Significant Safety Factors Affecting the Safety Performance in Iraqi Construction Projects

Abstract

Despite recent attempts to improve safety in the construction sector, this sector is considered dangerous and unsafe. Iraq is one of the emerging nations that suffers from a lack of construction safety management. In 2018, the construction sector in Iraq was responsible for 38% of all industrial accidents. Creating a safety program minimizes this problem by making safety an intrinsic part of construction projects. As a result, this article aims to identify the crucial safety factors that affect the safety performance in Iraqi construction projects. After conducting a critical literature review of the related literature, a list of 35 sub-factors classified into nine categories of main factors was chosen to rank each factor according to significance. A total of 100 sets of questionnaires were delivered to respondents in various construction projects. It was discovered that the "Management Practices" factor was considered the most key safety performance factor among all the main factors. The results also showed that among all the sub-factors, "Personal protective equipment," "First aid and medical care," and "Contractor's site safety program" were considered the most influential sub-factors. Furthermore, "drug and alcohol tests for workers" are the least important safety sub-factors. On the other hand, five sub-factors were excluded as being unimportant and not affecting safety performance.