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Risk and
Managing the risk and challenges challenges of
of COVID-19 on construction COVID-19

sites in Lagos, Nigeria

Patricia Omega Kukoyi
Department of Building, University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria
Received 27 January 2021
Fredrick Simpeh Revised 2 March 2021
16 June 2021
Department of Quantity Surveying and Construction Management, Accepted 2 July 2021
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, and
Oluseyi Julius Adebowale and Justus Ngala Agumba
Department of Building Sciences, Tshwane University of Technology,
Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract
Purpose – The novel COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk in construction operations. New systems
are, thus, required on construction sites to mitigate the risk and challenges associated with the pandemic. This
paper aims to determine construction organisations risk control systems and the challenges of implementing
safety measures on construction sites.
Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a qualitative research method. A purposive
sampling method was used to select study participants, who were administered open-ended questionnaires
designed to gather qualitative data. The contents of the data were analysed, presented and reported based on
the objectives of the study.
Findings – Some of the construction organisations conducted COVID-19 related risk assessments, whilst a
few organisations did not conduct a risk assessment. Inspections to ensure COVID-19 compliance was done
by government officials, health organisations and client’s health and safety officers. The construction
organisations demonstrated considerable competence in record keeping and some organisations further
evolved a follow-up plan for sick workers. The study found that some construction practitioners had
misconceptions about the disease, used COVID-19 personal protective equipment incorrectly and lack
adequate information about the virus. It is required that construction stakeholders evolve policies and
strategies that would promote risk control and foster compliance to COVID-19 safety measures.
Originality/value – COVID-19 is still new, therefore, the body of knowledge is still at the infancy stage.
This paper provided insight into the COVID-19 related risk and challenges that may increase the rate of virus
infection amongst construction practitioners.
Keywords Challenges, Construction site, COVID-19, Health and safety, Risk, Nigeria,
COVID-19 measures
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The world has continued to be confronted with the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating
impact on human lives and the economy of many countries (Harinarain, 2020; Osunsanmi
et al., 2020). The World Health Organisation (WHO), the Centres for Disease Control and
Journal of Engineering, Design
and Technology
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1726-0531
Conflicts of interest: The authors have no competing interests to declare. DOI 10.1108/JEDT-01-2021-0058
JEDT Prevention and the Nigerian Government have developed protocols and guidelines to curtail
the spread of the virus. Some of the measures instituted to help curb the spread of the virus
include the use of face masks, sanitation, physical distancing, screening, regular washing of
hands and good hygiene practices and avoiding social activities (WHO, 2020a, 2020b,
2020c). Due to the ease of transmission of the virus, many countries “locked down” to allow
them to prepare and put measures in place to control the spread of the virus. Consequently,
the activities of many construction organisations across the world, including Nigeria were
brought to a halt due to the lockdown imposed.
Studies in many parts of the world highlight the inherent risk of the construction
industry (Hinze and Giang, 2008). This situation is not different in Nigeria; several
studies report on the poor performance of the construction industry in the aspects of
health and safety (Kukoyi and Smallwood, 2017). These known negative outlooks of the
construction sector could be aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Effective risk
management on sites has become crucial due to the risk associated with the COVID-19 in
construction. Regrettably, the world is experiencing the second wave of the pandemic,
where many countries are recording a high number of cases daily. Construction
organisations that comply with the COVID-19 regulations may be faced with several
challenges. This explains why it is important for organisations to develop strategies to
mitigate the risk and challenges associated with the implementation of COVID-19
measures on construction sites. While the COVID-19 pandemic aggravates construction
practitioners’ exposure to risk, evidence suggests that authorities’ recommendations on
COVID-19 measures are not being fully implemented (Małecka et al., 2020). Some workers
do not comply with the COVID-19 safety regulations, used COVID-19 personal protective
equipment (PPE) incorrectly and ignored the dangers of the virus (Amoah and Simpeh,
2020). There is no evidence of studies that determined how the Nigerian construction
organisations are managing the risk associated with the COVID-19 on sites and the
challenges associated with the implementation of such measures. Consequently, this
study determined the approach of the Nigerian construction organisations to managing the
risk of COVID-19 on sites. The study further established the challenges that militate against
the implementation of COVID-19 safety measures on construction sites.

