Protecting Occupational Health and Safety in Construction Companies in the Czech Republic

ScienceDirect Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 1877-0509 © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 10.1016/j.procs.2023.01.475 10.1016/j.procs.2023.01.475 1877-0509 © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia 1877-0509 © 2022 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN – International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist – International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 Protecting Occupational Health and Safety in Construction Companies in the Czech Republic Martin Novýa*, Jana Novákováa aBrno University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Veveří 331/95, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic Abstract Currently it is the third year when the global COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on the lives of individuals, on the activities of economic entities of all sizes and on the economies of countries around the world. Following the partial calming in this area, a crisis linked to the war in Ukraine hit Europe in early 2022. This has a negative impact on economic production and the associated decline in the standard of living. The prices of materials, products and transport are rising, causing a sharp increase in construction prices in the construction sector. Protecting the occupational health of workers and providing a safe environment for their work form an essential part of all construction projects. This article deals with the research into occupational health and safety on construction sites in the Czech Republic. The research described in this article was conducted in several successive steps. In the first step, a research design was drawn up, in the second step data collection was carried out, and in the third step data analysis and compilation of results were carried out. Qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis, namely in-depth interviews and the coding method, were used in the companies under research. Open-ended questions relating to respondents' opinions, experience and overall perceptions of the issues were developed in the preparatory phase of the research. The aim was to obtain credible answers to the questions raised. The research lasted for six months and involved 19 medium and large companies from the Czech Republic. The purpose of the research described in this article was to find out the situation focusing on providing the health and safety of workers during the implementation of construction. The costs of implementing the necessary measures in this field were also investigated. © 2022 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 541 148 631 E-mail address: [email protected] Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia 1877-0509 © 2022 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN – International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist – International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 Protecting Occupational Health and Safety in Construction Companies in the Czech Republic Martin Novýa*, Jana Novákováa aBrno University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Veveří 331/95, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic Abstract Currently it is the third year when the global COVID-19 pandemic is having a negative impact on the lives of individuals, on the activities of economic entities of all sizes and on the economies of countries around the world. Following the partial calming in this area, a crisis linked to the war in Ukraine hit Europe in early 2022. This has a negative impact on economic production and the associated decline in the standard of living. The prices of materials, products and transport are rising, causing a sharp increase in construction prices in the construction sector. Protecting the occupational health of workers and providing a safe environment for their work form an essential part of all construction projects. This article deals with the research into occupational health and safety on construction sites in the Czech Republic. The research described in this article was conducted in several successive steps. In the first step, a research design was drawn up, in the second step data collection was carried out, and in the third step data analysis and compilation of results were carried out. Qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis, namely in-depth interviews and the coding method, were used in the companies under research. Open-ended questions relating to respondents' opinions, experience and overall perceptions of the issues were developed in the preparatory phase of the research. The aim was to obtain credible answers to the questions raised. The research lasted for six months and involved 19 medium and large companies from the Czech Republic. The purpose of the research described in this article was to find out the situation focusing on providing the health and safety of workers during the implementation of construction. The costs of implementing the necessary measures in this field were also investigated. © 2022 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CENTERIS – International Conference on ENTERprise Information Systems / ProjMAN - International Conference on Project MANagement / HCist - International Conference on Health and Social Care Information Systems and Technologies 2022 * Corresponding author. Tel.: +420 541 148 631 E-mail address: [email protected] 1794 Martin Nový et al. / Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 2 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 Keywords: occupational health protection; occupational safety; cost of measures; research in construction companies in the Czech Republic 1. Introduction The Covid-19 infection hit Europe and the Czech Republic in early 2020. The subsequent pandemic and related measures have caused restrictions both in private and