CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT HEALTH AND SAFETY (H&S) COURSE CONTENT: TOWARDS THE OPTIMUM CIB W099 IMPLEMENTATION OF SAFETY AND HEALTH ON CONSTRUCTION SITES TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE 2005 HONG KONG BY PROFESSOR JOHN SMALLWOOD, DEPARTMENT OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT, UNIVERSITY OF PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA

2 OUTLINE OF THE PRESENTATION LITERATURE SURVEY: INTRODUCTION ISSUES RELATIVE TO H&S COURSE CONTENT FORM OF PRESENTATION RESEARCH: SAMPLE FRAME AND METHODOLOGY ANALYSIS GC FINDINGS TERTIARY INSTITUTION FINDINGS TERTIARY INSTITUTION FINDINGS VS GC FINDINGS

3 CONCLUSIONS RECOMMENDATIONS

4 LITERATURE SURVEY: INTRODUCTION CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES - STRUCTURED TO PREPARE GRADUATES TO FULFIL A RANGE OF FUNCTIONS IN TERMS OF THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT, PROJECT MANAGEMENT FOR CLIENTS, PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT CONSULTING AND MATERIALS MANUFACTURING CLIENTS, PROJECT MANAGERS, DESIGNERS, CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS, WORKERS AND UNIONS ALL INFLUENCE, AND HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN H&S

5 CIVIL ENGINEERS HAVE A PIVOTAL ROLE IN ENSURING THE H&S OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS (AL-MUFTI, 1999): MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR CONSIDERABLE HUMAN AND MATERIAL RESOURCES, WITHOUT EXPERIENCE AND COMPETENCY AT THE EARLY STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS NECESSARY THAT THEY BE PROVIDED WITH ADEQUATE H&S KNOWLEDGE DURING THEIR DEGREE STUDIES THIS CONTENTION APPLIES EQUALLY TO CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

6 ANDERSON (1999) ATTRIBUTES THE NON- IMPROVEMENT IN THE UK CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY ACCIDENT RATE TO LACK OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING (1/7): TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS FAIL TO GIVE THE NECESSARY EMPHASIS TO CONSTRUCTION H&S THOSE NEW TO THE INDUSTRY HAVE TO FALL BACK ON ‘LEARNING ON THE JOB’ AS OPPOSED TO GAINING EXPERIENCE ON THE JOB

7 OBJECTIVES OF THIS STUDY ARE TO DETERMINE: THE IMPORTANCE OF H&S TO THE DISCIPLINE OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT THE PREFERRED SUBJECT AREAS FOR A CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT H&S PROGRAMME THE EXTENT TO WHICH CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES ADDRESS H&S AND THE SUBJECT AREAS INCLUDED IN SUCH PROGRAMMES

8 LITERATURE: ISSUES RELATIVE TO H&S MAIN DEVELOPMENTS AND KEY ISSUES ARISING FROM STUDIES CONDUCTED IN CONSTRUCTION H&S RELATIVE TO PROGRAMME CONTENT (LAAKANEN, 1999): NEW REGULATIONS THE LEVEL OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES NEW APPROACHES TO H&S OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH ACCIDENTS WORK EXPERIENCE REHABILITATION PROMOTION OF EMPLOYMENT NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE WORK ENVIRONMENT NEW H&S MEASURES

9 EU CONSTRUCTION DIRECTIVE 92/57/EEC ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIMUM H&S REQUIREMENTS REQUIRED: DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS WITH RESPECT TO THE PARTICIPATION OF CLIENTS AND DESIGNERS IN H&S INTEGRATION OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION IN TERMS OF H&S ERGONOMIC INTERVENTIONS HAVE MAJOR POTENTIAL TO MITIGATE THE HIGH NUMBER OF MUSCULOSKELETAL INJURIES

10 A HOLISTIC APPROACH REQUIRES THE INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF WORK ORGANISATION, PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT AND REHABILITATION - REQUIRES AN APPRECIATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE OF PLANNING AND PRE-PLANNING OF H&S REHABILITATION FORMS AN INTEGRAL PART OF H&S ROLE OF PROGRAMMES, AWARENESS IN THE FORM OF INFORMATION, MOTIVATION AND GOAL SETTING, TRAINING, CAMPAIGNS, AUDITS AND ENHANCED VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN H&S PERFORMANCE, AMPLIFY THE NEED FOR THEIR INCLUSION IN A TERTIARY PROGRAMME