Literature review
The COVID-19 pandemic
Around December 2019, the outbreak of coronavirus was noticed in the region of Wuhan,
China and was promptly named COVID-19, which is a shortened form of “coronavirus
disease of 2019” (Alozie et al., 2020). COVID-19 spreads very rapidly between people because
the virus is new and there is no knowledge of it until 2019 (Alozie et al., 2020). It was initially
understood to be an epidemic in China, the virus spread globally within months. This
prompted the WHO to declare COVID-19 a pandemic on 11th March 2020 (WHO, 2020a,
2020b, 2020c). The resolve of WHO to use the term “pandemic” results from its expanding
concerns over the virus’s high level of infectiousness and fatality and poor human response to
curtail the spread at all levels (Ibeh et al., 2020). The rate of infection continues to rise globally
as the total number of infected persons globally stands at 10 million as of 30th June 2020
(Alozie et al., 2020). Recent figures, as of 21st January 2021, reveal that the virus has infected
95,612,831 people globally and 2,066,176 people have died of the infection.
The push for the human race to survive the pandemic has become the primary concern of
the nations of the world, including Nigeria (Alozie et al., 2020). Several measures are being
implemented to curtail the transmission of COVID-19 in the construction industry. Amoah
and Simpeh (2020) examined the challenges encountered by construction organisation in
implementing COVID-19 safety measures at construction sites in South Africa. Ignorance of Risk and
COVID-19 amongst construction practitioners, the supply of poor personal protective challenges of
equipment by contractors, lack of compliance, sanitising construction materials and difficulty
in sharing tools and equipment are reported prevailing challenges of implementing COVID-19
COVID-19
safety measures. The challenges of COVID-19 in the construction industry were explored by
Ogunnusi et al. (2020). Workflow and supply chain disruption, new policy issues, workers’
anxiety and review of COVID-19 vs Force Majeure in standard forms of the construction
contract are major COVID-19 related issues found in construction. Yezli and Khan (2020)
reported social distancing measures as a major problem in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia due
to its level or urbanisation, social and religious norms and practice of hosting annual religious
mass gatherings. A study undertaken in the USA by Alsharef et al. (2021) indicated wearing of
cloth face masks, adoption of social distancing protocols, staggering of construction
operations, offering COVID-19-related training and administering temperature checks prior to
entry into the workplace as measures to manage construction project risks during the
outbreak of the pandemic.

Workers health and safety and construction regulations

The perceptions of most sectors and organisations in Nigeria suggest that the stage
of health and safety is still at infancy (Adeyemo and Smallwood, 2017). This is because of
employer/employee attitudinal behaviour, lack of safety culture and non-implementation of
health and safety policies (Famakin et al., 2020). Ogundipe et al. (2018) indicate that the
enforcement of safety regulations and policies is not widespread within the industry.
Regulation cannot on its own be effective without enforcement (Elsebaei et al., 2020).
A number of legislations on occupational health and safety exist in Nigeria and other parts
of the World. In Nigeria, for example, there is Labour Act of 1974 modified to Labour Acts
1990 and updated to Labour Act, Cap L1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN), 2004; the
Factories Act of 1987 which became effective in 1990 and later updated to Factories Act,
Cap. F1, LFN, 2004; the Workman’s Compensation Act of 1987 which became effective in
1990, modified to Workman’s Compensation Act, Cap W6, LFN, 2004 and repeal to
Employee’s Compensation Act, No. 13, 2010 of the laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Okoye
et al., 2016). The Nigeria Federal Ministry of Labour and employment is saddled with the
responsibility of enforcing the Factories Act and Employee’s Compensation Act, whilst the
Labour, Safety, Health and Welfare Bill of 2012 empowers the National Council for
Occupational Safety and Health of Nigeria to administer the proceeding regulations on its
behalf (Okoye et al., 2016). Such regulations are more developed and functional in developed
countries but construction health and safety challenges still pervade Nigeria.