public life that have affected all areas of the economy. The decline in construction output caused by supply problems in the second quarter of 2020 and the lack of employees due to the illness, imposed quarantine and the ban on receiving foreign workers is shown in Figure 1. In 2021, construction output started to grow slightly and reached a long-term peak in February 2022. In the following period, the positive development trend was interrupted due to the war activities in Ukraine. The sharp rise in the prices of construction materials and fuels accelerated the rise in the prices of construction works, which can be seen in Figure 2. As a result, construction investors have to find additional financial resources or restrict, postpone or even cancel their projects. Figure 1 Development of construction production in the Czech Republic [1] Martin Nový et al. / Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 1795 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 3 Figure 2 Development of construction price indices in the Czech Republic [2] The long-term goal of any business company is to generate profit which is distributed to the owners or invested in the development of the company. Contractors can limit the rising cost of construction output in several ways. The first way is by reducing profit or even allowing loss. This can only be used in the short term to prevent leaving of important customers. The second way to reduce final prices is to purchase cheaper materials. This can be used on a limited basis because cheaper materials are often of lower quality and their use can reduce the quality of the construction work. There may also be situations where cheaper material does not exist or is not available at all. A third option for reducing prices is to reduce redundant costs. These may include, to a limited extent, the overhead costs of running the company or the costs of operating the construction site facilities. [3] A non-negotiable cost of construction projects is the cost of providing workers occupational safety and health protection. A system of laws, regulations and decrees has been developed and applied that specify exactly what must be done before construction begins and what must be observed during the construction period in the Czech Republic. The system is linked to European Union legislation. The preparation of basic occupational safety and health protection (OSHP – Occupational Health and Safety Professional) document - the so-called OSHP Plan - is the duty of the construction contractor under the conditions defined by law. It is a continuously updated document prepared according to the type and size of the construction project to meet the needs of providing safe and health-safe work. The cost of providing an OSHP is not a critical type of project cost. However, they do not represent such a small part that the contractor does not have to take them into account. It is not possible to reduce these costs because they are linked to the workers and the work to be carried out. The lower cost of construction work does not reduce the cost of occupational health and safety measures. On the contrary, a reduction in the price of construction work leads to a proportional increase in these costs. [4] 2. Present state references Several financial sources are used to cover the costs associated with OSHP on construction sites in the Czech Republic. The first source is the so-called production overhead, which is related to the execution of the construction. It consists of a percentage surcharge on the unit price of each budget item of construction or installation work. This source covers the cost of personal protective equipment (e.g. helmets, gloves, work clothing and footwear - hereafter PPE – Personal Protective Equipment), safe tools, safety training for employees and first aid equipment on site. [5] The second source of OSHP cost coverage is directly from some of the construction budget items. These are e.g. protection and containment nets, protective scaffolding, safe pedestrian crossings and machinery crossings, securing excavations with sheeting and groundwater drainage. In the budget items that include machine work, the cost of 1796 Martin Nový et al. / Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 4 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 machine work per hour (called machine hours) includes the costs associated with inspection, maintenance and repair. This provides the safety of working with the machinery. The third source of OSHP costs is the so-called incidental budgetary costs. Their total volume is determined by a percentage surcharge on the so-called core budget costs, which form the sum of the budgeted prices of construction and installation work in the budget. In particular, the construction, operation and removal of site facilities are covered by the secondary budget costs. This includes changing rooms, sanitary facilities, fencing, lighting, warning signs, traffic signs and road cleaning which contribute to occupational safety and health protection of workers. This source also covers other costs from the OSHP plan, such as inspection activities. The above-stated list shows that it is not possible to quantify the total cost of OSHP accurately. In particular, the use of the second and third sources can only be estimated. The aim of the research described in this paper is to find out how construction companies provide OSHP. 3. Methodology Qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis were used, in particular, in-depth interviews and the coding method to understand the broader context of the phenomena under study and to understand the situation in the companies under research. The aim was to obtain more credible answers to the questions raised. This system has proven itself in the past in previous types of research. The qualitative approach represents procedures aimed at understanding the problem under investigation. The aim is to view a phenomenon in as