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This paper aims to investigate the application of lean construction (LC) techniques in reducing accidents in construction projects.

A quantitative approach was used to collect the required data using a questionnaire survey and descriptive analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The LC techniques that were investigated in this paper are related to the tools of the last planner system (LPS), increased visualisation (IV), 5S, error-proofing, daily huddle meetings (DHMs), first-run studies (FRS), continuous improvement (Kaizen) and accident investigation (5Whys).

The overall results indicated that LC techniques are poorly implemented in construction projects in the Gaza Strip. The top three LC tools used to reduce the causes of accidents in the Gaza construction projects were 5Whys, 5S and LPS, while the highest three LC techniques applied to reduce the causes of accidents that were applicable were cleaning the workplace and removing materials and machines that are not required; conducting accident investigation and root cause analysis programmes; and using safety signs and labels on site.

There is a lack of information and published studies regarding the links between LC and safety, especially in the Middle East. This paper is limited to the perceptions and geographical boundaries; therefore, it cannot be generalised. However, it could form the basis for useful comparison in the future. Triangulation research method could also be used in future research to minimise the bias and validate the conclusions.

The findings of this paper will stress professionals and construction companies in Gaza to reconsider their behaviour towards using LC techniques. The findings of this paper will aid them to shift their attention and resources towards including LC techniques in their plans to reduce the causes of accidents on construction sites.

The findings of this paper will encourage professionals and construction companies in Gaza to reconsider their behaviour towards using LC techniques. The findings will also aid them to shift their attention and resources towards including LC techniques in their plans to reduce and/or avoid the causes of accidents on construction.

Because of the lack of published works that are specific to the Middle East, the authors believe that the originality lies in the paper’s serious attempt to explore the application level of the LC concept to safety in this part of the world. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the applicability of LC techniques in terms of accidents reduction. Findings from this paper provide a clear picture of the current status of using LC techniques to reduce accidents in the Gazan construction projects which drive them to investigate the main barriers and try to overcome them.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors driving Palestinian construction contractors to implement energy management strategies during the execution of construction projects.

The study was conducted by administering a questionnaire that comprised 26 drivers for adopting energy management strategies. Data were collected from 67 contractors in the Gaza Strip. Factor analysis was adopted to explore the underlying relationships among the identified drivers.

Drivers were grouped into one of the four categories: economic and financial, institutional and legal, organisational and managerial and educational and informational. The results revealed that the majority of the respondents were of the view that economic and financial factors were the most important factors driving the adoption of energy management strategies by construction companies in the Gaza Strip. Of the economic and financial drivers, the cost savings derived from the adoption of energy management strategies was considered the most important item. Energy management education and training programmes are scarce in the Gaza Strip, and local contractors have no formal energy management education and training. The government needs to allocate sufficient funds for policy implementation and regulation enforcement.

Difficulties in accessing energy management data are deemed as a limitation to this study, as the topic of energy management in the construction has received no or very little academic attention so far.

This study provides a valuable reference for studying ongoing research in the practice of energy management development in other industries and locations. The priority of the drivers for energy management will help the local contracting companies to focus on weak and strong points of the company for energy use development to remove these weak points and invest in strong points. This paper results can increase the encouragement for greater social responsibility of the contracting organisations towards energy use. Government and concerned organisations can get benefits from the identified factors in encouraging contractors to adopt energy management strategy in their projects.

This study is the first investigation of energy management aspects in a local construction industry, especially from contracting organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to provide the empirical evidence supporting the existence of a multi-level hierarchical TQM model showing the structural inter-relationships among a total of 16 TQM variables (i.e. drivers, enablers and outcomes).

The set of identified TQM variables is the product of an in-depth review of the literature, and a robust reiterative process of verification and validation. Inter-relationships among the TQM variables were subjected to the scrutiny of a panel of experts, and were used as a basis for developing a web-based survey to explore the existence as well as strength of the structural relationship between each and every pair of the identified variables using interpretive structural modelling and MICMAC (Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification).

TQM variables were classified and clustered based on their influence and dependence on each other. Variables such as commitment by top management and customer satisfaction appear to have a strong chance to affect change, whereas variables such suppliers and competitors are very dependent on, and sensitive to, the evolution of the influent variables.

The paper demonstrates a multi-level TQM model encompassing all identified TQM drivers, enablers, and outcomes. The paper not only addresses a gap in the relevant literature (reduces the evidence scarcity about the hierarchical nature of TQM variables), but also gives insights into the variables with most driving power needing greater management attention.

This paper reports on a research study that focused on predicting the loss of construction workers’ productivity due to thermal environment variations. The paper utilises a statistical polynomial regression analysis to establish a relationship between productivity and the predicted mean vote (PMV) thermal comfort index. In doing so, it builds upon a substantial amount of data reported in the literature regarding construction productivity and thermal environment. A set of equations reflecting the nature of the construction task being performed as well as the thermal environment are proposed to predict the degree of change in workers’ productivity, according to a change in the thermal environment. The paper also reports on an experimental investigation undertaken to validate the developed equations. Validation results indicate that the developed equations can predict productivity with a reasonable level of accuracy. Furthermore, they show that the workers’ productivity decreases as the PMV index moves away from the optimum range for all the observed tasks.

