Human Resources Management in

Construction (19CEM29H)

Lecture 8
Health & Safety
HR and Employees
Relationship

Dr. Ahmed Afify

Health, Safety and welfare
Health, Safety and welfare
• Managing people’s health, safety and welfare at
work is one of the most important areas in HRM.
• Construction remains one of the most dangerous
sectors to work in.
• Health and safety must be made a top priority and
incorporated into all management‐system procedures
to ensure a consistent approach.
 Health, Safety and welfare
• This requires high safety standards, safety issues
driven by senior managers, effective systems,
continuous training and education programs to alter
attitudes and behaviors, and effective induction and
communication strategies to ensure an awareness of
occupational health and safety issues and their
importance to the project management team.
Some methods for maintaining a healthy site
include:
– Drug and alcohol screening,
– Material safety data sheets (MSDS),
– Dust control and noise control measures,
– Onsite medical facilities (includes portable
equipment such as an eyewash station, emergency
shower, etc.),
– Regular health checkups and hygienic work
conditions, and
– Provision of trained first aid personnel.
Health
- Employee health and wellness are introduced for
construction personnel as these directly affect
construction project risk and safety.

-The unique hazards in construction projects

intensify the need for:.
o Identify the hazards
o Measures
o Control or prevent the hazards
o Identify potential hazards
o Teach employees to do f the above
Safety

o The safety of construction crews and project teams is

a top challenge on construction projects and should be

a priority in all the organization.

o Safety behavior, ownership, and incident reduction is

closely monitored and controlled throughout the project

with the assistance of several resources, including

human resources, safety officers, and others.

Job Site Safety
Ensuring job site safety in the construction environment
requires effective, safe work practices and procedures, with
a priority focus on high‐consequence and high‐risk
activities:
o Verification and validation that personal protective
equipment (PPE) is appropriate and in good condition for the
required activity,
o Pre‐site preparation (hazard analysis, permits, site
familiarization, and ongoing hazard tagging, etc.),
o Standard operating procedures (SOPs), Ongoing training,
o Traffic management,
o Verification of safeguards,
o Periodic checking of tools and equipment,
o Risk recognition and assessment,
o OSHA compliance, Onsite safety compliance personnel
 Worksite Analysis
Job/Task Hazard
Analysis
Within each hazardous area there may be one or many
tasks or jobs going on pick one at a time and analyze:
• What is the task?
• How is the task done?
– Overall flow
– Number of people
• Individual steps
– Hazards with each step
– Where can something go wrong?
• Changes that may occur that would modify the
above?
Worksite Analysis
Job/Task Hazard
Analysis
Definition of Employment Relationship

• Describes the interconnections that exist between

employers and employees in the workplace.

1- Formal (agreements/contracts)

2- Informal ( physiological contract)

4. HR and Employees Relationship
• The scope of HRM is extensive and far reaching.
Therefore, it is very difficult to define it concisely.
However, we can classify the scope of HRM under the
following three categories:

- HRM in Personnel Management

- HRM in Employee Welfare

- HRM in Industrial Relations

4.1. HRM in Personnel Management

• HRM in Personnel Management is typically direct

manpower management that involves manpower

planning, hiring (recruitment and selection), training

and development, induction and orientation, transfer,

promotion, employee productivity, compensation,

layoff and retrenchment.

HRM in Employee Welfare
- HRM in Employee Welfare is a particular aspect of HRM
which deals with working conditions and amenities at
workplace.
- This includes a wide array of responsibilities and services
such as safety services, health services, welfare funds,
social security and medical services.
- It also covers appointment of safety officers, making the
environment worth working, eliminating workplace
hazards, support by top management, job safety,
safeguarding machinery, cleanliness, proper ventilation
and lighting, medical care, sickness benefits, employee
injury benefits, personal injury benefits, maternity
benefits, unemployment benefits and family benefits.
HRM in Industrial Relationship
• HRM in Industrial Relations is a highly sensitive
area. It needs careful interactions with labor or
employee unions, addressing their grievances and
settling the disputes effectively in order to maintain
peace and harmony in the organization.
The Psychological Contract
• Employment Relationship describes are
guided by either FORMAL (Employees
Contracts) or INFORMAL types of contracts
(Psychological contract).(Kessler and Undy,
1996
5.1. Definition of A Psychological Contract(1)
- The psychological contract expresses the combination of
beliefs held by an individual and his or her employer about
what they expect of one another.
- As defined by Schein (1965):‘The notion of a
psychological contract implies that there is an unwritten
set of expectations operating at all times between every
member of an organization and the various managers and
others in that organization.’
Bargaining Arrangements
•Yet Bargaining activities include conflict which is
inevitable, this is equivalent to = Falling to Agree.
•This includes a clause providing for Third – Party
Dispute Resolution.
•This is Classified into three types:
–Conciliation,
–Arbitration and
–Mediation.
Conciliation
- An attempt through informal discussions to help parties
in a dispute to reach their own agreement.
- The third party does not recommend or decide on a
settlement.
- One advantage of this process is that it helps the parties
to retain ownership of the resolution of the problem,
which can, in turn, engender greater commitment to its
implementation.
- Conciliation is the most frequently used form of
third‐party involvement.
Arbitration
- The parties put the issue to an independent third
party for determination.
- The parties agree in advance to accept the
arbitrator’s decision as a means of finally resolving
the matter.
- There is sometimes a reluctance to use this method
as it removes control over the final outcome from
employers , employees or trade unions.
Mediation
- Formal but non‐binding recommendations or proposals
are put forward for further consideration by the parties.
- The use of dispute mediation is rare, partly because it
is seen as a halfway house.
- There is sometimes a feeling that if conciliation cannot
succeed, it may be best simply to go all the way to
arbitration.
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Thank you

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