ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5018-3330
Current Organisations
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
,
The University of Hong Kong
,
Massey University
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Publications
Relationships among Safety Climate, Safety Behavior, and Safety Outcomes for Ethnic Minority Construction Workers
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 09-03-2018
Public Private Partnerships
Publisher: Routledge
Date: 16-09-2015
The challenges of adopting new engineering contract: a Hong Kong study
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 31-07-2019
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-02-2018-0055
Abstract: Project delays and cost over-runs are few common major problems arising from conventional contracts. To overcome these issues, the Hong Kong Government has been practicing the use of the New Engineering Contract (NEC) forms in several public works projects. However, despite the successful outcomes and the positive signs of adopting NEC, it appears that NEC forms of contracts are not widely adopted in the Hong Kong construction industry even after 25 years of their first introduction. The purpose of this paper is to identify the challenges and barriers for not implementing NEC widely in Hong Kong. Based on a questionnaire survey data collected from 45 senior industry professionals, and six semi-structured interviews, the study evaluated the perceptions of construction professionals as to why NEC is still not popular in the industry and reported the relative importance of challenges in the implementation of NEC in Hong Kong. The results reveal that “People are not willing to change,” “Limited number of trained professionals” and “Insufficient case law and adjudication experience” are the most significant challenges and barriers in adopting NEC. These findings are also supported by the opinions of construction professionals through semi-structured interviews. The findings are relevant and would benefit to the industry stakeholders for adopting NEC contracts by informing them of the most significant challenges so that proper strategies may be devised to overcoming them for early contractors’ involvement, controlling cost and time overruns in infrastructure projects. The empirical evidence of the study provides an insight into the challenges faced by the construction industry of Hong Kong. NEC form of contract is the way forward in order to create a better working environment conducive for all the parties that would result in better construction project performance and productivity.
Investigating ethnic minorities' perceptions of safety climate in the construction industry
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSR.2017.08.006
Abstract: An increasing number of ethnic minorities (EMs) have been employed in the construction industry to alleviate severe labor shortages in many countries. Unfortunately, statistics show that EMs have higher fatal and non-fatal occupational injury rates than their local counterparts. However, EMs are often underrepresented in safety climate (SC) research as they are difficult to reach and gauge their perception. A positive relationship has been widely found between SC and safety performance. Understanding the safety perceptions of EMs helps to reduce injuries and improve their safety performance. Based on a s le of 320 EMs from 20 companies in the construction industry, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were used to identify the SC factors of EMs, and validate the extracted factors, respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance was undertaken to examine mean differences in perceptions of SC by personal characteristics. Three SC factors for EMs encapsulating 16 variables were identified through EFA. The hypothesized CFA model for a three-factor structure derived from EFA showed a satisfactory goodness-of-fit, composite reliability, and construct validity. Three SC factors were identified, namely: (a) safety management commitment, safety resources, and safety communication (b) employee's involvement and workmate's influence and (c) perception of safety rules, procedures and risks. The perceptions of SC differed significantly by nationality, marital status, the number of family members supported, and drinking habit. This study reveals the perception of EMs toward SC. The findings highlight the areas for safety improvement and provide leading indicators for safety performance of EMs. The findings are also enlightening for countries with a number of EMs, such as the United Sates, the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and the Middle East.
Strategies for Improving Safety and Health of Ethnic Minority Construction Workers
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 09-2016
An updated survey of factors influencing property valuation accuracy in Australia
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 15-02-2021
Abstract: This study updates and extends the current work on the issue of accuracy of property valuation. The paper investigates the factors that contribute to property valuation inaccuracy and examines different strategies to achieve greater accuracy in practice. An online questionnaire was designed and administered on the Australian Property Institute (API) registered valuers, attempting to examine their perceptions on the current state of valuation accuracy in Australia. The variables/statements from responses are ranked overall and compared for differences by the characteristics of respondents. Using mean rating point, the survey ranked three factors inexperience valuers, the selection, interpretation and use of comparable evidence in property valuation exercise and the complexity of the subject property in terms of design, age, material specification and state of repairs as the most significant factors currently affecting valuation inaccuracy. The results of a Chi-square test did not, however, show a significant statistical relationship between respondents' profile and the perception on the comparative importance of the factors identified. Except for valuers' age and inexperience valuers and valuers' educational qualification and inexperience valuers and the selection, interpretation and use of comparable evidence in property valuation exercise. Also, the three highly ranked strategies for reducing the level of inaccuracy are: developing a global mindset, use of advanced methodology and training valuers on market forecasting skills. In order for valuers to provide state-of-the-art service to the public and to remain relevant, there is a need to accurately and reliably estimate valuation figures. Hence, the strategies highlighted in this study could be considered in a bid to reduce property valuation inaccuracy in practice. This study provides an updated overview of the issue of property valuation inaccuracy in the Australia valuation practice and examines the strategies to reduce it.
