Obstacle Factor Influencing the Application of Health, Safety, and

Environment (HSE) Management on Construction Projects in

Indonesia

Riza Susanti and Bambang Setiabudi

Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro, Semarang, Indonesia

Keywords: Construction, Health, Risk, Safety, Project

Abstract: Activity along the construction project is one of the most hazardous compared to other industry. In Indonesia,

many construction projects are still facing numerous accidents and or fatalities during the project. It shows by

the high rate of work accidents in the construction sector throughout 2017 where at least there are any 7 the

national strategy projects that have been in an accident. This indicates the Health, Safety, and Environment

(HSE) may have not been implemented properly in the project. The aim of this research is to identify the

obstacle factors influencing the implementation of health, safety and environment management on

construction projects in Indonesia. The questionnaire method was used to collect the data. The research

identified 10 obstacle factor in implementing of health and safety management i.e lack of attention to safety

by workers, lack of attention to safety by main contractors, problem sub-contractor, an absence of safety

provisions in contractual clause, lack of integration of safety in the construction activities, rules and

regulation, financial pressure, insufficient safety training, tight schedule and low labor education. From a total

10 factors identified, respondent agreed that lack of attention to safety by workers as the highest obstacle

factor in implementing HSE management in the construction project. The finding can be used to manage HSE

risk efficiently and effectively for another construction project.

1 INTRODUCTION

The construction industry related to numerous of the

accident which occurs worldwide (Gunduz & Ahsan

2018). According to (Bavafa et al., 2018) the

percentage of the accident on the construction project

in developing countries are relatively high, including

Indonesia. For instance in Indonesia, in 2017 it has

been reported that from a total of 47 national strategy

projects there was accident occurred in 7 national

strategy projects. Oswald et al. (2018) and Bavafa et

al. (2018) pointed out as common the accident in the

construction project is mainly caused due to the

unique characteristic including the unique working

environment of the project itself. Additionally, the

construction industry is having complicated

characteristics, and site conditions that differentiate it

from other industries (Alruqi et al., 2018).

Unfortunately, the accident in a construction project

can cause various direct and indirect cost in the

project (Bavafa et al., 2018). Moreover, Mohammadi

et al. (2018) mentioned the cost of the accident will

increase up to 15% to the project cost.

Nowadays, Safety issues are considered as the

major concerns related the cost of these occurrences

can be huge and they are borne by the victims, their

families, employers, the industry, government and

society as a whole (Manu et al., 2018). Ironically, the

previous study by Harvey et al. (2016) mentioned that

Occupational Safety and Health in construction has

been slower than in other sectors. To implementing

HSE properly in the project, it is needed for active

participation not only by the contractor but also the

owner since the planning phase until the completion

of the project (Gunduz & Ahsan 2018).

Following to Mohammadi et al. (2018)

construction industry is including as the main factor

of development for countries, then it is needed any

special attention to the construction project. Hence,

since safety management is a key element to the

success of the project, it also needs special attention

in implementing safety to the project properly since

in the planning phase. Gunduz & Ahsan (2018)

140

Susanti, R. and Setiabudi, B.

Obstacle Factor Inﬂuencing the Application of Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Management on Construction Projects in Indonesia.

DOI: 10.5220/0009007501400144

In Proceedings of the 7th Engineering International Conference on Education, Concept and Application on Green Technology (EIC 2018), pages 140-144

ISBN: 978-989-758-411-4

Table 1: Obstacle Factor Influencing the Application of HSE

No Main factors References Obstacle Factors in this

research

1 HSE competency and behaviour (Mohammadi et al., 2018);

(Gunduz & Ahsan 2018)

Lack of attention to safety

protection by workers

2 HSE competency and behaviour (Mohammadi et al., 2018);

(Gunduz & Ahsan 2018)

Lack of attention to safety

management by main

contractors/project managers

3 Subcontractors (Bavafa et al., 2018); (Gunduz

& Ahsan 2018)

Problem with sub-contractor

4 Contract formation (Tanabe & Turco 2016);

(Loganthan & Siddiqui 2018)

An absence of safety

provisions in contractual

clause

5 Safety program and management

systems

(Bavafa et al., 2018); (Gunduz

& Ahsan 2018); (Manu et al.,

2018)

Lack of integration of safety

in construction activities

6 Rules and regulation (Manu et al., 2018);

(Mohammadi et al., 2018)

Rules and regulation

7 Financial aspects (Mohammadi et al., 2018) Financial pressure

8 Safety training (Mohammadi et al., 2018);

(Bavafa et al., 2018); (Manu et

al., 2018); (Gunduz & Ahsan

2018)

Insufficient safety training

9 Work pressure (Mohammadi et al., 2018) Tight schedule

10 Low education level (Mohammadi et al., 2018);

(SAEED, 2017)

Low labor education

mentioned that safety management is one of the

important keys to the success of the construction

project in order to minimize costs and delays the

project. The number of problems caused by improper

application of HSE causes the question actually what

obstacle factors in implementation HSE to the

project. The aim of this research is to identify the

obstacle factors influencing the implementation of

health, safety and environment management of the

construction project in Indonesia.

