IDENTIFYING THE EXISTING SAFETY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

This study examined the existing safety management practices in micro, small, and medium-sized construction companies (MSMCs) within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s. This survry was necessitated due to reported high indences of accidents causing severe havoc including injuries and fatalities during construction project delivery. A descriptive survey with a structured questionnaire as the instrument for data collection was used to assessed 13 safety management practices by 440 MSMCs purposely and conveniently selected as the respondents. The questionnaires attain 71% response rate, and data analysis was conducted with the aid of the statistical package for social science (SPSS). Findings revealed that, the major existing safety management practices implemented by MSMCs and ranked in order of importance are: Hazard identification before work, Adequate welfare on-site, Safety training for supervisors, Verbal communication with workers, Availability of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and Risk assessment documentation respectively. In conclusion, leveraging the use of technology including Artificial intelligence, Robotics, Augmented reality and Cyber-physical systems among other digital era technologies will go a long way in enhancing safety in construction project delivery which could possibly mitigate incidences of accidents by employees of micro, small and medium size companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.