Health and safety and risk management in construction

The diverse cultures in Nigeria are unique. The fact that the health and safety performance of
the Nigerian construction industry is culturally linked makes the situation more challenging
(Ogundipe et al., 2018). Similar to any other African country, “Nigeria culture has been
generally characterised as collectivist, high power distance, average uncertainty avoidance,
masculinity, having short-term orientation and indulgence” (Hofstede, 2011). Yiu et al. (2018)
categorised the possible challenges of implementing an effective safety management system
into project management and leadership, competency profile, project constraint and system
limitation. Projects are associated with various risks which often jeopardise project
performance. Risk management involves proactive means of combating possible future risks
rather than being reactive (Taofeeq and Adeleke, 2019). The anticipated impact of risk on the
project and the likelihood of occurrence will help project managers to compare and prioritise
JEDT risks (Amoah and Pretorius, 2019). Risk response in construction organisations remains the
weakest part of the risk management process (Odimabo et al., 2018).

Research methodology
This study determined the risk-mitigating mechanisms instituted on construction sites to
manage the risk of COVID-19 and explore the challenges that militate against the
implementation of COVID-19 safety measures on construction sites in Lagos, Nigeria. An
exploratory research design was adopted. This type of research design is mostly considered
when there is very little existing research on the subject matter (Squires and Dorsen, 2018).
This study used a qualitative research approach to solicit information from construction
professionals. A qualitative approach was deemed appropriate for the purpose of the study.
This research approach allows researchers to explore the experiences that individuals have
about a phenomenon (Mohajan, 2018). This study used open-end questionnaires to gather
qualitative data from the participants. Hughes (2012) states that rich qualitative data can be
collected through open-ended questions. This approach allowed participants to express and
clarify their opinions without any limitations. Questionnaires were distributed to respondents
based on availability and willingness to partake in the research. Respondents were given two
weeks to return the questionnaires. The data was collected between July 2020 and October
2020. The target population for this study was registered construction organisations operating
in Lagos State, Nigeria. Purposive sampling was used to select participants from the study’s
target population. This sampling method was adopted because very few construction sites
were operational due to the COVID pandemic. In addition, Grade B organisations, which are
contractors that have extensive experience in project delivery were selected. This category
was selected because they are considerably large organisations, some of their sites were active
and ideally have the resources to invest in developing strategies to curb the spread of COVID-
19 on sites. Only a few organisations could partake in the study. A total of 22 open-ended
questionnaires were distributed; however, only 15 were returned out of which 1 was not
appropriately completed; thus, 14 questionnaires were used for the analysis. Safman and
Sobal (2004) indicated that samples between 10 and 25 should suffice for a qualitative study.
The government COVID-19 regulations necessitated the use of open-ended questionnaires as
it was impractical to conduct face-to-face interviews with the participants and interviews
online proved 8,890. The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The first section
concentrated on respondent’s demographic data (Table 1). The second section comprising
open-ended questions relating to the approach in managing COVID-19 related risk and the
third section is related to the challenges hindering the implementation of the COVID-19 policy
guidelines on sites. White and Marsh (2006) characterise thematic content analysis as a
rigorous approach to analysing documents obtained or generated during research. They
further indicated that thematic content analysis is a research tool used to determine the
presence of keywords or concepts within the text or sets of texts. Therefore, thematic content
analysis was used for this study as it afforded the opportunity to determine essential themes
in relation to risk-mitigating strategy and challenges to implementing COVID-19 safety
measures at construction sites. Based on the responses, essential themes were generated,
which includes risk assessment, policies and guidelines, audit and inspections, reporting and
recording keeping, whilst challenges to managing the spread of COVID-19 were determined.
Data analysis for this study adopted the process suggested by Creswell (2014). The retrieved
questionnaires were screened for analysis, responses received were studied and essential
themes were evolved for discussions.
 Years of
Risk and
Respondents Type of organisation Gender Position experience Registration challenges of
COVID-19
Respondent 1 Building construction works Male Project 20 years NIA
manager
Respondent 2 Building and civil Male Site engineer 18 years NIOB
engineering works
Respondent 3 Building construction works Male CEO 17 years NIA
Respondent 4 Building construction works Male Civil engineer 4 years N/A
Respondent 5 Building and civil Male Project 15 years COREN
engineering works manager
Respondent 6 Building and civil Male Health and 16 years ISPON
engineering works safety officer
Respondent 7 Building construction works Male N/A NA N/A
Respondent 8 Building construction works Male CEO 30 years NIA
Respondent 9 Building and civil Male CEO 18 years COREN
engineering works
Respondent 10 Building construction works Male Project 21 NIQS
manager
Respondent 11 N/A Male Health and 2 N/A
safety officer
Respondent 12 Building construction works Male QS 5 N/A
Respondent 13 Building construction works Female Health and 15 ISPON Table 1.
safety officer The demographic
Respondent 14 Civil engineering and Female Health and 12 ISPON details of the
construction safety officer participants