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The survey was sent to numerous respondent that

participate in the construction industry. From a total

of 30 respondent, there were 5 consultants, 20

contractors, and 5 owners out of 30 respondents.

Respondents from various professional background

and expertise engaged in the construction sector were

selected. Out of 30 respondents, there were 8

managers, 10 project engineers, 5 owners and 7 others

involved in the construction.

The total years of the construction work

experiences of the respondents are categorized into 3

groups of less than 5 years (<5 years), 5 – 10 years

and more than 10 years experience. Over a half of

respondents have been practicing in the construction

industry for 5 to 10 years as seen in Figure 1 the

number of respondents based on total years of

construction experience.

Figure 1: The Number of Respondents Based on Total

Years of Construction Experience.

A questionnaire survey was used to gather

information and collect the data. The questionnaire

survey was divided into two section: 1) respondents

information and 2) assessing obstacle factor HSE.

The first section was used to gain background

Obstacle Factor Inﬂuencing the Application of Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Management on Construction Projects in Indonesia

141

information of the respondent. This section requires

the respondent to give information relating to

organization type, job designation and total years of

work experience in the construction industry. Section

two containing 10 obstacle factors the application of

HSE in the construction project. Furthermore,

respondents were requested to assess the obstacle

factor on 5 points Likert scale (1= very low, 2= low,

3= moderate, 4= high and 5=very high).

Several factors were used as obstacles factor in the

implementation of HSE in construction projects in

Indonesia. These factors are shown in Table 1.

Furthermore, the results of the respondent’s

questionnaires will be analyzed using mean rank

analysis. In the mean rank analysis, the observation

value on each row is ranked and the average is sorted

to find out the ranking of an observation. Mean rank

can be calculated by using Equation 1 and 2.

 





(1)

  







(2)

Where, n is the number of respondents, Ri is the

number of respondent's assessment data and Xi

represents observation value obtained from

respondents.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This research has identified a total number of 10

obstacle factors influencing the application of HSE

management in the construction project in Indonesia.

Detail analysis was shown in Table 2.

Based on Table 2, respondents assess lack of

attention to safety protection by workers as the

highest obstacle factor influencing the application of

Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) management

on construction projects in Indonesia. Previous

studies showed that attitude and behavior is one of the

important factor influencing application HSE in

construction project (Mohammadi et al., 2018),

furthermore, according to Mohammadi et al. (2018)

negative attitude of worker that underestimate the risk

and take short to done the job was major root of

causes of accident in construction project. Similar

with factor 1, obstacle factor lack of attention to

safety management by the main contractor/ project

managers was also one of the important factors.

Mohammadi et al. (2018) pointed out the importance

of managers to identify and control the factors

influencing the safety performance of the project.

Table 1: Obstacle Factor Influencing the Application of

Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Management on

Construction Projects in Indonesia.

No Factors Average

1 Lack of attention to safety protection

by workers

4,70

2 Lack of attention to safety

management by main

contractors/project managers

4,43

3 Problem with subcontractors 4,43

4 An absence of safety provisions in

contractual clause

4,40

5 lack of integration of safety in the

construction activities

4,37

6 Rules and regulation 4,30

7 Financial pressure 4,10

8 Insufficient safety training 4,07

9 Tight schedule 3,83

10 Low labor education 3,80

In this research, the problem with subcontractor

was ranked in the top three the obstacle factor

influencing the application of HSE in the construction

project in Indonesia. Similar with the previous study

according to (Gunduz & Ahsan 2018) subcontractors

safety behavior is important in implementing HSE

(rank 16 out of 40), so the problem was made by the

subcontractor can be dangerous to the project.

Furthermore Bavafa et al. (2018) mentioned that is

important to select subcontractors personnel by

considering their safety and health performance.

According to Mohammadi et al. (2018) the main

contractor must ensure subcontractors to follow

safety protocol and are integrated with safety culture

during the project.