In total, 69 foremen from 13 Hong Kong construction companies were invited to participate in a study designed to investigate foremen’s opinions regarding 27 safety supervisory tasks. These fell into six categories, including handling new workers, training, safety, discipline, coordinating, and motivating. Results of the survey and subsequent follow‐up interviews showed that over two thirds of foremen claimed that they had the responsibility to perform certain tasks but only half said that they had the authority to perform these tasks. Further interviews and on‐site observations of foremen were then conducted in order to validate the findings by way of case study material. It is concluded that foremen play a key role in ensuring that safety management systems operate effectively. It appears, from the results of the study, that this role is not being performed properly and that the key interface between worker and management, the role of the foreman, is not paid sufficient attention by senior management and is an area requiring urgent attention if Hong Kong’s poor site safety record is to be improved.

Knowledge and application of energy management during the life cycle of construction projects are lacking. The purpose of this paper is to identify and investigate the key barriers that are faced by contracting firms in the implementation of energy management during building construction projects focussing on construction plants, as they are considered as the major energy users on site.

A questionnaire survey was employed and distributed using stratified random sampling to 100 contracting companies operating in the Gaza Strip. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Programme for the Social Sciences (SPSS; Version 22) to identify the number of components that could represent the 31 identified barriers.

From the factor analysis, the barriers were clustered into four factors: economic and financial (which accounted for the largest percentage of variance), knowledge and information, legal and contractual, and organisational and management. This indicates that economic and financial aspects are the most important barrier impeding the implementation of energy management; local contractors should seriously consider this issue when making decisions about energy management during project construction. In addition, the lack of energy-management codes and lack of governmental support are significant obstacles to the implementation of energy management on construction sites.

Although the objective of this study was achieved, there were some study limitations. This study is limited to the perceptions and geographical boundaries (i.e. the self-governing territory of Gaza Strip in Palestine as a developing country), therefore, it cannot be generalised. However, it could form the basis for useful comparison in the future. A future study may be carried out with a much larger sample size to validate the conclusions of this study. Triangulation research methods could also be employed in future research in order minimise the bias and validate the conclusion. Further study regarding energy management throughout the whole life cycle of the development is recommended.

This paper has highlighted a number of barriers to efficient energy management during the project construction phase. It is critical for local regulators to take note of the economic and financial barriers to facilitate a more energy-conscious society where incentives (could be via tendering preferences) can encourage both clients and contractors to proactively conserve energy during construction. As for the contractual barriers, the local government should lead by example in including “energy consumption” as a leading indicator for evaluating project performance.

This study also provides practical knowledge for stakeholders so that they can develop effective methods to overcome the identified barriers to attain higher levels of sustainable energy management. This study can contribute to knowledge in the developing countries context concerning energy management and conservation in construction projects.

Effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is necessary for delivering efficiency and improved project delivery in the construction industry. Convincing clients or contracting organisations to embrace ICT is a difficult task, there are few templates of an ICT business model for the industry to use. ICT application in the construction industry is relatively low compared to automotive and aerospace industries. The National Museum of Australia project provides a unique opportunity for investigating and reporting on this deficiency in publicly available knowledge. Concentrates on the business model content and objectives, briefly indicates the evaluation framework that was used to evaluate ICT effectiveness.

Supply chain networks are generally associated with inter‐organisational communications, leading to reduction of time delays in services and information flows. Recognising the importance of communication, this paper deals with the management of information across a network of organisations that are involved in the design and construction process. The paper presents an overview of problems associated with the process of managing construction project information and explores the key role Web‐based technology systems can play in making this process more effective. The paper also reports on the utilisation of such a system on a number of construction projects. It discusses the efficiency gained in the traditional process of architectural drawings transmittal, and reports on a questionnaire survey targeting system users to gain some insight into their perception of its usefulness, performance and role in improving communications amongst the entire project team.

Leading organizations do not stop at the gathering and analysis of performance data; rather, these organizations use performance measurement to stimulate improvement efforts and successfully translate strategy into action. In other words, they use performance measurement for managing their organizations. The most commonly used performance evaluation tool, the balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used extensively in the manufacturing, government, banking, retail, insurance and financial services sectors. This paper looks at potential applications and benefits of using the BSC as a framework to evaluate the performance improvement resulting from IT/IS implementation by a construction organization. The paper firstly seeks to adapt the original BSC concept to construction and then attempts to develop a performance measurement framework in the form of a tiered “Construct IT” BSC. The developed framework allows for the measurement of IT/IS performance at three different decision‐making tiers (i.e., project, business unit and enterprise tiers). At each tier, a group of performance indicators are used to describe key aspects of activities that occur frequently enough to warrant meaningful measurement and comparison. The proposed framework applies the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and multi‐attribute utility theory (MAUT) to facilitate aggregating the obtained diverse performance measurements, thus giving rise to an overall IT/IS performance improvement measure (score) at each decision‐making tier. To illustrate the application of the proposed framework, a project tier example is provided.

In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that most decision makers are not only concerned with the financial implications of information technology/system (IT/IS) projects, but they are also concerned with other objectives such as competitive advantage, market share and future growth. Nowadays, multi‐criteria decision‐making methods are gaining importance due to their inherent ability to judge different alternative scenarios for possible selection of the best alternative. This paper provides a decision‐making framework for senior executives when selecting innovative IT/IS projects. The proposed framework is based on the multi‐criteria utility theory (MCUT) combined with information economics principles to select IT/IS project(s) based on “business value” and “risk” criteria. MCUT has the advantage of taking into consideration the decision maker’s preferences in the form of utility functions defined over a set of tangible and intangible criteria. To illustrate the application of the proposed framework, a hypothetical case study is provided, where input elicited from four engineering professionals is used to develop utility functions for a predefined set of selection criteria.