Guest editorial

Abstract

Impact of COVID-19 on constructionThis special issue (SI) of the JEDT is a collection of 19 articles that showcase the impact of COVID-19 on construction. In the first article of the SI, Simpeh and Amoah (2021) show that established firms have incorporated aspects of COVID-19 guidelines into their site health and safety practices in South Africa. The qualitative results indicate that most contractors included policies related to site access, handling of COVID-19 cases, induction, screening and social distancing. But only a few among the study cohort have guidelines in place to ensure compliance to the new normal on the worksite as it affects sanitisation, sick leave, wearing of personal protective equipment (PPEs), audit and risk assessment and lunchtime rules. In neighbouring Zimbabwe, factor analysis helped surface aspects that significantly affected H%S on project sites in the pandemic period (Chigara and Moyo, 2021). The highlighted factors are change and innovation, monitoring and enforcement, production, access to information and health services, on-site facilities and welfare, risk assessment and mitigation, job security and funding, project cost and COVID-19 risk perceptions. These factors should help contractors formulate context-specific interventions that benefit field workers in developing or developed countries. The third article of the SI takes the reader from the South African perspective to West Africa. In the article, the barriers to implementing pandemic-related H%S regulations on construction sites in Ghana were outlined. The significant obstacles observed by Simpeh et al. (2021) include the cost of implementing COVID-19 H%S measures, which is made worse by the lack of compliance and ignorance. The authors also observe the dynamics of superstition, lack of PPE supply and theft of COVID-19 materials in the study.Although relatively common in the construction management lexicon, words such as adaptation, resilience and flexibility increased with the advent of COVID-19. With the goodbye to business-as-usual on construction sites, Jones et al. (2021) present lessons for improving safety and worker effectiveness in the new normal in the UK. Using data from interviews that explored work experiences on-site during the pandemic, Jones et al. (2021) contend that improved planning and work sequencing have made sites COVID-secure, apart from the notion that better worker effectiveness and housekeeping were observed. Securing the life of people in construction (PiC) today cannot be effectively implemented without due consideration for technology. The following article in the SI thus presents real-time health telemonitoring using Internet of Things systems (Mahmood and Rafaa, 2021). Risk management concerning H&S is never more critical on-site than now. In the following article, Kukoyi et al. (2021) observe from a study conducted in Nigeria that some PiC had misconceptions about COVID, misused COVID-19 PPE, and lacked adequate information about the virus. These qualitative results suggest that risk assessm...

Strategies towards Business Continuity for Construction Industry in Kenya during and after COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Apart from usual temperature checks, construction companies were able to examine workers for other symptoms, which were conducted periodically by doctors who are engaged by the contractors (Olanrewaju et al, 2021). In South Africa, well established construction firms made use of policies which include restricting site access, screening and ensuring the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and social distancing to mitigate the spread of the virus (Emuze, 2022). However, studies reveal that for proper continuation of business in the "new normal", there is need for companies to rethink and adopt a number of strategies.…”

“…This scenario is reflected in most of the available literature for exampleOlanrewaju et al (2021) reports on how construction stakeholders in Malaysia developed their own computer applications to trace the movement of workers on sites. On South Africa,Emuze (2022) reports that well established construction firms made use of policies which include restricting site access, screening and ensuring the use of Personal Protective D. K. Lagat et al DOI: 10.4236/cus.2023.113020 373 Current Urban Studies Equipment (PPE) and social distancing to mitigate the spread of the virus. Further, Walker (2020) looks at recovery measures adopted by the Construction leadership council in UK, especially as it relates to employers-worker relationship and risk assessment on sites.…”