Behavior of Workers Towards Safety in Construction Projects in the Gaza Strip

Abstract

The construction industry is one of the largest industries in the world. It became a major industry in Palestine during the past few years. Although it contributes around 19% to GDP, it still lacks the consideration for safety of workers. Safety in construction industry is one of the major factors that affects the field and should be studied and investigated to be integrated as an inherent culture of each member of the project. Behavior of workers on job site is a reflection of the safety culture they gained. It is important to ensure that all workers on job site have safety culture. The purpose of this papa is to investigate workers behavior towards safety in construction projects in Gam Strip. A questionnaire has been distributed to 100 workers in 10 firms in Gaza city to investigate about their behavior towards safety issues. The results indicated that workers have negative attitude towards safety. This paper showed the lack of safety means in construction sites winch together with workers behavior; led to high rate of accidents and also showed the desire by workers to U5C safety equipment and tools WAS very low which contributed in the high rate of injury. In order to avoid time and cost overruns, contractors should utilize modified week programs for injured worker; where they can perform productive duties without exposing them or their co-workers to further injury. It is necessary to improve safety measures by all parties of construction projects.