The design coordination role at the pre-construction stage of construction projects

The importance of the concept of prevention through design (PtD) to the alleviation of the problem of poor health and safety (H&S) management in the construction industry is widely acknowledged. It has been adopted in the regulatory framework for H&S in the UK construction industry through the Construction Design and Management Regulations 2015 (CDM 2015) which place on the project client obligations with emphasis on coordination of H&S at the pre-construction stage of the project by a client-appointed ‘Principal Designer’ (PD). Unfortunately, research into the implementation of CDM 2015 into actual practice at the pre-construction stage has been patchy. The paper reports, with respect to the PD role, on part of research undertaken to respond to this gap. It involved surveys of clients and practitioners via fourteen focus group discussion sessions with over eighty participants to develop knowledge and understanding of the PD role. The research issues included: appointments to the role; structures for discharge of the role; day-to-day functions of the PD; remuneration arrangements; and common challenges regarding the PD

Prevention through design: conceptual models for the assessment of a principal designer’s skills, knowledge and experience

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Emerald in Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-07-2020-0278 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Purpose - The prevention through design (PtD) initiative places a duty on designers to originate designs that are inherently safe for construction, maintenance, occupation and demolition. In the UK, legislation has been introduced creating a new statutory role called the Principal Designer (PD) to ensure that PtD occurs during the design process. In order to realize this objective, Principal Designers under the Regulations must have appropriate skills, knowledge and experience (SKE) of occupational safety and health (OSH) risks as they relate to construction products. However, there is a paucity of knowledge, in the extant literature and in practice, regarding what specifically constitutes Principal Designers’ skills, knowledge and experience of PtD as well as how to measure same. Design/Methodology/Approach – The study undertook a systematic review of meanings of skills, knowledge and experience, and carried out content analyses to provide robust conceptualizations of the constructs skill, knowledge and experience. This underpinned the development of nomological networks to operationalize the constructs skills, knowledge and experience in respect of Principal Designers’ ability to ensure PtD. Results – Principal Designers’ skills, knowledge and experience of PtD are presented as multi-dimensional constructs that can be operationalized at different levels of specificity in three theoretical models. Practical implications – The models indicated in this study can assist project clients to clarify the PtD skills, knowledge and experience of prospective Principal Designers in the procurement process. Correspondingly, Principal Designers can look to these frameworks to identify their skills, knowledge and experience gaps and take steps to address them. Originality/Value – This study contributes to the PtD literature by providing theoretical frameworks to clarify the PtD skills, knowledge and experience of Principal Designers. The study provides a basis for future research to empirically test the attributes of these as they relate to Principal Designers’ competence to ensure PtD

Supplier integration, operational capability and firm performance: an investigation in an emerging economy environment

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Production Planning and Control on 12/12/2019, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2019.1700570 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The literature on supplier integration’s (SI) impact on firm performance is intertwined with mixed findings in terms of definitional differences, study context, specific integration components, and the types of relationships examined. This study contributes to the supplier integration and firm performance (SI-FP) literature by investigating how and when supplier integration influences firm performance. Drawing on the relational view, the resource-based view, and the Dynamics Capability theories, we suggest that improvements in firm performance from the supplier integration perspective are dependent on gains in operational capabilities. We test this dependency with survey data from firms in Ghana, a developing economy. The results show positive significant relationships between supplier integration and competitive operational capabilities and between supplier integration and firm performance. Our results highlight the importance for managers in developing economies and elsewhere to improve their firms’ operational capabilities and competitiveness by investing in supplier integration. We also discuss implications of these findings for research.Published versio

Performance Barriers for Coordination of Health and Safety during the Preconstruction Phase of Construction Projects

The effectiveness of the prevention through design (PtD) approach to the management of health and safety (H&S) risks on construction sites is widely acknowledged. This approach underlies the construction, design, and management (CDM) Regulations in the United Kingdom that provide for a Principal Designer (PD) role with a statutory duty to plan, manage, and monitor the preconstruction phase of projects and to coordinate matters of H&S during that phase. Although there is a growing body of research literature on PtD practice, there is a gap in the general issue of the practical implementation of the CDM Regulations in general and the performance of the PD in particular. The purpose of this paper is to report research undertaken with the aim of plugging this gap. The part examined concerns the challenges that beset the performance of the PD role and the drivers behind such barriers. A qualitative research design was adopted using, for data collection, 14 focus group discussion sessions involving 89 participants with direct experience of practical implementation of the regulations. The research uncovered three broad categories of barriers to the performance of the PD role: inadequacies in the client’s general approach to its duties; supply chain fragmentation and insurance challenges; and performance-related challenges stemming from limitations in PD technical competence and interpersonal skills. The research is the first study focused on the H&S risk management processes and the organizational and operational barriers to effective management and coordination of H&S matters by PDs. The research outcomes are of obvious relevance to H&S management practice in not only the United Kingdom but also European Union countries and other countries with similar regulations. As management of design H&S risks at the preconstruction stage is an inherent feature of the PtD concept, they could also inform PtD practice with respect to coordination of the work of the different design specialisms involved

Prevention through design: clients’ pre-construction health and safety arrangements

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in Arezes P.M., Boring R.L. (eds) Advances in Safety Management and Human Performance. AHFE 2021 on 04/07/2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80288-2_32 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.Proactive management of health and safety risk often minimises ill-health, injuries and fatalities on projects. Hence, in some jurisdictions like the UK, statutory duties are placed on project Clients to make suitable arrangements for projects to be carried out without risk to health and safety. This study surveys Clients and practitioners in the UK construction industry in focus group workshops to establish seven dominant practices being employed by Clients in response to this obligation under the health and safety Regulations.Published versio

Gender roles and challenges of village chicken keeping among farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria.

Production of village chickens is largely in the hands of the rural farm families in Enugu State, Nigeria. Local chicken keeping has been neglected by research and development. This affects women more than men, and may further limit the participation of women in village chicken keeping. Gender roles and challenges faced by village chicken farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria were examined. Multistage sampling technique was utilized in selecting 100 respondents. Structured interview schedule and observations were used in collecting the data for the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage and mean scores were used in analyzing the data. The majority (93.0%) of the respondents were females. Construction of chicken house was carried out by men; while women were involved in feeding, disease control and marketing of chickens. Perceived challenges to village chicken keeping include: diseases (=2.98), poor growth rate (=2.94), predators (=2.94), high mortality (=2.56), inadequate veterinary services (=2.33) and inadequate extension services (=2.26). Provision of adequate housing facilities and mounting of vaccination and treatment campaigns are essential in reducing mortalities in village chicken