Change negotiation in public-private partnership projects through output specifications: an experimental approach based on game theory
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 03-04-2014
An exploratory study of safety communication networks of ethnic minority crews in the Hong Kong construction industry
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-08-2020
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-07-2019-0368
Abstract: Previous studies have highlighted that communication barrier was one of the major safety problems faced by ethnic minority (EM) workers. This study aims to model the predominant safety communication networks of EM crews and explore the relationships among safety communication networks, in idual attributes, safety climate, near misses and injuries of EM crews. Case studies were conducted with EM crews in the Hong Kong construction industry. Demographic attribute, network, safety climate and accidents data were collected through questionnaires and analyzed by a combination of social network analysis (SNA), cross-case comparison and nonparametric tests. The results revealed that language proficiency, network density and level of reciprocity were contributing factors of distinguishing high and low safety performing EM crews. EM management received more safety information from EM workers than local management. The centrality of EM workers was significantly related to their age, the perceived priority of safety and language ability. The research findings regarding the impact of safety communication network characteristics on the safety performance of EM crews provides insights to employers on how to cultivate effective safety communication patterns within EM crews that can lead to better safety performance. The connections between personal attributes and their positions in safety communication networks could help the employers identify the EM workers who are positioned on edges of networks and need more attention. This study contributes to knowledge by enriching the limited research on analyzing safety communication of small construction crews using SNA and expanding the research object to EM construction crews in the literature, who are more vulnerable to construction accidents. This research also extends the existing body of knowledge from studies mainly carried out in Western culture to Eastern culture. Although safety communication has been regarded as important for EM workers, there is a lack of quantitative analysis on this at a crew level. The present study provides empirical research to reveal authentic safety communication networks and their connections with safety performance and personal attributes.
Evaluating the Safety Climate of Ethnic Minority Construction Workers in Hong Kong
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)
Date: 10-2017
A model framework of output specifications for hospital PPP/PFI projects
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 18-10-2013
Abstract: – Social infrastructure projects such as hospitals are increasingly being procured through public private partnerships (PPP). Due to their complex nature and very high operational requirements, these healthcare projects need special attention in developing robust output specifications at the early procurement stage. The purpose of this paper is to present a model framework of output specifications for adoption by public sector clients in jurisdictions planning to develop hospital PPP/PFI (Private Finance Initiative) projects. – The research is based on an in-depth analysis of best practices from standard and s le project output specification documents used in Australia and the UK for completed hospital projects, reinforced by interviews with key stakeholders in the two countries. – Drafting output specifications for hospital PPP projects is perceived to be a difficult and challenging task due to the complexity and changing needs brought about by evolving health policy, technology and medical advancement. The overarching target of preparing good output specification is to achieve value for money, innovation, risk transfer (including catering for changes), whole life asset performance and establishing performance criteria to link up with the payment mechanism. – The proposed framework is built up from public sector requirements on the physical asset, operational services provided by the private sector, with links to payment mechanism and performance evaluation. It also addresses change mechanism as well as conditions upon hand-over back to the public sector. – Unlike traditional projects which are procured using prescriptive specifications, PPP/PFI projects are procured using performance based output specifications. This paper provides the foundation and a model framework for preparing comprehensive output specifications based on best practices in Australia and the UK, using hospital as the contextual background.
Occupational safety and health performance in the Pakistani construction industry: stakeholders' perspective
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 28-01-2016
Different grades and different green premiums: a cross sectional analysis of a green certification scheme
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 09-2020
Critical success criteria for public-private partnership projects: international experts’ opinion
Publisher: Vilnius Gediminas Technical University
Date: 02-01-2017
Construction safety and health problems of ethnic minority workers in Hong Kong
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 20-11-2017
DOI: 10.1108/ECAM-09-2015-0143
Abstract: With increasing employment of ethnic minority (EM) workers from different nationalities to mitigate the growing demand for a construction workforce, the safety and health problems of these workers have become a significant concern. The purpose of this paper is to identify and rank according to severity the safety and health-related problems confronted by EM construction workers. Grounded theory approach was employed to construct the main categories and subcategories of the construction safety and health problems of EM workers. A two-round Delphi survey of 18 experts, who are highly experienced in managing EM workers, was conducted to rank the relative severity of the identified safety and health problems. A total of 14 subcategories and 4 categories of construction safety and health problems of EM workers were identified. Among the 14 subcategories, the most urgent and serious ones were insufficient safety materials and training in their native language, insufficient safety staff from EM origin, and safety communication barriers. In addition, safety and health problems at the corporate and governmental levels are also worth paying attention. This study contributes to the update on the existing body of knowledge on safety and health problems encountered by EM construction workers and revelation of their peculiar situation in Hong Kong. Findings of the study will be of value to various stakeholders in formulating safety and health measures for EM construction workers.
Improving Safety Communication of Ethnic Minorities in the Construction Industry of Hong Kong
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
Date: 03-11-2014
Related Organisations
Related Funding Activities
No related grants have been discovered for Arshad Javed.