11 RISK OF OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES AMPLIFIES THE NEED FOR RELATED EDUCATION NEED FOR INDUCTION AND OTHER FORMS OF TRAINING IS REINFORCED BY THE INCIDENCE OF ACCIDENTS INVOLVING NEW WORKERS DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS INVOLVING FALLS INDICATES A NEED FOR EXPERTISE RELATIVE TO ACCIDENT PREVENTION INADEQUATE HOUSEKEEPING INDICATES A NEED FOR EXPERTISE RELATIVE TO PLANNING, PRE-PLANNING, SYSTEMS, AND AUDITS

12 LITERATURE SURVEY: COURSE CONTENT RESEARCH CONDUCTED AMONG GCs IN THE USA TO INVESTIGATE THE OPTIMUM H&S COURSE CONTENT FOR CONSTRUCTION STUDENTS AT PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY DETERMINED THE FOLLOWING TO BE THE SIGNIFICANT SKILLS REQUIRED OF EMPLOYEES WITH BETWEEN ONE AND FIVE YEARS EXPERIENCE (SMITH AND ARNOLD, 1999): PRE-PROJECT HAZARD ANALYSIS; PREPARATION OF ACCIDENT REPORTS; CONDUCTING TOOL BOX TALKS; PARTICIPATING IN PROJECT H&S MEETINGS; PERFORMING HAZARD ANALYSIS; RECOGNISING COMMON HAZARDS; CONDUCTING H&S AUDITS; MAINTAINING MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET (MSDS) FILES, AND THE MANAGING OF PERMITS

13 FOLLOWING H&S TOPICS WERE ALSO CONSIDERED TO BE IMPORTANT: EXPERIENCE MODIFICATION RATING (EMR); INCIDENT RATINGS, AND THE COST OF ACCIDENTS (CoA), IN PARTICULAR THE INDIRECT CoA

14 LITERATURE SURVEY: FORM OF PRESENTATION 45% OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY RESPONDENTS TO A STUDY CONDUCTED IN THE USA, STATED THAT THEIR CURRICULUM INCLUDES A SUBJECT WHOLLY DEVOTED TO CONSTRUCTION H&S (COBLE ET AL., 1999): OF THE 55% OF RESPONDENTS THAT RESPONDED IN THE NEGATIVE H&S IS EITHER ADDRESSED IN A GENERALISED MANNER IN OTHER SUBJECTS A CERTAIN GROUP OF SUBJECTS ADDRESS H&S RELATIVE TO THE SUBJECT MATERIAL 50% OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES IN THE USA HAVE COURSES THAT ARE DEDICATED TO H&S (SUCKARIEH AND DIAMANTES, 1995) COBLE ET AL. (1999) RECOMMEND THAT ALL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMMES SERIOUSLY CONSIDER SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING H&S IN THEIR CURRICULA

15 RESEARCH: SAMPLE FRAME AND METHODOLOGY FIRST SAMPLE FRAME - 24 GENERAL CONTRACTORS (GCs): PLACE IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRIES FEDERATION SOUTH AFRICA (BIFSA) NATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY (H&S) COMPETITION POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRE 14 RESPONSES = RESPONSE RATE OF 58.3% SECOND SAMPLE FRAME - 12 (66.7%) TECHNIKON AND 6 (33.3%) UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENTS OF BUILDING / CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND QUANTITY SURVEYING: POSTAL QUESTIONNAIRE 9 RESPONSES = RESPONSE RATE OF 50% (5 TECHNIKONS AND 4 UNIVERSITIES)