Analysis and discussion

Profile of respondent
Table 1 presents the demographic data of research participants. The organisations of
respondents were involved in Building Construction works and Building and Civil
Engineering works. It was gathered that construction organisations, which majorly operate in
Building Construction works were eight, whereas four construction organisations specialise in
Building and Civil Engineering works. Table 1 shows that the selected organisations were
registered on grade B. Based on the categorisation of contractors in Nigeria, grade B
construction organisations are fairly large with a sizeable capacity to implement complex
construction projects. In total, 12 of the respondents were male, which is a reflection of the
reality in the construction industry. In total, 10 of the study participants were registered with
their professional bodies. Three of the respondents were registered with the Nigerian Institute
of Architects (NIA) and three with the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), two
were registered with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), one
was registered with the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) and one with the Nigerian
Institute of Quantity Surveying (NIQS), Four of the respondents were not registered with their
professional bodies. The research data suggests that most of the respondents are
professionally informed. This is further established by considering respondents’ position of
responsibility and their years of experience in the construction industry. Three of the
respondents were CEO, three were project managers, four were health and safety officers and
one respondent representing each of the site engineers, civil engineers and quantity surveyors.
Concerning respondents’ years of experience in the construction industry, the findings
revealed that nine of the respondents have been working in the construction industry for not
less than 15 years, two respondents have a minimum of 5 years of experience and another two
JEDT respondents have less than 5 years of experience in the construction industry. The average
number of respondents’ years of experience in the construction industry is 14.8 years. Therefore,
we can infer that respondents had significant years of experience in the construction industry,
which has contributed to gathering robust data.
Table 2 reveals the nature of the project, which participants’ organisation were involved
in during data gathering. Six of the respondents indicated that their organisations were
involved in the construction of new houses. The organisations that currently undertake bridge
and road construction were four, whereas those that were involved in the construction of
the warehouse represent two. Only one organisation was involved in renovation and
maintenance work, which was also the case with the organisation that was involved in the
construction of offices. Obviously, most of the organisations that were represented in this study
were engaged in the construction of new houses.

Approach to managing the risk of COVID-19 on site

The primary purpose of this study is to conduct an enquiry into the approach which
construction organisations in Lagos, Nigeria have adopted to manage the risk and challenges
of COVID-19 on construction sites. Base on the foregoing, respondents were requested to
respond to two questions. The first of these questions, which is addressed in this section
required respondents to state the approach that their organisations have used to manage
COVID-19 related risks. This is discussed under the following headings: risk assessment,
policies and guidelines, audit and inspection and reporting and record-keeping.

Theme 1: Risk assessment

The importance of risk assessment in curtailing the spread of COVID-19 cannot be
overemphasised. Good leadership will recognise the need to implement COVID-19 related risk
assessment measures to prevent the spread of the novel virus. Certainly, assessment of risk
would have financial implications on construction cost (R1), which could discourage
contractors from imbibing risk assessment measures. For example, some of the construction
organisations represented in this study are lacking in risk assessment. This certainly leaves
the health and safety of their workers to chance. On the contrary, it is impressive that an
organisation that undertakes risk assessment before the outbreak of the virus has reviewed its
risk assessment plans to incorporate COVID-19 requirements (R10). This is particularly
important because it is the end product of the risk assessment process that can be used by the
management to develop control strategies for eliminating or mitigating the risks (Samantra
et al., 2017). Lack of risk assessment can appear to be a saving cost for contractors.
Contrariwise, Shakya and Mishra (2019) express that lack of proper risk assessment will lead
to cost overrun, delay in operation and even hazard during the operation. The long-term
implication of avoiding risk assessment is detrimental to any organisation. Renault et al.
(2020) express that it is important for organisations to be prepared to spend the required time,

