scholarly journals Tension between Productivity and Respect for People in Construction

2020 ◽  
Vol 312 ◽  
pp. 05005
Author(s):  
Lesiba George Mollo ◽  
Fidelis Emuze ◽  
Nicholus Sishuba
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Management System ◽  
Ethical Reasoning ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Productivity in the construction industry is declining in real-time. The decline in productivity is a source of worry for practitioners and researchers. The purpose of this paper is to ascertain major factors influencing productivity in relation to the notion of respects for people (RFP) in construction. The reviewed literature influences the semi-structured questionnaire used to survey construction professionals in Johannesburg, South Africa. The results reaffirm the tension productivity increment and the enhancement of RfP as both ideas appear to be moving in opposite directions on a typical construction site. It was discovered that respect for workers on a construction site is a major concern. The paper argues that ethical reasoning affects productivity. Therefore, an appropriate management system is required to improve the workers' perception of productivity and RfP working on construction sites.

Implementation challenges of COVID-19 safety measures at construction sites in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Amoah ◽  
Fredrick Simpeh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Safety Measures ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Construction Companies

Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed safety measures in every industry, including the construction industry. Thus, the construction companies have instituted safety measures at the construction sites to curve the disease’s spread among the workforce. This paper aims to examine the challenges encountered by construction firms in implementing COVID-19 safety measures at construction sites. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study using open-ended interview questions to solicit data from 19 construction professionals currently working on a construction project in South Africa. Content analysis with the assistance of an Excel spreadsheet was used to analyse the data collected. Findings The findings indicate that there are numerous challenges such as ignorance of COVID-19, the supply of poor personal protective equipment (PPEs) by contractors, lack of compliance, sanitising construction materials, difficulty in sharing tools and equipment, public transport usage by workers, superstition (COVID-19 is for a particular group of people), complying with social distancing rules, among others in the implementation of the COVID-19 safety measure at the construction site to curb the spread of the disease among the workers. These challenges have, therefore, hampered their effort to strictly adhere to the safety measures in accordance with the COVID-19 safety protocol at the project sites currently under construction. Research limitations/implications The interviewees were construction professionals working in the South African construction industry during the COVID-19 period. Practical implications The implication is that, due to the challenges faced in implementing the COVID-19 safety measures, workers on the construction site are not adequately protected from contracting COVID-19. The workers may thus contract the disease at the project sites and transmit it to their families and vice versa, which may have further implications on the spread of the disease within the communities and society. Originality/value The study has identified implementation challenges of the COVID-19 safety measures at construction sites of which the construction stakeholders must institute measures to overcome since COVID-19 has become part of our daily life. The study also recommends some preventive measures to the owners of construction companies to help overcome or minimise these COVID-19 safety implementation hurdles to minimise the spread of the disease among the construction site workers.

scholarly journals Sustainable Ship Loading Planning for Prefabricated Products in the Construction Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 8905
Author(s):  
Wen Yi ◽  
Robyn Phipps ◽  
Hans Wang
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Transportation Cost ◽  
Sustainable Transportation ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Integer Optimization ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Capacity Limits ◽  
Proposed Model

This paper focuses on sustainable transportation of prefab products from factories to construction sites by ship. Since the transportation cost for all the prefab products of a construction site is mainly dependent on the number of cargo holds used on ships, a loading plan for prefab products that minimizes the number of holds required is highly desirable. This paper is therefore devoted to the development of an optimal loading plan that decides which prefab products are loaded into each cargo hold and how to pack these prefab products into the holds so that as few holds as possible are used. We formulate the problem as a large-scale integer optimization model whose objective function is to minimize the total number of cargo holds used and whose constraints represent the cargo hold capacity limits. We develop a heuristic to solve the problem and obtain a high-quality solution. We have tested the model and algorithm on a case study that includes 20 prefab products. We find that different cargo holds carry prefab products that have quite different densities. Moreover, the orientations of many prefab products are different from their default orientations. The results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model and algorithm.