16 RESEARCH: ANALYSIS GIVEN THAT RESPONDENTS WERE REQUIRED TO RESPOND IN TERMS OF CONCURRENCE, AND IMPORTANCE ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, IT WAS NECESSARY TO COMPUTE AN IMPORTANCE INDEX (II) WITH A MINIMUM VALUE OF 0, AND A MAXIMUM VALUE OF 4.0, TO ENABLE A COMPARISON OF, AND TO RANK VARIOUS ASPECTS 4n 1 + 3n 2 + 2n 3 + 1n 4 + 0n 5 (n 1 + n 2 + n 3 + n 4 + n 5 ) where n 1 = Strongly agree, or Very important (1) n 2 = Agree, or Important (2) n 3 = Neutral (3) n 4 = Disagree, or Not really important (4) n 5 = Strongly disagree, or Unimportant (5)

17 RESEARCH: GC FINDINGS DEGREE OF IMPORTANCE OF THE INCLUSION OF CONSTRUCTION H&S IN THE TERTIARY EDUCATION PROGRAMMES OF VARIOUS CONSTRUCTION RELATED DISCIPLINES:

18 Discipline Response (%) IIRank Very important……………………..…. Unimportant Construction managers Project managers Civil engineers Electrical engineers = Structural engineers = Mechanical engineers Architects Quantity surveyors Table 1: Perceived importance of the inclusion of construction H&S in the tertiary education programmes of various construction related disciplines according to GCs.

19 FORM OF PRESENTATION: Table 2: Form of presentation of H&S in a construction management programme according to GCs. Form of presentation Response (%) YesNo Don’t know No response Separate subject Component of a subject eg. construction management Module in various subjects

20 SUBJECT AREAS WHICH SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A HONOURS LEVEL (FINAL YEAR) CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT H&S CURRICULUM:

21 Table 3: Extent to which GCs support the inclusion of various subject areas in a honours level (final year) construction management health and safety (H&S) curriculum. * (SA = Strongly agree; A = Agree; N = Neutral; D = Disagree; SD = Strongly disagree) **Includes inspections, investigations and audits Table 3: Extent to which GCs support the inclusion of various subject areas in a honours level (final year) construction management health and safety (H&S) curriculum (Part A). Subject area Response (%)* II Ran k SAANDSD OH&S Act and Regulations Management of subcontractors H&S / Productivity / Quality Role of management Culture (values, vision, purpose, mission, goals, policy) = Worker participation = Programmes ** = Education and training = Pre-planning = COID Act (Workers’ compensation) = * (SA = Strongly agree; A = Agree; N = Neutral; D = Disagree; SD = Strongly disagree) **Includes inspections, investigations and audits

22 Table 3: Extent to which GCs support the inclusion of various subject areas in a honours level (final year) construction management health and safety (H&S) curriculum. * (SA = Strongly agree; A = Agree; N = Neutral; D = Disagree; SD = Strongly disagree) **Includes inspections, investigations and audits Table 3: Extent to which GCs support the inclusion of various subject areas in a honours level (final year) construction management health and safety (H&S) curriculum (Part B). Subject area Response (%)* II Ran k SAANDSD Environment = Role of project managers = Project plans Economics of H&S Health and hygiene Measurement and statistics = Role of clients = Role of designers = Influence of procurement systems Role of the media and awareness Ergonomics Role of unions * (SA = Strongly agree; A = Agree; N = Neutral; D = Disagree; SD = Strongly disagree) **Includes inspections, investigations and audits

23 RESEARCH: TERTIARY INSTITUTION FINDINGS 44.5% REGARDED CONSTRUCTION H&S AS ‘VERY IMPORTANT’ TO THEIR DISCIPLINE, 22.2% AS ‘MORE THAN IMPORTANT’, 22.2% AS ‘IMPORTANT’, AND 11.1 % AS ‘FAIRLY IMPORTANT’ 100% MAINTAINED THAT H&S IS INCLUDED IN THEIR CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME, THE YEAR LEVELS BEING: YEAR 1 (22.2%); YEAR 2 (22.2%); YEAR 3 (88.9%); YEAR 4 (55.6%), AND YEAR 5 (11.1%) FORM OF PRESENTATION:

24 Table 4: Form of presentation of H&S in a construction management programe according to tertiary institutions. Form of presentationResponse (%) Separate subject11.1 Component of the subject construction management66.7 Module in various subjects55.6

