Topic: : Identification of the Occupational Health and Safety Challenges in Small and Medium Construction Companies in Oman; Bridging the Gap toward Zero Accident Vision.

Abstract:
Safety best practices in the construction industry are always developing to cope with the rapid development in construction. Reliable and robust safety system existence in large construction companies is becoming a standard practice because of the access to financial resources and the safety demands by the project stakeholders. However, when it comes to small and medium construction companies, it is rarely seen. It is essential for the small and medium construction companies to adopt the best safety practices because it hosts many workforces. This research aims to investigate best practices to adopt for the small and medium construction companies in Oman to improve their safety performance. The research was conducted in two stages and data were collected from 16 construction projects performed by small and medium construction companies. The first stage was a questionnaire survey, and the second stage was performed by conducting fourteen interviews with experienced personnel working in public and private organizations, more specifically, working in departments concerned with the health, Safety, and Environment (HSE). The interview questions were driven by the findings of the questionnaire survey and focused on management’s commitment to OHS, effectiveness of individual communication, management safety priority, justice and empowerment, and learning from incidents and boosting of the learning platform, safety climate, correctives and corrections plan after accidents. Finally, the findings and the recommendations for each dimension were reported.