Current project Frequency (%)

Renovation and maintenance 1 7.1

Construction of new houses 6 42.9
Bridge and road construction 4 28.6
Table 2. Construction of warehouse 2 14.3
Overview of the Construction of offices 1 7.1
current project Total 14 100
money and effort in responding to the organisation identified risks. The preparedness of Risk and
construction organisations to expend required resources in response to identified risks is challenges of
particularly important when the COVID-19 outbreak is ravaging the world. Organisations
represented by R6 and R12 have saddled their health and safety (H&S) officers with the
COVID-19
responsibility of ensuring risk assessment in their organisations. It is remarkable that R6’s
organisation identified COVID-19 related risks and further analyses and evaluates the
associated dangers. R12’s organisation ensured that risk assessment plans are approved
before commencement of work, which is similar to the pre-task risk assessment adopted by an
organisation (R7). The risk assessment practice of these organisations is consistent with the
findings of Ansary and Renault (2018). Construction organisations usually have vehicles that
transport their workers to work in the morning and return them in the evening. During the
outbreak of the pandemic, this welfare arrangement could make workers more vulnerable to
COVID-19 infection, especially when it is not properly managed. The vehicular transportation
necessitated close monitoring of sick workers (R3):
 “Risk assessment is mandatory. Assessment on best practice during the COVID-19
has enabled adequate precautions even though this has increased construction cost”
(R1).
 “COVID-19 risk assessment is really not applicable” (R2).
 “Special care is taken to check sick workers especially due to the fact that workers
are transported in the same vehicle to their destinations” (R3).
 “No risk assessment” (R4).
 “Not applicable” (R5).
 “Our organisation through its H&S officer identify the hazard and COVID-19 related
risk factors that have the potential to cause harm and further analyse and evaluate
the risk associated with the hazard” (R6).
 “Our company has used dynamic pre-task risk assessment” (R7).
 “Not applicable” (R8).
 “Not applicable” (R9).
 “The baseline risk assessment has been reviewed to incorporate COVID-19
requirements. Additional measures have been put in place for tasks/operations
where physical distancing cannot be maintained” (R10).
 “No risk assessment” (R11).
 “The company’s health and safety manager is mandated to present a detailed risk
assessment and job hazard analysis which covers every item of work to be done for
the whole week to the client health and safety officers for approval before
commencement of work for the week” (R12).

Theme 2: Adequate policies and guidelines

Some contractors evolve policies, which guide their operations during the outbreak of the
pandemic. The construction organisations have either aligned themselves with government
regulations on COVID-19 (R6, R7, R9 and R13) or WHO regulations (R8). One of such
regulations is avoiding clusters of people on construction sites (R1, R2 and R3). Sanctions
may be required to enforce the regulative measure of avoiding clusters. People were
accustomed to gathering at a close distance before the outbreak of the virus. The emerging
culture of avoiding clusters could be challenging. An essential strategy that some
JEDT construction organisations have adopted is to prevent workers from eating together.
Workers would usually want to eat together and have some conversations in the process.
Canteens had WHO-compliant sitting arrangements for people who will eat at the canteen.
Thorough implementation and enforcement of these guidelines will help to manage the
spread of the virus. Provision was made for sick people to timely ascertain the nature of
their sickness and manage it accordingly. Pasco et al. (2020) suggest incentives for workers
with underlying conditions. However, management must exercise caution not to focus on
symptoms and abandon important measures, as some persons can be asymptomatic (Lan
et al., 2020). The guidelines adopted by the organisations largely emanated from the WHO
and the special presidential task force on COVID-19. An organisation used the use of policy
statements, which are displayed at conspicuous places in the organisations and distributed
to all staff, sub-contractors and vendors and discussed in meetings. Whilst some of the
organisations have implemented guidelines to help prevent the spread of the virus, some
organisations were unable to clearly communicate the guidelines they have adopted.
Construction organisations must regularly monitor for public health and government
announcements to ensure compliance with the most recent regulations and guidelines
(Raoufi and Fayek, 2020). Okoye et al. (2016) reported that compliance to safety regulations
and policies is not widespread within the industry, which is consistent with the finding of
this study:
 “Workers were restricted from eating together. The canteen had rules on sitting
arrangements and hygiene. Any worker that feels ill would visit the sickbay
immediately” (R1).
 “Workers were educated on avoiding groups during lunchtime and staying safe
after work hours. Guidelines for COVID-19 were communicated adequately” (R2).
 “Policies and guidelines on avoiding clusters especially during breaks were
introduced” (R3).
 “We adopt the use of policy statement in colour and on plasticised paper, which
were displayed at all sites and distributed to all staff, sub-contractors and vendors
and discussed in meetings with a view to staying safe” (R5).
 “Our organisation aligns with the policies and guidelines prescribed by the Nigerian
Government” (R6).
 “We majorly operate with Lagos State Government guideline for building construction
companies” (R7).
 “We abide by the recent WHO guidelines on safety and transmission of COVID-19
rules in public places” (R8).
 “Our organisation strictly comply with COVID-19 policy and guidelines” (R9)
 “Company policies are reviewed and aligned with governmental regulations. For
instance, the company has had to review the requirement that employees who tested
positive, test again before returning to work due to the backlog in both private and
public testing labs” (R13).

