Safety Practices in the Lebanese Construction Market: Contractors’ Perspective

Abstract

The construction industry in the world is considered to be one of the most dangerous industries, claiming each year the lives of many workers. In particular, the boom in the construction industry in the Middle East over the past decades was accompanied with significant increase in death tolls and injuries among labor forces. Lebanon is a small developing country in the region who survived a harsh civil war that ended in 1990, and since then, its economy has become more dependent on the construction industry. The country has been undergoing a reconstruction and rehabilitation phase that led to a prosperous growth in construction, however, not accompanied by any improvement of the construction laws to include safety regulations and standards. The purpose of this research is to assess the existence and extent of application of safety practices by Lebanese contractors, management commitment to safety, implementation challenges and opportunities for enhancing safe practices. Based on the aforementioned, this study highlights the benefits and deficiencies of the current safety practice in the Lebanese construction market and concludes by providing recommendations to positively influence industry professionals and foster their commitment to safety. The aim of this paper is achieved through conducting one to one interviews with Lebanese contractors. Findings showed a lack of awareness among small and medium size contractors about the necessity of developing and applying safety training programs on the jobsite. However, large contractors showed a much stronger commitment to safety through planned safety management programs and regular inspections but within a limited budget.

Bayesian Network Models for Evaluating the Impact of Safety Measures Compliance on Reducing Accidents in the Construction Industry

“…Awwad studied the existence and extent of the application of safety practices by Lebanese contractors, management commitment to safety, and opportunities for enhancing safe practices [17]. Awwad collected the data through an interview questionnaire with Lebanese contractors and analyzed it using descriptive analyses.…”

“…Coordination and commitment of all levels of the construction workforce are vital to the success of any safety program and essential to facing any safety execution challenges in the construction industry [17]. Top management can enhance their safety programs by focusing on engineering improvements to equipment, methods, and materials and changing human behavior positively through education and training.…”

A Review of Construction Safety and Health Laws in Lebanon

“…Reference Findings [5,6] • The size of the contracting firm and the implementation of Safety and Health Management Systems (SHMS) are correlated: only large sized contractors and half of the total number of medium and small sized ones adopt SHMS.…”

Analysis of Events and Exposures Leading to Construction Injuries in Developing Countries: The Case of Lebanon

“…For example, a survey of contractors found that the most common reason for the lack of adoption of safety systems in Lebanon is that such safety practices are not required by law, in spite of the existence of Decree No. 11958 of 2004 concerning regulations of safety and labour protection in the construction industry [10].…”