Application of TQM and TSM in UAE Construction Safety Management

Abstract

One of the chief goals of the construction industry is to maintain a safe environment at construction sites, a goal best achieved by implementing Quality Management. Deming's Total Quality Management (TQM) tools serve as an excellent option when it comes to efficiently using available resources to improve construction management at the site. Various accidents in the construction sites, however, may still occur, leading to loss of lives, delays and increasing project cost. Thus, an effective safety management system should be enforced to mitigate these accidents so as to reduce delay, cost and most importantly, prevent harmful accidents. A combination of TQM and Total Safety Management (TSM) ranks as one of the best available practices that establish a safe environment at the construction sites. In this paper, a survey has been designed, conducted and analyzed in order to solicit feedback from 61 engineers working in various construction companies and organizations in the UAE. Two construction processes that necessitate safety management are studied: safety of tower cranes and temporary formwork. The interrelationship between safety, quality, and reliability is also discussed along with the various causes of failure. The results of the survey reveal that the majority of the survey participants had implemented routine safety and health procedures to avoid accidents. The number of accidents, however, was still inordinately high due to top management pressurizing middle managers into completing construction goals within a designated time period.

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