RESEARCH ARTICLE


Project Manager Interventions in Occupational Health and Safety During the Pre-construction Phase in the Gaza Strip



Bassam A. Tayeh1, *
iD
, Rola O. Yaghi1
iD
, Yazan I. Abu Aisheh2
iD

1 Civil Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza, Palestine
2 Department of Civil Engineering, Middle East University, Amman, Jordan


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Creative Commons License
© 2020 Tayeh et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza, Palestine;
Tel: 00972595174717; E-mail: btayeh@iugaza.edu.ps


Abstract

Background:

Construction industry is classified as one of the most dangerous industries, where workers are exposed to accidents and risks.

Objective:

This study inspected the role of project manager in promoting Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) during the pre-construction phase in the construction projects in the Gaza Strip. Previous studies were reviewed in order to extract the impact of inadequate health and safety interventions in the construction projects throughout the world, and their applicability in the Gaza Strip was determined.

Methods:

This was achieved through a pilot study and a draft questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed in order to assess and evaluate the perception of project managers on the extent of their roles in promoting health and safety in the pre-construction phase. The sample size was 101, out of which, 77 completed questionnaires were returned by the respondents.

Results:

The study revealed that two project parameters, mainly affected by inadequate health and safety interventions, were quality and labour productivity. The main stage during which a project manager played a significant role in promoting health and safety was the planning stage, with “identifying specific safety issues from prior experience” being the highest sub-factor, which was followed by the designing stage, with “plan works at the design phase through a time schedule, citing the duration of processes, divided into steps and any process priority” being the highest sub-factor.

Conclusion:

Finally, there was the tendering stage, with “make ensure that facilities are provided on site for first aid and emergency medical treatment in the event of an accident” being the highest sub-factor. The results of this study show great awareness of a project manager in promoting health and safety in the pre-construction phase.

Keywords: Occupational health and safety, Project manager, Pre-construction phase Gaza strip, Health and Safety (H&S) risks, Construction Industry (CI), Gross Domestic Product (GDP).