Appraisal of stakeholders' willingness to adopt construction 4.0 technologies for construction projects

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Temidayo Oluwasola Osunsanmi ◽  
Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa ◽  
Ayodeji Emmanuel Oke ◽  
Muredini Liphadzi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Construction Projects ◽  
Survey Design ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Design Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Willingness To Adopt ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

PurposeConstruction 4.0 technology has the capabilities for improving the design, management, operations and decision making of construction projects. Therefore, this study aimed at examining the willingness of construction professionals towards adopting construction 4.0 technologies.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopts a survey design, and construction professionals in South Africa are assessed using a convenience sampling technique through a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was analysed with SPSS while statistical test like; mean score, t-test and principal component analysis was used to present the data.FindingsThe findings, from the analysis, revealed that the construction professionals are willing to adopt construction 4.0 technologies for construction project. However, the possibility of fully integrating the technologies into the construction industry is low. This is because the major technologies such as; Internet of things, robotics, human-computer interaction and cyber-physical systems that encourage smart construction site are rated as not important by the construction professionals.Practical implicationsIt is believed that the findings emanating from this study will serve as an indicator for investors that are interested in procuring construction 4.0 technologies for the construction industry.Originality/valueThis paper presents a framework for the application of construction 4.0 technologies for the construction industry. It also contributes to the development of digitalising construction industry in South Africa.

Organized Crime in the Construction Industry

1977 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph C. Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Heavy Equipment ◽  
Societal Changes

The theft of heavy equipment from construction sites is an organized, systematic, criminal operation, encouraged and sustained by contractors within the construction industry and designed to enrich burglars, illicit salesmen, and seemingly legitimate businessmen. From information gathered directly from those affected and involved, the article shows how the system of organized construction site crime works, which institutions profit as a result, and how these institutions support one another to give organized theft the means to survive. Finally, it explains the reasons for failure of current attempts to fight this type of crime and suggests the types of institutional and societal changes needed to curtail it.

FACTORS INFLUENCING PRODUCTIVITY IN CONSTRUCTION

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khedher Yahya Almathami ◽  
Bambang Trigunarsyah ◽  
Vaughan Coffey
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Construction Productivity ◽  
Construction Companies ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Poor Outcomes ◽  
Major Factors

Over the past three decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has witnessed a significant increase in new building projects and construction industry activity. The KSA construction industry is expected to continue developing and growing at a significant rate in the coming decades. However, several serious issues currently face the construction industry, in particular low productivity, which have contributed to poor outcomes where projects have been delayed or postponed. This paper discusses the major factors influencing productivity in the KSA construction industry. A questionnaire survey using a 5-point Likert scale was used to measure the importance of these factors. It was administered to 176 respondents from Grades 1, 2 and 3 construction companies, which are registered in the Contractors Classification Agency under the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs (MMRA). The questionnaire included five major factors identified from the literature review: managerial, labor-related, materials, tools and equipment, financial, and project-related. Using descriptive statistical analyses, it was found that the most important factors influencing construction productivity were financial factors, including issues such as the limited financial liquidity of the company, payment delays by owners, and limited cash flow. The next main influential factor was project-related, followed by factors related to materials and equipment, labor-related factors, and administrative and managerial factors.

scholarly journals A REAL-TIME LOCATION-BASED CONSTRUCTION LABOR SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 724-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwang-Pyo Lee ◽  
Hyun-Soo Lee ◽  
Moonseo Park ◽  
Hyunsoo Kim ◽  
Sangwon Han
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Management System ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Economic Loss ◽  
Safety Management System ◽  
Labor Safety ◽  
Construction Safety Management ◽  
Construction Accidents ◽  
Early Warnings

