What is determining affordable housing shortages in the Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia?

Khor

Preece

2021

FEBE

PurposeStatistics show that the construction sector has the second-highest number of accident cases in Malaysia. A total of 100, 000 construction workers suffer from work-related bad health each year. Scaffolding accidents are the second cause of accidents on construction sites. Therefore, this present research provided answers to the following questions: (1) what are the causes of scaffolding accidents and (2) what are the possible measures to reduce scaffolding accidents?Design/methodology/approachThe research developed a questionnaire instrument that included 24 causes of scaffolding accidents and 21 remedial actions. The research was based on a cross-sectional survey questionnaire administered to 129 members of construction organizations.FindingsData revealed that scaffolding-related cases caused a total of 70% of the deaths/injuries on sites. Furthermore, scaffolding accidents were mainly caused by a lack of guard rails on scaffoldings, poor inspections, improper assembly, a poor safety culture, poor attitudes towards safety, poor footing of scaffoldings and unsecured planking. To reduce scaffolding accidents, there must be a lifeline on scaffolding, proper guardrails and proper assembling of scaffoldings, and preventing access to incomplete or defective scaffoldings. The 24 causes are structured into six factors through factor analysis and the 21 remedial actions into six factors.Originality/valueThis research serves as the first attempt to conduct broad research on the causes and remedial actions concerning scaffolding accidents on construction sites in Malaysia. Theoretically, the research has provided fresh insights into the impact of scaffolding accidents.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Background and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation into occupational health and safety of scaffolding practices on construction sites in Malaysia

Khor

Preece

2021

FEBE

“… Araya, 2021b , Brundtland et al, 1987 , Clemente-Suá rez et al, 2021 , Cleveland Clinic, 2020 , de Bruin et al, 2020 , Dí az-Soler et al, 2019 , Fadilllah, 2020c , Gul and Ak, 2018 , Hinton, 2014 , Hwang and Kim, 2011 , Jonathan, 2020 , Liang et al, 2018 , Lingard et al, 2021 , Lu et al, 2020 , Muhyiddin, 2020 , Nawaz et al, 2019 , New Straits Times, 2020a , New Straits Times, 2020b , New Straits Times, 2020c , New Straits Times, 2020d , Occupational Safety and Health Administration, 2020 , Olanrewaju and Idrus, 2020 , Sadarangani et al, 2017 , Sarwar et al, 2020 , Spiegel and Meadows, 2010 , The World Bank, 2020 , Tong et al, 2018 , Wang et al, 2019 , Zhang and Mohandes, 2020 …”

Section: Uncited Referencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the construction sites

Cleaner Engineering and Technology

Abdul‐Aziz

Preece

et al. 2021

COVID-19 is the most critical health and safety risk facing the global construction sector. The COVID-19 crisis leads to reduction in site productivity, has increased compliance costs, delayed projects and increases construction workers' exposure to risk and infections. However, as countries begin to ease lockdowns and restrictions, there is a need to examine the measures that the construction companies can take to ensure workers are “Covid-safe”. This research developed a questionnaire instrument that included 24 Covid-preventive measures on construction sites. Isolating sick workers, conducting daily checks for COVID-19 symptoms, preventing hugging/handshaking at the site, displaying health advisory posters and info-graphics, and providing face masks to workers are seen to be the main measures towards keeping sites “Covid-safe”. The Principal Component Analysis structured the 24 measures into 4 components. The 4 components explained about 73% of the model, namely hygiene and control, equipment and monitoring, awareness, and incentives. The results found that compliance costs of health and safety regulations to prevent COVID-19 will increase by more than 20%, site productivity will be reduced by up to 50%, and the pandemic will have caused a 40% increase in skills shortage. Cluster analysis was performed to cluster the sites in terms of their exposure to COVID-19 risk. In order to examine the practicability of the findings, the model was validated with 4 case studies. It is asserted that the research findings’ have potential to keep sites “Covid-safe” which help construction companies increase productivity, reduce project costs, reduce claims and deliver projects on schedule. This research is the first to examine measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on construction sites and the findings hold critical theoretical and practical implications for future research on health and safety management.

“…The central limit theorem (CLT) proves this. The CLT principle states that as sample size increases, the sample mean distribution approaches a normal distribution (Olanrewaju and Idrus, 2020). For the CLT principle to be valid, a sample size of 30 or greater is statistically required.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative analysis of construction workers’ mental health before and during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria

Oni

Khor

et al. 2022

FEBE

PurposeBecause of the sort of working environment and the nature of construction jobs, a high rate of poor mental health has been recorded in the construction industry. The aim of this study is to compare construction workers' mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire was developed and administered online to building environment professionals working on construction sites. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation. An independent sample t-test was also conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference in the mean before and during the COVID-19 infection.FindingsThe results show that mental health challenges were more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to before the pandemic. The result of the independent sample t-test revealed that there exists a significant difference in all the mean before and during COVID-19 except sleeping too much or too little; having low or no energy and lack of emotion that shows no significant difference.Originality/valueThis study is the first to compare the mental health of construction workers before and during COVID-19 in Nigeria. The significance of this study was that it would provide an insight for construction managers and other decision-makers on the most critical mental health challenges on construction sites, which will help in an attempt to improve the mental well-being of construction workers.