Journal of Ergonomics
Open Access

Abstract

The Safety Policies Practiced in the Construction Industry of Saudi Arabia

Yasir Azmat and Nayef Saad

Globally construction industry is one of the most hazardous industry and is responsible for the occurrence many fatalities due to accidents. In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia is the leader in the development of construction projects and the Saudi Arabian construction industry is recording a high number of accidents that cause injuries and fatalities. In Saudi Arabia, the implementation of safety policies and achieving an adequate safety culture is one of the key challenges. Construction firms contain well-equipped safety policy but lack of implementation of safety policy is a concern. Safety culture and overall safety performance require proper development and implementation of safety policy. Nonetheless, this subject matter has evoked quite a significant deal of debate in the current phenomenon. Correspondingly, a framework has been developed in this paper, addressing the issue of safety culture in the all-round development within the Saudi Arabian Construction industry.

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The study is based on the interpretivism philosophy along with the deductive approach to assess the issues related to safety within the construction industry of Saudi Arabia. It will then focus on framing and implementing policy as well as a framework into the regular proceedings to improvise the safety culture therein. Besides, the use of the mixed research approach and multiple research strategies has contributed immensely in providing a comprehensive and justified discussion on the issue of concern. Data has accordingly been collected from both primary and secondary sources, which were then analyzed qualitatively and interpreted using the thematic analysis tool. The collected data were also analyzed quantitatively using the SPSS software, where they were tested for reliability and significance differences. ANOVA and correlation testing were also conducted on the collected data to assess the position of the Saudi Arabian construction industry in terms of safety and measures to improve in the future.

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As a result of the analysis, it was evident that management of the construction organizations in Saudi Arabia needs to focus on its effective framing and implementation of safety policy measures into organizations not only to improve their organizational culture but also to enhance their performance as a whole.

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