Theme 3: Audit and inspection

An essential risk management strategy to curtail the spread of COVID-19 is inspections
undertaken in construction organisations. Inspections can be conducted internally – within
the organisation or externally – through appointed agencies. The study found that inspections
were conducted in some of the construction organisations. It is clear that some organisations
(R4, R6 and R9) conducted their inspections within their organisations, whilst some conducted Risk and
their inspections through external teams – government officials (R9 and R14), health organisations challenges of
(R4) and client’s health and safety officers (R12). Despite the significance of inspections to
mitigating the spread of COVID-19, some respondents expressed that inspections are either not
COVID-19
conducted in their organisations or not effectively conducted. Certainly, regular inspections were
required to be undertaken by designated authorities to ensure compliance with the required
regulations (Yap and Lee, 2020; Nawi et al., 2016). Simpson and Sam (2019) found that some
construction organisations conduct self-auditing and evaluations periodically. Regrettably,
inspections and evaluations were not carried out on many construction sites. Inspections should,
however, be complemented with other strategies, for example, education and sensitisation
(Umeokafor et al., 2020). The irregularities in the conduct of audit and inspection in construction
organisations during the pandemic could be as a result of a number of factors, which include; poor
supervision of the inspection team, inadequate inspection team and inadequate fund. Zhang et al.
(2017) advocated for an integrated inspection approach to improve inspection efficiency in
construction organisations:
 “Our organisation do not do such” (R2).
 “There is no official audit and inspection” (R3).
 “There were periodic inspections from the health organisations” (R4).
 “Audit and inspections are conducted by TWGA” (R5).
 “The organisation audits and inspects frequently to assess overall compliance with
regulations and ensure compliance of tasks with a checklist” (R6).
 “There is site compliance audit and facility inspection” (R7).
 “Not applicable” (R8).
 “Lagos State ministry of safety and Environment has always visited the site to
ensure that we comply with COVID-19 rules and regulations” (R9).
 “Frequency of inspections were being increased during the outbreak of the virus”
(R10).
 “Audit and inspection are not observed” (R11).
 “There are frequent inspections from the client’s health and safety officers during
the work hour and during tools box talk” (R12).
 “It is done in our company but not too effective” (R13).
 “We have a group of people from the government that visit our site and do
inspections on site to make sure things are the way they should be” (R14).