comprehensive a form as possible, including its relationships to surrounding phenomena. Questions can be modified or added to as the research progresses in the qualitative method. The most common techniques of the qualitative approach include in-depth interviews, non-standardized observations and content analysis. In-depth interviews seek to capture the deeper causes of certain beliefs or behaviour. The interviewer uses clearly constructed questions to encourage the respondent to formulate his or her own responses. These are subsequently processed and evaluated by the interviewer. A standardised interview, on the other hand, looks like reading a questionnaire to the respondent, who selects pre-prepared answer options. The in-depth interview then resembles a free interview, the structure of which is not fixed. [6] [7] The research carried out used an interview using a structured guide to identify OSHP practices, impacts and sources of funding in selected construction companies. The structured guide was based on the current state of scientific knowledge and scientific literature research. Although the structured guide was followed, the order or exact wording of the questions did not matter. The interviewer was free to adapt them. The coding method was used to sort and assess the data in this research. Coding is defined as breaking down data sets into subsets and then naming and sorting them. Open coding takes place during the first analyses of the data, forming categories and identifying core areas. This was repeated and refined several times during the analysis. If the assessment of the material and its further collection does not yield anything new, theoretical saturation is reached and the research can be terminated. [6] [8] [9] The open coding method was used in this research to process the data and assess the results of the in-depth interviews. Based on the codes, categories were compiled and relationships between them were defined. Through this coding, elements that constitute the essential content of the issue were identified. 4. Results and discussions 4.1. Research design, data collection and analysis Qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis, in particular in-depth interviews and coding, were used to contextually understand the situation in the companies under research. It was chosen to do so mainly because quantitative research (especially questionnaire surveys) is subject to the respondent refinement of the results or nonrelevant respondents responding. A structured guide was used for the purposes of in-depth interviews. 13 open questions (topics) related to the experience, perceptions and opinions of the respondents were developed as a part of the design process. Some questions also included sub-questions. The interview topics were tested to see if they would work in practice as intended. In total, the in-depth interview process was tested with 2 respondents, each representing one of Martin Nový et al. / Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 1797 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 5 the groups defined below. It was possible to continue the research after a successful test on a small sample. The range of interviewees was defined as managers in small and medium-sized construction companies in the Czech Republic. In accordance with this rule, a total of 22 experts from a total of 19 companies (10 small and 9 mediumsized) were interviewed. It was not necessary to conduct more interviews, as the same answers were repeated in the outputs, including almost identical experiences. Table 1. Compiled questions for in-depth interview Number Question 1 How many permanent employees do you have? 2 How does your company provide knowledge about OSHP? 3 When do you train new employees in OSHP? 4 How often do you train permanent employees in OSHP? 5 What form does your OSHP training take? 6 Is there an OSHP specialist as a member of permanent staff? 7 How do your employees obtain personal protective equipment? 8 Do you contribute financially to your employees for the maintenance of their workwear? 9 How do you make your employees familiar with the operating instructions for the equipment? 10 Do you carry out breath tests for alcohol in your company? 11 Do you (did you) test your employees for Covid-19? 12 Do you require your employees to be vaccinated against viral diseases? 13 How do you track OSHP costs? 4.2. Compilation of research results The most frequently discussed areas were selected from the interviews and appropriate questions were formulated (shown in Table 1). The response to each question was associated with a single answer that most accurately or predominantly corresponded to the respondent's situation. Question 1 divided survey participants by a number of employees into small size companies (53%) of up to 50 employees and medium-size companies (47%) up to 200 employees based on monthly averages for 2021. The other questions did not take this structure into account. The responses to the four most interesting questions were selected for publication and displayed in charts. Question 2 was “How does your company provide knowledge about OSHP?” The most common way was to use the services of an external company. A detailed overview is given in Figure 3. Figure 3 Structure of OSHP knowledge provision in companies 1798 Martin Nový et al. / Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 6 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 Responses to Question 4 described how often OSHP training takes place in companies. The most common responses (32%) were "once a year" and "before a new project". Question 7 sought a response on how PPE is provided. The most common response (37%) was sourcing according to the service life of each type of equipment. The distribution of responses to this question is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4. Method of obtaining PPE by the employees Question 9 concerned the availability of instructions for