Title: High fatalities risk found in gulf construction

Authors: Tariq Umar; Charles Egbu; George Ofori; Mohamed Shaik Honnurvali; Messaoud Saidani; Alex Opoku

Addresses: College of Engineering, A'Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman ' University of East London, UK ' School of Built Environment and Architecture, London South Bank University, UK ' College of Engineering, A'Sharqiyah University, Ibra, Oman ' School of Energy, Construction and Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing, Coventry University, UK ' UCL Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, University College London, London, UK

Abstract: It is predicted that the construction industry will be growing in the future, and that could lead to an increase in risks in work safety and accidents. This paper presents the current status of occupational safety and health in the Gulf region by providing a comparison with those of some of the most advanced countries in the world. According to our data, the Gulf countries have a poor record of work safety and health. Therefore, this research aimed to identify the main factors and provide some solutions for key areas, so that the construction industry could improve its safety performance. Our findings from the literature and from the semi-structured interviews held with the selected professionals suggest that the major areas are: lack of awareness of the importance of safety and costs resulting from accidents; environmental and climatic factors; implementation of rules for developing a culture of harmless working conditions.

Keywords: project management; construction management; safety and hazards; management; health and safety; heat stress; safety climate; health factors; systematic review; GCC countries.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSRECE.2019.106544

International Journal of Sustainable Real Estate and Construction Economics, 2019 Vol.1 No.4, pp.351 - 376

Received: 03 Sep 2019
Accepted: 21 Sep 2019

Published online: 09 Apr 2020 *

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