Theme 4: Reporting and record-keeping

Reporting and record keeping by construction organisations is significant to curtailing the
spread of the virus. Organisations that imbibe effective reporting and record keeping can
keep up with the health status of their workers, which helps the employer to take swift
health and safety decisions when necessary. Consequently, information was gathered on
how contractors have been handling reporting and record-keeping during the outbreak of
the novel virus. Participants’ organisations practiced one form of record-keeping or the
other. Beyond record-keeping, some construction organisations impressively instituted a
follow-up plan. A construction organisation insists on refusing sick workers’ entrance to the
site. The practice is consistent with the recommendations of Raoufi and Fayek (2020),
JEDT Simpeh and Amoah (2021), which indicate that anyone who shows symptoms of COVID
should be identified and disallowed from entering the site to mitigate the risk of a possible
spread of the virus. The measure of requesting that workers with symptoms stay home can,
however, be supported by necessary follow-ups to establish the nature of the sickness
through the COVID-19 test. If the person tests positive, it will help the organisation to take
appropriate decisions regarding those that have had contact with the patience in the
organisation. This will considerably help to avoid unnecessary risk and mitigate the spread
of the virus in organisations. An organisation was different in its approach to reporting. The
organisation adopts the quickest available means of reporting. This approach would
expedite reporting time and decision-making. It arguably has an advantage over-reporting
that is characterised by stringent protocol.
 “Adequate health records of workers are always kept in our company” (R1).
 “Our organisation conducts frequent reviews to inform workers on their health
issues and verbal reporting of workers’ health is done, whilst sick workers are told
to stay home” (R3).
 “Medical records of the workers are kept in the company clinic” (R4).
 “All incidents were reported promptly by the quickest available means” (R5).
 “Investigations are always carried out and observations are reported” (R6).
 “Records of sick workers are kept and the worker health is monitored” (R8).
 “Workers must take responsibility for their health by reporting all contact with
presumptuous COVID-19 infected persons” (R10).
 “My company disallowed workers that were sick from entering their organisation”
(R11).

Challenges to managing the spread of COVID-19

As the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the governments, organisations and individuals
have adopted different measures and regulations to control the spread of the virus. However,
because the world has not experienced this kind of disease in a long time, coping with the
disease comes with its challenges. This section, therefore, addresses the challenges to
managing the spread of COVID-19 in construction organisations. Respondents were
required to discuss the challenges that confront their organisation in managing the spread of
COVID-19. The challenges were discussed in terms of awareness and education, PPE and
social distancing. The study found that the low level of awareness and education of workers
is a challenge to the implementation of COVID-19 safety measures. Education will improve
workers’ adherence to COVID-19 standard precautions, as a low level of education is one of
the leading problems resulting in limited safety awareness in the Malaysian construction
industry (Jordan, 2020; Nawi et al., 2016). This can further be associated with poor hygiene
practiced amongst workers (R12). Hardy (2013) opines that workers must have a good
understanding of the dangers associated with their work environment, hence the need to use
measures to create awareness on the dangers of COVID-19 on construction sites. Certain
individuals believe that the virus does not kill black people and some people have the
perception that the virus does not exist (R13). With these perceptions, a number of people
have concluded that COVID-19 is an opportunity for government officials to embezzle
money through different COVID-19 related government interventions (R6). Issues associated
with PPE were found as a challenge to implementing COVID-19 safety measures. Adequacy
and durability of PPE were major PPE-related concerns. Some individuals found the use of
PPE uncomfortable and perceived that PPE negatively impacts their performance. Wearing Risk and
of face mask during construction operations was considered not practicable. Hence, some challenges of
workers refuse to wear it, whilst some have cultivated the habit of removing their face
masks (R10). Face mask was reported to contribute to increasing sweat thereby forming
COVID-19
mist on the goggles, which contributes to fatigue (14). The study found that it was
challenging to imbibe the prescribed social distancing measure on construction sites (R7).
However, with adequate awareness and education on the danger of the virus, much can be
done to ensure compliance with the WHO prescribed working distance (Amoah and Simpeh,
2020). Some construction workers believe that social distancing could not be achieved on site
due to the need to work together (R9) and because the workers did not see a reason to stay
apart from each other (R3). Osunsanmi et al. (2020) state that an effective measure to curtail
the spread of the virus is by maintaining social distancing and avoiding crowded places.
Obviously, some construction organisations did not comply with social distancing measures
of curbing the spread of the virus. Understandably, the nature of construction operations
sometimes requires close working distance, which can become challenging to achieve social
distancing on site. Additional measures can, however, be implemented for a few tasks/
operations where physical distancing cannot be achieved (R10). Besides, contractors can
reduce the number of workers allocated to undertake project tasks. This would certainly
have a negative impact on the welfare of some workers as their services may no longer be
required. The construction industry is labour intensive; therefore, imbibing the practice of
social distancing on site will contribute to loss of productivity with its attendant cost
implications on the clients, contractors and contractors’ employees. Therefore, everyone has
to make a sacrifice to stay safe from COVID-19 infection.

