Salami, B A; Ajayi, S O and Oyegoke, A S (2022) Coping with the covid-19 pandemic: An exploration of the strategies adopted by construction firms. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, 20(1), pp. 159-182. ISSN 1726-0531
Abstract
Purpose: The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has tested the resilience of the construction industry, putting the safety of workers and overall businesses at risk. This study aims to explore the different strategies adopted by construction companies to protect the health and well-being of employees, security of the construction sites and projects, and keep the overall business operational amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: A preliminary study that involves field study and survey research was used to collect data for the study. The results from the preliminary analysis served as inputs for constructing the questionnaire, which was analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis. Findings: The results reveal that the key underlying measures put in place by construction businesses include restricted site access, support bubbling of office and site staff, enhanced hygiene and social distancing protocol, contract risk identification and mitigation, self-isolation measures and heightened construction site safety. Along with a further discussion of the underlying measures, the top-rated strategies that were adopted by construction firms are also discussed in the paper. Originality/value: As many construction companies remained opened handling essential projects amid the pandemic, the study presents the effective and efficient strategies that were used in plowing through the trying times. This study provides the opportunity for construction companies that escaped the early impacts of Covid-19 due to site closure and policymakers to learn from the strategies adopted by construction companies that were operational amid the pandemic.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction management; construction site; contract; coping strategies; coronavirus; covid-19; pandemic; safety management |
| Index terms: | social distancing, exploration, methodology, mitigation, questionnaire, safety management, COVID-19, field study, exploratory factor analysis, construction site, strategy, health and wellbeing, survey, risk identification, construction company, construction firm, coping, construction industry, statistics, site staff, coronavirus, pandemic, reliability analysis, outbreak |
| Subjects: | practitioner, reliability engineering, data collection methods, organization, mental health and wellbeing, mathematical modelling, environmental resource management, work location, financial risk, health risk and incident analysis, management, research methods, industry analysis, statistical analysis, behavioral psychology, environmental health, occupational health and safety management, health conditions and diseases |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Cost Management, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Engineering Principles, Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here