Health and Safety in the Construction Industry at the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Hazards in the construction industry have expensive direct and indirect project costs due to accidents. As such, demand to find solutions to these problems have escalated in the past three decades. Project cost, quality, safety, and duration are core elements that contribute to project success however firms still cut their allocated safety budgets. Results show these firms have more injuries and go over budget demonstrating they have a strong relationship between safety and performance. This research reviewed the safety legislation in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) as well as the accident rates in these two countries, reviewed the literature on safety practises in the construction industry in the KSA and, investigated safety practises in a large railway project in the KSA. The results from the literature review showed that despite similarities in construction safety legislation in the UK and the KSA, the KSA has a significantly higher rate of accidents. Also, finding from the literature review as well as the results from the survey on safety practises in the large railway project in the KSA showed that safety legislation was not completely followed in the KSA. To improve safety practises in the KSA, this research has developed a set of recommendation based on literature review and the study of safety practises in the large railway project in the KSA to help improve safety practises in the construction industry in the KSA.