Awareness and education

 “Most workers have a low level of education” (R1).
 “Some of the workers do not have adequate knowledge about the virus” (R4).
 “Many believe that COVID-19 is a scam, an opportunity to make money” (R6).
 “Generally workers believe the virus does not kill the black race, therefore there is
no need for having high hygiene standards” (R9).
 “Some of the workers have poor hygiene practice” (R12).
 “Some workers don’t believe the virus exists and others have a poor attitude
towards their well-being” (P13).

PPE
 “PPE supplied by contractors are not adequate for use. PPE is not good and not
durable” (R1).
 “COVID-19 rules and regulations are not practical. Wearing a nose or face mask
with goggles whilst working is not practicable. When goggles are worn with a
mask, sweating increases, mist begins to form on the goggles and at the end, you get
tired of the work without achieving your task” (P14).
 “Monitoring movement of workers to ensure social distance and ensuring the use of
face mask whilst working is a great challenge” (R7).
 “Workers believe that COVID-19 safety rules are cumbersome and not achievable” (R6).
 ”Workers usually remove nose masks whilst working on site” (R10).
JEDT Social distancing
 “Social distance has been a challenge on site” (R9).
 “Social distancing could not be achieved on site because workers need to work
together” (R1).
 “Social distance is quite difficult to achieve because the workers did not see the
reason to stay apart from each other” (R3).

Conclusion and recommendation

COVID-19 has come to be part of our everyday life. The spread of this “invisible enemy”
amongst humans makes work environments, including that of the construction industry
unsafe. The construction industry is one of the industries that provide most jobs in every
economy. Consequently, the construction sector has significant contributions to society.
Making the construction workers safer from the COVID-19 infection is considered important
for the sustainability of the sector. The foregoing suggests the need to cultivate new ways of
managing the spread of COVID-19 in the industry. This article explored construction
organisations’ risk management approaches and challenges confronting the organisations
in implementing COVID-19 safety measures.
Relative to risk management, the study determined risk assessment, policies and guidelines,
audit and inspection and reporting and record-keeping as essential risk management areas.
Awareness and education, PPE and social distancing were major challenges found inhibiting
COVID-19 safety measures. The study determined that risk assessment was conducted by some
construction organisations, whilst a few organisations were lacking in this regard. The records
of works were kept and some organisations have evolved a follow-up plan for workers that are
reportedly sick. The findings emanating from the study reveals that there is a low level of
COVID-19 awareness. Moreover, there are misconceptions about the disease, which is related to
the low levels of awareness. Inadequate use of PPE and the belief that the virus cannot infect a
black person have the tendency to expose construction practitioners to avoidable risks.
The study recommends that construction stakeholders should develop measures to curtail
the spread of the novel virus through adequate information on COVID-19. The retraining of
construction workers on health and safety is vital. The construction education curriculum
should be revised to include current issues that affect the construction industry. Construction
stakeholders should develop policies and strategies that would promote risk management and
foster compliance to COVID-19 safety measures. The study respondents were limited to
contractors that were registered on group B. Besides, the study records a low sample size and
construction professionals were exclusively considered for data collection. These limitations
make the findings of the study unsuitable for the generality of construction organisations in
Lagos state. However, the research provides useful information to construction stakeholders
on the risk and challenges associated with COVID-19 in construction. Future studies should
consider legal matters that may arise between contractual parties as a result of the outbreak of
the pandemic. Further studies are also required outside the scope of this study in terms of
contractors’ representation and geographical location. This will contribute to enhancing site
management and H&S practices on project sites.

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Corresponding author
Patricia Omega Kukoyi can be contacted at: patsimonomega@yahoo.co.uk

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