COVID-19 guidelines incorporated in the health and safety management policies of construction firms

Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in a new norm of operation and has further presented new health and safety challenges in all sectors, including the construction sector. Consequently, several guidelines have been developed and instituted by various countries to prevent the spread of the disease among the citizenry. This paper aims to explore the COVID-19 guidelines incorporated in the health and safety management policies of construction firms in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was adopted for the study. Data was collected from construction companies by means of an open-ended questionnaire. The open-ended questionnaire was distributed by using the purposive sampling technique. The collected data was analysed with thematic content analysis. Findings: The findings show that most construction companies have incorporated aspects of COVID-19 guidelines into the site health and safety policies, whereas the majority of the companies had incorporated guidelines such as site access, handling of COVID-19 cases, induction, screening and social distancing; only a few had incorporated guidelines such as compliance, sanitisation, sick leave, wearing of personal protective equipment, audit and risk assessment, lunchtime rules and grouping of workers into the health and safety policies on site. Research limitations/implications: Data was collected from higher grade firms; therefore, the research findings may not be applied to smaller construction firms. A study that focuses on lower grades is recommended. Practical implications: Construction companies could use the recommendations provided to improve upon the policies developed/adopted to curb the spread of CVID-19 on-site. Originality/value: Research on COVID-19 construction site health and safety measures are still being developed. Thus, this study contributes to advancing the body of knowledge in this evolving field.