Benefits of Implementing Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems for the Sustainable Construction Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

Ahmed Farouk Kineber, Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari, Faris Elghaish, Ahmad M. A. Zamil (), Mohammad Alhusban and Thikryat Jibril Obied Qaralleh
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Ahmed Farouk Kineber: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari: Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Faris Elghaish: School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, UK
Ahmad M. A. Zamil: Department of Marketing, College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 165, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia
Mohammad Alhusban: Department of Civil Engineering, Middle East University, Amman 3626, Jordan
Thikryat Jibril Obied Qaralleh: Al-Kharj Department of Educational Sciences, College of Education, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 17, 1-35

Abstract: Accidents are more prevalent in the construction industry compared to other economic sectors. Therefore, understanding the benefits of occupational health and safety management systems (OHSMSs) in terms of their sustainable implementation, management and performance, as well as the awareness of OHMSs and barriers to their implementation, are important for improving OHSMSs in the sustainability of the construction industry. Although there is considerable research on OHSMSs, further assessments are needed concerning other aspects of OHSMSs, particularly the benefits of OHSMSs. Thus, this review paper summarises the empirical state of the art of OHSMS activities. Scopus, Web of Science and other databases were searched using predefined standards. The query was limited to articles published from 1999 to 2023. Consequently, one hundred and four articles were selected and analysed. These articles present analyses of OHSMSs and their potential benefits concerning the implementation of OHSMSs and management, performance, awareness, and barriers in relation to OHSMSs. The results reveal that 12.50% of the reviewed studies assessed the implementation of OHSMSs in the construction industry, and 25.96% studied the management of OHSMSs. Analyses of the performance of OHSMSs in the construction industry accounted for 8.65%, analyses of the awareness of OHSMSs accounted for 4.81%, model-related analyses accounted for 13.46%, studies on the significance/benefits of OHSMSs accounted for 3.85%, studies on the barriers/challenges associated with OHSMSs accounted for 5.77%, analyses on the safety indicators of OHSMSs accounted for 2.88% and other types of studies accounted for 20.19%. This study further reveals that the implementation of OHSMSs is characterised by a dearth of proper communication, the non-utilisation of personal protective equipment (PPE), wrong postures and work activities, a dearth of training, physiological factors including burnout and stress, and a dearth of safety culture and orientation; in addition, matters relating to compliance with effective laws are significant safety challenges in the construction industry. However, the rationality for evaluating the benefits of OHSMSs, comprising their implementation, management and performance, as well as awareness of and barriers to OHSMSs, is challenging to authenticate because appropriate field, survey, organisational and clinical data concerning incident occurrences in the construction industry are lacking for comprehensive evaluations. Thus, this novel study presents our effort to narrow this gap by establishing a framework for increasing our understanding of the benefits of implementing OHSMSs and accident reduction.

Keywords: OHSMS implementation; OHSMS performance; OHSM; OHSMS benefits/barriers; construction industry (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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