The construction industry continues to record a high number of accidents compared to other industries. Furthermore, the ramifications of construction accidents are growing in terms of both economic loss and loss of life with trends toward larger-scale, more complex projects. For this reason, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of safety management in the construction industry, and the need for more effective safety management techniques. This paper introduces a real-time location-based construction labor safety management system that tracks and visualizes workers’ locations in real-time and sends early warnings to endangered workers. The system is developed by integrating: a real-time locating system (RTLS) for tracking of workers’ location; a location monitoring system for mapping the workers location on a computerized building model; and alarm technology for sending early warnings. The developed system has been applied to an apartment project and an RTLS technology test center in Korea, and proved to be effective in tracking and monitoring workers in real-time and preventing construction accidents. It is envisioned that the developed system will enable proactive construction safety management in South Korea and the methodologies developed in this study will be applicable to other contexts with minimal customization.

scholarly journals Safety Helmet Wearing Management System for Construction Workers Using Three-Axis Accelerometer Sensor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
SungHun Kim ◽  
Changwon Wang ◽  
Se Dong Min ◽  
Seung-Hyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Management System ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Accelerometer Sensor ◽  
Sensing Data ◽  
Develop Technology ◽  
Technical Studies

In the Korean construction industry, legal and institutional safety management improvements are continually being pursued. However, there was a 4.5% increase in the number of workers’ deaths at construction sites in 2017 compared to the previous year. Failure to wear safety helmets seems to be one of the major causes of the increase in accidents, and so it is necessary to develop technology to monitor whether or not safety helmets are being used. However, the approaches employed in existing technical studies on this issue have mainly involved the use of chinstrap sensors and have been limited to the problem of whether or not safety helmets are being worn. Meanwhile, improper wearing, such as when the chinstrap and harness fixing of the safety helmet are not properly tightened, has not been monitored. To remedy this shortcoming, a sensing safety helmet with a three-axis accelerometer sensor attached was developed in this study. Experiments were performed in which the sensing data were classified whether the safety helmet was being worn properly, not worn, or worn improperly during construction workers’ activities. The results verified that it is possible to differentiate among wearing status of the proposed safety helmet with a high accuracy of 97.0%

scholarly journals An Effective Safety Handling System for Construction Industry in Kerala

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 3968-3972
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Construction Safety ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Construction Safety Management ◽  
Construction Works

The construction industry plays a prominent part in the progress of a country socially and economically. Nowadays construction industry has grown profit driven and the management focuses more on completing the projects on time neglecting safety of the workers. Construction works involving intricate works leading to accidents or injuries resulting in loss of life and body parts are rampant. So a proper safety management system is required to avoid accidents and improve safety at construction sites. Factors affecting safety at construction workplaces were identified and was surveyed through a quantitative questionnaire and analysed to form a basis for the total construction safety management model. The Total Construction Safety Management (TCSM) based on the PDCA modelling is proposed to improve safety at construction sites. This model can act as a guide to the present organizations and helps them to implement safety in quicker manner at construction site.

Living on the Construction Site: Paraguayan Construction Workers in Buenos Aires

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro del Águila
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork

Argentine enterprises subsume Paraguayan migrant workers into the construction industry in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, subordinating them to the demands of production by temporarily housing them on the construction sites themselves. Ethnographic fieldwork carried out on various construction sites between 2006 and 2015 shows how this practice overlaps with wider processes of global transformation in labor relations. The lodging of workers on construction sites is an increasingly widespread strategy for capitalist entrepreneurs to exploit the migrant workforce even further. Las empresas argentinas han incorporado a los trabajadores migrantes paraguayos a la industria de la construcción en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires y los han subordinado a las exigencias de la producción, alojándolos temporalmente en las obras mismas. Un trabajo de campo etnográfico realizado en varias obras entre 2006 y 2015 muestra cómo dicha práctica se entrelaza con procesos más amplios en la transformación de las relaciones laborales a nivel global. El alojamiento de los trabajadores en las obras es una estrategia cada vez más extendida para que los empresarios capitalistas puedan explotar la mano de obra migrante aún más de lo que ya hacen.

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