FACTORS AFFECTING SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN LARGE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS IN EGYPT

The interest in safety awareness among construction companies has greatly increased in the past decade. The ever-increasing cost of medical treatment and the potential for lawsuits can lead to higher insurance premiums, which in turn tend to have a negative impact on a company's profit Safety in construction sites is a major concern in Egypt, and little research has been conducted on the subject. The objective of this paper is to identify the factors affecting safety performance in large construction companies in Egypt. Sixty three factors were identified from international literature and grouped into twelve major categories. A questionnaire survey was conducted on large construction contractors in Egypt and the collected data was analyzed using an importance index to rank the safety performance factors. The rank concordance between the grades of companies was tested using Kendall’s coefficient, and the responses among grades were found to have high agreement. It was concluded that the most important factors affecting safety performance are safety awareness of company’s top management, safety awareness of project managers, and safety inspections.