Is the Workers’ Health and Safety Scenario Different in Post-Disaster Reconstruction from Conventional Construction? A Case Study in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Uddin, S M Jamil; Ganapati, N. Emel; Pradhananga, Nipesh; Prajapati, Jeetendra; Albert, Alex

doi:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102529

Cited by 11 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…Unique site conditions, particularly during the initial disaster response, relief and early reconstruction stages, creates environments where workers are exposed to multiple hazards that can be atypical to conventional construction work [60]. During debris removal, demolition and other early recovery activities, workers are exposed to contaminated environments and hazardous areas, where their physical health is at risk due to possible cuts, amputations, fractures and being trapped under rubble [11,40,42,51,60].…”

Section: Context and Site-related Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Following disasters, construction sites remain vulnerable to further hazards. For instance, in the reconstruction following the 2015 Nepal earthquake, workers and managers raised concerns regarding the ongoing instability due to the demolition and collapse of neighbouring structures due to ongoing aftershocks [11].…”

Section: Context and Site-related Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The construction industry is acknowledged as one of the most dangerous industries, accounting for a high percentage of work-related injuries and fatalities [10]. There is extensive literature exploring and analysing the issues impacting construction workers in the construction industry, although the discussion is centred on conventional construction activities [11]. The post-disaster contexts create unique environments, in which damaged and collapsed structures, flooded or unstable and contaminated soil, and the chaotic environment and rapidly changing local conditions impact the construction activities, magnifying the health and safety risks in conventional construction [11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Build Back Safely: Evaluating the Occupational Health and Safety in Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Carrasco

O’Brien

2023

Sustainability

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Current trends in disaster response and management include various stakeholders, including non-government organisations (NGOs), volunteer groups and other humanitarian organisations, working alongside governmental agencies. Together, they are directly involved in reconstruction efforts, with support often extending from the early response to long-term reconstruction. The common goal of reconstruction efforts spanning the last few decades is the ambition to “Build Back Better”. More recently, there have been efforts to expand the scope of the reconstruction efforts to “Build Back Safer” and to raise awareness about the quality and safety of the final products, such as housing and infrastructure. Disaster management studies rarely address the construction process after disasters, or the working conditions of the builders, and often pay little attention to the health and safety of the extended workforce. This study identifies critical factors affecting workers, volunteers, local communities and other staff working on disaster reconstruction projects through a systematic literature review of academic publications. A total of 35 publications were thematically analysed, reduced from an initial selection of 394 publications selected between 2004 to 2022. The findings from this study highlight the vulnerabilities experienced by workers and the broader community involved in post-disaster reconstruction and acknowledge challenges integrating health and safety concerns into the practice and governance of global humanitarian systems.

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Section: Context and Site-related Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Context and Site-related Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Build Back Safely: Evaluating the Occupational Health and Safety in Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Carrasco

O’Brien

2023

Sustainability

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“…According to previous studies, workers' poor situational awareness is a leading cause of workplace accidents [2][3][4][5]. Moreover, hazard recognition has been identified as the first step toward accurate safety risk assessment [6]; however, most construction employees are unable to appropriately identify safety risks [7,8]. More specifically, approximately 6% of a sample population of construction foremen in the United States can accurately assess workplace safety issues [7], whereas the risk of typical hazards encountered on the jobsite was perceived to be considerably low by 100% of a sample population of construction workers in Eastern Europe [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Sociodemographic Factors on Construction Fieldworkers’ Safety Risk Assessments

2021

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Construction operations are hazardous, leading to thousands of accidents, injuries, and fatalities annually. Safety risk assessment (SRA) is a key component necessary to respond to hazards effectively. Individuals have different perceptions of the riskiness of construction hazards, and studies have shown that different sociodemographic factors among employees can alter their SRA skills. However, their role in the US construction industry has been understudied, and this analysis investigates this topic further. Following a detailed systematic review of the relevant literature, quantitative data were collected from 181 construction fieldworkers in the United States using images integrated into an interactive questionnaire survey. Responses on the severity and frequency of seven potential accident causes were captured and analyzed. Findings from the literature review revealed six key sociodemographic factors—age, education, training, gender, ethnicity, and work type—that could impact fieldworkers’ SRA. However, a quantitative analysis suggests that only education is a significant influence, and sociodemographic factors had a statistically significant impact on less than five percent of the assessments. Therefore, the present study proposes that future investigation within the SRA domain should complement sociodemographic factors with critical behavioral factors that are rarely discussed, such as cognitive biases, personality traits, and safety behavior. As a foundational study for safety researchers and practitioners, the results provide information on SRA that can help enhance the safety and workforce sustainability of construction companies with a diverse workforce.

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“…Project complexity not only affects the project itself; it creates a possibility for many other problems, such as conflict, opportunism and inefficiencies (Gao et al, 2018;Safapour et al, 2018aSafapour et al, , 2018b. Moreover, the sheer volume of employed people and rates of injury and death make the construction industry one of the most dangerous industries in the world (Uddin et al, 2019). The USA suffers more than one-third of its total workplace accidents in the construction industry alone (Zhang et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of complexity management strategies for construction projects

Kermanshachi

Nipa

Dao

2021

JEDT

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to ascertain and list the most effective management strategies in efficiently handling the project complexities to enhance the performance of the project. Design/methodology/approach To fulfill the aim of this study, a comprehensive literature review was conducted, and the qualitative Delphi technique in two rounds was applied. Participants of the Delphi technique consisted of 12 subject matter experts (SMEs) with cumulative experience of 250 years in working in construction projects. In the first round of the Delphi technique, SMEs were asked to provide complexity management strategies to address the complexities due to 37 complexity indicators (CIs) under 11 complexity categories. In the second round of the Delphi technique, SMEs identified the top three management strategies for each of the 37 CIs. Findings This study collected the outcome of the two-round Delphi technique and based on the output developed the list of strategies to manage complexities related to each indicator. For example, establishing a well-informed governance team, assigning a Project Manager (PM) when the number of projects is more than one in an organization, and assigning a PM efficient enough to communicate with higher authority effectively will help in managing complexity that arises due to faulty assessment of the influence of a project on the organization’s overall success. Originality/value This study will help practitioners in effectively managing the project complexities, and thus will reduce the monetary loss associated with project complexities.

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Is the Workers’ Health and Safety Scenario Different in Post-Disaster Reconstruction from Conventional Construction? A Case Study in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Cited by 11 publications

References 85 publications

Build Back Safely: Evaluating the Occupational Health and Safety in Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Build Back Safely: Evaluating the Occupational Health and Safety in Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Influence of Sociodemographic Factors on Construction Fieldworkers’ Safety Risk Assessments

Development of complexity management strategies for construction projects

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