the use of machinery, tools and equipment. The most frequently (32%) mentioned choice was electronic documents stored on the company intranet. Printed manuals for all the equipment and manuals for only the complex equipment were mentioned with the same frequency (21%). Question 10 was very interesting and concerned with the detection of alcohol in employees' breath. The structure of the responses can be seen in Figure 5. Figure 5 Method of conducting breath tests of employees for the presence of alcohol Question 11 originally focused on past waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. Current developments in Europe and the Czech Republic indicate that we can expect another wave of the mutant virus as early as the summer of 2022. The resulting responses are shown in Figure 6. Martin Nový et al. / Procedia Computer Science 219 (2023) 1793–1800 1799 6 Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 Responses to Question 4 described how often OSHP training takes place in companies. The most common responses (32%) were "once a year" and "before a new project". Question 7 sought a response on how PPE is provided. The most common response (37%) was sourcing according to the service life of each type of equipment. The distribution of responses to this question is shown in Figure 4. Figure 4. Method of obtaining PPE by the employees Question 9 concerned the availability of instructions for the use of machinery, tools and equipment. The most frequently (32%) mentioned choice was electronic documents stored on the company intranet. Printed manuals for all the equipment and manuals for only the complex equipment were mentioned with the same frequency (21%). Question 10 was very interesting and concerned with the detection of alcohol in employees' breath. The structure of the responses can be seen in Figure 5. Figure 5 Method of conducting breath tests of employees for the presence of alcohol Question 11 originally focused on past waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. Current developments in Europe and the Czech Republic indicate that we can expect another wave of the mutant virus as early as the summer of 2022. The resulting responses are shown in Figure 6. Author name / Procedia Computer Science 00 (2022) 000–000 7 Figure 6 Method of testing employees for Covid-19 The last Question 13 concerned the tracking of OSHP costs. The results of the survey showed that the aggregate costs cannot be accurately determined as they are paid from different sources. Only the cost of PPE from the first source described in Chapter 2 can be accurately quantified. Determining the costs drawn from the second and third sources would be very complicated and would bring no benefit. Research has confirmed that the calculation of the total cost of PPE is not carried out in practice and can only be expertly estimated. 5. Conclusion The declining construction output in the Czech Republic in the first quarter of 2022 has been proven by the official results of the Czech Statistical Office survey [2]. It is likely that the decline in production will also be reflected in the second quarter of 2022. The decrease in production had and has had several causes. The rising prices of construction inputs and the shortage of certain types of building materials range among the most important ones. This situation cause delays in some contracts and their rapid increase in price. Some investors have to withdraw from their projects or seek additional financial resources for financial reasons. This research looked at the protection of workers' occupational health and safety in construction companies. The research has shown that considerable attention is paid to this issue and the management of companies is aware that cost savings of construction projects cannot be drawn from this area. The sophisticated Czech legislation [10] and the related control activities with the possibility of imposing relatively high financial sanctions have a positive influence. The original sub-intent of the research presented in this article was to determine the relative costs of OSHP, i.e. their percentage representation of the total project costs. The research has shown that this type of cost is not tracked separately. Only partial costs (e.g. PPE, training, inspection activities) can be accurately tracked. Other costs included in the cost of construction site equipment or construction work can only be estimated. According to some research participants, the total cost of OSHP can be estimated at a few per cent of the total construction cost. However, the amount depends on the type and size of the construction project. Precise quantification of the OSHP cost could be a suitable topic for a future individual research project. A necessary condition for its successful implementation is access to complete construction documentation and accounting documents. References [1] “Construction production 2022” Czech Statistical Office [online]. [cit. 2022-6-06]. Available at: https://www.czso.cz/csu/czso/construction_ekon [2] “Price indices of Constructions 2022” Czech Statistical Office [online]. [cit. 2022-5-16]. 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Praha: Portál, ISBN 978-80-262-0982-9 [7] Široký, Jan (2011) “Tvoříme a publikujeme odborné texty“ Brno: Computer Press. ISBN 978-80-251-3510-5 [8] Reichel, Jiří (2009) “Kapitoly metodologie sociálních výzkumů“ Praha: Grada. ISBN 978-80-247-3006-6 [9] Strauss, Anselm and Juliet Corbin (2015) “Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory “. Brno: SAGE Publications Inc. ISBN 1412997461 [10] “309 Zákon ze dne 23. května 2006, kterým se upravují další požadavky bezpečnosti a ochrany zdraví při práci v pracovněprávních vztazích a o zajištění bezpečnosti a ochrany zdraví při činnosti nebo poskytování služeb mimo pracovněprávní vztahy (zákon o zajištění dalších podmínek bezpečnosti a ochrany zdraví při práci) “ Sbírka zákonů 309/2006, Praha: Tiskárna ministerstva vnitra. ISSN 1211-1244