrument used was also tested using Cronbach alpha test. The findings revealed that while QS are no strangers to unethical practices, most cases are not reported to the appropriate authorities. The most prevalent of these practices are payment-related and contract-related. To curb these practices, random inspections and development of ethical compliance, ensuring a good reporting and punishment system, and increase ethical awareness through QS organised programmes are needed. The findings of this study would assist the professional bodies and organisations within the industry to effectively enforce ethical conduct among their members and staff.

scholarly journals Occupational Health and Safety Practices in Cape Coast Metropolis

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-121
Author(s):  
Daniel Ebo Hagan ◽  
Zakari Mustapha ◽  
Benjamin Boahene Akomah ◽  
Peter Kobina Aidoo
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Cape Coast ◽  
Safety Practices ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Construction Firms ◽  
The Social ◽  
Site Supervisors ◽  
Construction Accidents

Abstract The rate of construction accidents in the Ghanaian construction industry is not encouraging. The study sought to identify the factors affecting the effective health and safety practices in the construction industry within the Cape Coast Metropolis. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the construction firms and ‘Yamane formula’ to arrive at the number of respondents (44) for the study. Structured questionnaires were distributed among site engineers, site supervisors, safety officers, quantity surveyors, foremen, chief masons and chief carpenters. Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the data analysis and results were presented in a form of descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that the level of health and safety practices within the Metropolis was high and the factors that affected the implementation of health and safety programmes were severe among the firms. Few of the company’s health and safety programmes were effective and this calls for the strengthenig of the construction sector policy by the ministries responsible for implementation.

scholarly journals Construction Health and Safety Self-Regulation in Developing Countries: A Nigeria Case Study

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnedinma Umeokafor ◽  
David Isaac
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Regulatory Process ◽  
The Self ◽  
Favorable Attitude ◽  
Individual Interviews

The study reported in this paper explored the self-regulatory approaches in terms of health and safety (H&S) in the Nigerian construction industry and the attitudes of the industry towards H&S self-regulation. This stems from the premise that the Nigerian construction industry has been viewed as unregulated, but evidence in literature indicates that some parts of the industry are self-regulated in various forms. However, it is unclear how self-regulation occurs in the industry, its approaches and the attitudes of the industry towards it. Based on group and individual interviews, there is evidence of self-regulation that is: enforced, industry-led, voluntary, H&S crusader-led, client-led and community-led. It was revealed that in many cases, when self-regulation is voluntary, the self-regulatory process does not exceed the first stage of self-regulation, adopting or developing standards. The attitudes of the industry towards H&S self-regulation can be described as not limited to “camouflage,” “convenience,” “context-defined,” “secondary,” “unstructured,” and “tick box.” However, there are some in the industry that have a favorable attitude towards H&S where it is “primary” in their organization. The understanding of self-regulation and H&S is advanced in this study, especially in developing countries, which policymakers, socio-legal scholars, practitioners, academics, and various industries may find beneficial.

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