25 THE MINIMUM TOTAL DURATION OF CONTACT SESSIONS IS 90 MINUTES (1.5 HOURS), THE MAXIMUM 4480 MINUTES (74.7 HOURS), AND THE MEDIAN 450 MINUTES (7.5 HOURS). THE MEAN IS 937 MINUTES (15.6 HOURS) SUBJECT AREAS ADDRESSED:

26 Table 5: Extent to which various H&S subject areas are addressed by tertiary construction management programmes (Part A). Subject Area Response (%) YesNoUnsure Culture (values, vision, purpose, mission, goals, policy) Economics of H&S H&S / Productivity / Quality OH&S Act and Regulations COID Act (Workers’ compensation) Role of management Worker participation Role of unions Programmes Education and training Management of subcontractors Measurement and statistics Health and hygiene Environment Ergonomics Influence of procurement systems

27 Subject Area Response (%) YesNoUnsure Pre-planning Project plans Role of clients Role of project managers Role of designers Role of the media and awareness Table 5: Extent to which various H&S subject areas are addressed by tertiary construction management programmes (Part B).

28 RESEARCH: TERTIARY INSTITUTION FINDINGS VS GC FINDINGS Table 6: Importance of various subject areas to GCs and the extent to which they are addressed by Tis (Part A). Subject area Extent to which addressed by TI (%) GC preference IIRank OH&S Act and Regulations Management of subcontractors H&S / Productivity / Quality Role of management Culture (values, vision, purpose, mission, goals, policy) = Worker participation = Programmes = Education and training = Pre-planning = COID Act (Workers’ compensation) =

29 Subject area Extent to which addressed by TI (%) GC preference IIRank Environment = Role of project managers = Project plans Economics of H&S Health and hygiene Measurement and statistics = Role of clients = Role of designers = Influence of procurement systems Role of the media and awareness Ergonomics Role of unions Table 6: Importance of various subject areas to GCs and the extent to which they are addressed by Tis (Part B).

30 CONCLUSIONS THE INCLUSION OF CONSTRUCTION H&S IN A CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME IS ESSENTIAL DUE TO A PRACTICING CONSTRUCTION MANAGER’S RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HUMAN AND OTHER RESOURCES, LEGISLATION, AND THE CATALYTIC ROLE OF H&S RELATIVE TO PRODUCTIVITY, QUALITY AND SCHEDULE, AND ULTIMATELY, COST THE RANKING ACHIEVED BY MANAGEMENT OF SCs AND H&S/PRODUCTIVITY/QUALITY RELATIVE TO GCs, REINFORCES THE CRITICAL ROLE OF H&S IN OVERALL PROJECT PERFORMANCE. THE RANKING OF MANAGEMENT OF SCs REINFORCES THE INCREASED ROLE OF SCs DUE TO INCREASED: SPECIALIZATION; LABOUR ONLY SUBCONTRACTING; PYRAMID

31 SUBCONTRACTING, AND USE OF ALTERNATIVE PROCUREMENT SYSTEMS THE RANKING ACHIEVED BY CULTURE RELATIVE TO GCs REINFORCES THE CRITICAL ROLE OF CULTURE IN H&S PERFORMANCE. THE LOW LEVEL OF EMPHASIS ON ERGONOMICS AND HEALTH AND HYGIENE REFLECTS THE TRADITIONAL LEVEL OF FOCUS BY INDUSTRY (THE RELATED II VALUES RESULTING FROM THE GC RESPONSES INDICATE THAT THESE AREAS NEED TO BE ADDRESSED). THE LOW LEVEL OF EMPHASIS ON THE ROLE OF DESIGNERS AND THE ROLE OF CLIENTS, IS POSSIBLY ATTRIBUTABLE TO A LACK OF APPRECIATION THEREOF

32 RECOMMENDATIONS IDEALLY, CONSTRUCTION H&S SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME AS A SEPARATE SUBJECT; IF NOT, THEN AT LEAST AS AN IDENTIFIABLE COMPONENT OF A SUBJECT SUCH AS CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT GIVEN THE INFLUENCE OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS ON CONSTRUCTION H&S, AND THAT CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT GRADUATES INVARIABLY FULFILL A RANGE OF ROLES IN INDUSTRY, THE REQUISITE SUBJECT AREAS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A FINAL YEAR HONOURS LEVEL PROGRAMME