The effects of COVID-19 on safety practices in construction projects

ABSTRACT

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic was recognized as a worldwide epidemic and classed as a high risk in early 2020, affecting people's health, economies, and business sectors considerably. This pandemic has had an impact on people's lifestyles and work processes in a multitude of sectors. The construction industry is one such industry that has had a substantial influence on it. However, this influence needs to be measured in different areas. This study aims to measure the effects of the COVID-19 on the 7 core safety elements and their 24 procedures that are derived from the recommended practices for safety and health programs in construction that is issued by OSHA to see whether their priorities have been changed or not. The data were collected and then analyzed using Relative Importance Index (RII) to study the changes in their priorities;and using t-test to study the significance of the changes before and after COVID-19 pandemic.