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Construction industry is considered to be one of the most hazardous industries in the world. The reason could be attributed to its hazardous nature as it is an accident-prone industry. Thus, a need for better understanding of safety management system is essential for improving safety performance in this sector. This paper discusses briefly the elements of safety management by presenting different systems (such as Oregon OSHA Occupational Health and Safety Administration, and OTAR Overseas Territories Aviation Circle) and elaborating their elements. It also discusses two types of measuring safety performance the first is the lagging indicators and the second is the leading indicator. In addition, a field study was conducted to explore contractors’ perception on safety management. A questionnaire was distributed to construction firms. 200 responses were collected and analyzed. All of the results showed positive answers which indicate that safety in performance in Egypt is slightly above average as all means were close to average.

Purpose The construction industry is considered one of the most dangerous industries especially in developing countries such as Egypt. Although safety in Egypt is regulated by mainly four pivotal legislations, namely, Law No. 12 (2003) and Ministerial Decrees No. 211, 126 and 134, construction accident records in Egypt are high. Accordingly, this paper aims to develop a framework to activate the health and safety regulations in the Egyptian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach To achieve this aim, a research methodology consisting of a literature review and a survey questionnaire was developed to accomplish three objectives. First, a literature review was used to identify the causes of site accidents and strategies adopted in different countries to improve and enforce safety, safety roles of stakeholders. Second, a survey questionnaire was conducted with a representative sample of large- and medium-sized construction firms in Egypt to examine their perception of the causes of site accidents. Finally, a framework was developed to activate the health and safety regulations in the Egyptian construction industry. Findings The research identified 16 causes of construction site accidents. These causes were classified into three categories based on the party responsible for the occurrence of site accidents, namely, workers, organization management and government. Results of data analysis showed that “lack of housekeeping” and “lack of governmental inspection for safety” were ranked the highest causes of site accidents in the Egyptian construction industry, whereas “inefficiency of old safety equipment or no safety equipment at all” and “reluctance to input resources for safety” were ranked the least causes. Originality/value This research provides valuable information about the nature of the construction industry with a particular focus on site accidents, causes and impacts of construction site accidents. The study highlighted the safety roles of the Egyptian Governmental bodies in Egypt to improve and enforce safety. The research tackled a topic that received scant attention in construction literature especially in the Egypt context. The framework presented in this paper represents a synthesis that is important and adds value to the knowledge in a manner that has not previously occurred in the Egyptian construction industry.

This research focuses on studying the flexural behaviour of reinforced concrete beams externally strengthened with bonded CFRP laminates and subjected to high temperature (fire) for different exposure time and two cooling schemes (air and water). 12 reinforced concrete beams with 1,000 mm loading span and cross-sectional area of 100 × 200 mm and reinforced with 2 bars 12 mm diameter as main reinforcement were tested. The CFRP used was laminates of 50 mm width and 1.2 mm thick which were protected from fire using a perlite mortar cover of thickness 5 cm. The beams were loaded to their working load, and while maintaining the load, they were subjected to fire for 1, 2 and 3 h, respectively, then followed by cooling either by water or by left to slow cool in air at room temperature. After cooling, the load was increased up to failure. The structural behaviour of the tested beams was studied by applying a three-point bending test and the mid-span deflection was recorded using LVDT. The mode of failure was investigated and presented. Also, a comparison between strengthened and unstrengthened beams was performed and presented. The results show that the fire protective layer is essential to maintain and minimize the loss in the strength gained by applying CFRP laminates. Also, it indicates that abrupt water cooling reduces the strength gained by about 15-29%.

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