The previous study pointed plan for safety as a

basis of an effective construction safety program

(Bavafa et al., 2018). Furthermore, according to

(Gunduz & Ahsan 2018) owner must be actively

participating in project safety since the project still in

planning phase i.e making safety guidelines to

contractors, incorporate safety requirement in the

contract and push contractors to set safety as goals in

the project. In this research, respondent asses this

factor into middle group, it means lack of integration

of safety in construction activities including safety

planning is one of the main obstacle factor

influencing the application HSE in the project.

According to Mohammadi et al. (2018), rules and

regulation are one of the major factor influencing

safety performance on the construction project, this

factor includes safety rules, rules compliance, and

EIC 2018 - The 7th Engineering International Conference (EIC), Engineering International Conference on Education, Concept and

Application on Green Technology

142

paperwork of regulation. The previous study by

(Manu et al. 2018) pointed this factor categorized into

the high category in implementing HSE in Malaysia,

but in Vietnam and Cambodia, this factor categorized

into the moderate category similar with the result of

this research.

Financial is one of the obstacle factors in

implementing HSE in the construction project.

According to Mohammadi et al. (2018) project cost

would be increased up to 15% if there is an accident

in the project. Although in this research, this factor is

not included in 3 the highest obstacle factors in

applicating HSE, but the range average still more than

4 (in Likert scale which used 4 means high). This

means financial is one of the important factors in

applicating HSE to the project. (Manu et al., 2018)

mentioned that is important to allocate price in

covering HSE requirement in every project.

Furthermore Mohammadi et al. (2018) argued that the

financial in the project can reduce by cutting of the

safety budget, unfortunately, this can lead to polemics

in Indonesia where many procurement systems are

more using the lowest price bidding system than best-

value method. High demand for implementing HSE

in the project but not balanced with a qualified

finance as the result of procurement system chosen

will result in financial pressure in the project.

Then, Contrary with previous study, respondent

asses insufficient safety training in 3 lowest obstacle

factor influencing the application HSE in the

construction project. While the previous study

pointed safety training as one of the most critical

factors for effective implementation of safety

programs in construction project (Bavafa et al.,

2018). Similar with Bavafa et al, according to

Mohammadi et al. (2018) HSE competency,

including safety experience, training, and education,

is one of the main factor influencing safety

performance in the construction project. Furthermore

Mohammadi et al. (2018) pointed out that in the end,

the age and experience of the workers as the

important factor to make safety condition in the

construction project. This also contrary with the result

that asses low labor education as the lowest obstacle

factor influencing the application of HSE in the

construction project in Indonesia. The gap between

this research with the previous study may happen

caused by the different perception of the respondent.

(Gunduz & Ahsan 2018) pointed out that the

perception of safety changes with more safety

experience. In this research, most of the respondents

are from category 5 to 10 years experience while the

respondents in the previous study are having more

than 10 years experience in the construction project.

Furthermore, there are any 2 kind obstacle factors

that having a mean average less than 4 but still almost

in the high category, a thigh schedule and low labor

education (mean average 3.83 and 3.80). According

to Mohammadi et al. (2018) the work pressure factor

includes production pressure, work overload, fatigue

and burnout, working pace, working time, overtime

work and schedule delay. Additionally, the previous

study pointed out that tight schedule can make

workers only focus to complete the work quickly

despite their knowledge of the possible outcomes

(Mohammadi et al., 2018).

The last obstacle factor is low labor education, the

previous study mentioned that different individual

with different educational and different background

experiences will approach safety in the different way

(Provan et al., 2018). Unfortunately, in project there

are a number of people with any kind of educational

background whose active participating to the project,

but almost construction workers are employed for

their skill of education are low which it can be barriers

to the application of HSE in project (Harvey et al.,

2016) added with and contract system which used

limits opportunities to invest in people. So it is needed

for any person in charge may emphasize to make sure

all individual including subcontractors to follow

safety protocol and are integrated with safety culture

during the project.

4 CONCLUSION

This study has identified a total number of 10 obstacle

factor influencing the application of HSE in the

construction project as perceived by the private

sector. i.e lack of attention to safety by workers, lack

of attention to safety by main contractors, problem

sub-contracting, an absence of safety provisions in

the contractual clause, lack of integration of safety in

the construction activities, rule and regulation,

financial pressure, insufficient safety training, tight

schedule, and low labor education. This research

showed the highest obstacle factor influencing the

application of HSE is Lack of attention to safety

protection by workers. While the lowest obstacle

factor is low labor education. The outcome of this

study would help the construction and safety

professional on assessing and quantifying the safety

obstacle factor the application of HSE also it can be

used to manage HSE risk efficiently and effectively

for the construction project in Indonesia.

Obstacle Factor Inﬂuencing the Application of Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) Management on Construction Projects in Indonesia

143

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Application on Green Technology

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