Site Supervisors Research Articles

Towards The Elimination of Residential Building Structural Failures Through International Best Implementation Practices in Nigeria

Structural failures and the total collapse of mid-rise residential buildings are common phenomena in Nigeria. The rate at which buildings collapse in Nigeria, the frequency of this occurrence, and the magnitude of the losses which are recorded in terms of lives and properties, are becoming alarming. Such incidents are reaching an unprecedented level and have become a major source of concern, not only to the government at all levels but to all stakeholders involved. This paper identifies and examines structural building regulatory implementation and enforcement practices, focusing on stakeholders’ perceptions of building regulatory enforcement and compliance in Nigeria. Quantitative data were captured via a structured questionnaire survey of architects, builders, and engineers, with valid responses received from 378 (63%), and semi-structured face-to-face interviews with industry professionals from different disciplines, such as structural engineers, heads of building departments, site managers, architects, quantity surveyors, builders and project site supervisors, enabled stakeholders’ perceptions of building regulatory enforcement and compliance to be obtained. Using the software SPSS for descriptive and inferential statistical analysis and Nvivo 10 for the qualitative analysis, the quantitative findings revealed that stakeholders’ perceptions of building regulatory enforcement and compliance are that these are very low and unsatisfactory. The qualitative findings yielded a large amount of multiple-interlocking reasons for the lack of compliance, which were anchored in inadequate project supervision, poverty levels, inadequate regulatory awareness, and inadequate professional experience. The findings emphasise the need for the Nigerian house-building sector to adopt international best regulatory implementation practices in order to eliminate mid-rise residential building structural failures through short-term and long-term initiative measures. The sector should focus on systemic and attitudinal change, implementation through capacity building and team work, double-loop feedback learning, and a continual evaluation of the implementation process with a view towards improving residential building construction regulatory practices in Nigeria.

Lifting capacity prediction model using physical performance measures among construction workers

Manual materials handling is performed in many workplaces and is a significant risk factor for musculoskeletal injuries. The identification of lifting capacity is important to reduce the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries. Lifting capacity is difficult to evaluate at the workplace. Therefore, there is a need to develop an alternate method that is easy and could be performed at the workplace. The study aimed to develop a lifting capacity prediction model for construction workers based on muscle strength and endurance. In this study, 65 construction workers were recruited; their socio-demographic and physical characteristics like core strength and endurance, grip strength, and lower limb flexibility were assessed. The lifting capacity was assessed using progressive isoinertial lifting evaluation. Stepwise multiple linear regression was carried out to develop the prediction model. The study suggested that age, BMI, grip strength, flexibility, prone plank, and trunk lateral flexor endurance tests have significantly influenced lifting capacity. Hence prediction model is developed using these variables. The regression model developed would help in easy estimation of lifting capacity among construction workers, which could be even administered with minimal skills by site supervisors or managers. It might help in the decision-making during pre-placement or return to work evaluations, thereby minimizing the incidence of low back disorders.

Appraisal of Sensor Technology as Innovative Pedagogy in Building Technology for Improving Safety Management of Building Construction Sites in Nigeria

The study appraised sensor technology as innovative pedagogy in building technology for improving safety management of building construction sites in Enugu State, Nigeria. Two purposes and two research questions guided the study. The design was a descriptive survey and the instrument used was a structured questionnaire. The population for the study was 65, comprising of42 Construction managers and 23 Site supervisors from registered construction company residents in Enugu state. Three experts face validated the Instrument and the Cronbach alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire items while 0.89 was obtained. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The study found 13 sensor technologies that can be used for safety management in construction sites in building technology. The findings of the study also revealed that sensor technology is an innovative pedagogy for improving safety management in construction sites. The study, therefore, recommended, among others, that construction managers should adopt the use of sensor technology for safety management in building construction sites, all construction workers should be trained on the use of sensor technology and the curriculum of building technology should be reviewed to accommodate the new innovation.

On-site personal protective equipment signage and use by road construction workers in Ghana: a comparative study of foreign- and locally-owned companies

BackgroundRoad construction work has specific risks and safety issues which have not been adequately addressed in most low- and middle-income countries, especially Africa. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of personal protective equipment (PPE) use during road construction activities by workers in foreign- owned against locally-owned road construction companies in Ghana.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional survey was undertaken during January – March, 2020 to study 389 road construction workers who were actively working on site. They were unobtrusively observed to capture whether or not they wore the appropriate PPE at the time of the survey. The PPE of interest were: hard hat, goggles, shoes, nose masks, hearing protection, gloves and reflective vests/apparel. On-site posted PPE signage was also checked.ResultsMajority of workers were males (96.9%) and labourers (53.5%). Similar numbers of workers in locally-owned (195) and foreign-owned (194) companies were studied. Use of PPE varied considerably by type: shoes (78.7%), reflective vest (44.5%), gloves (30.6%), hard hat (27.0%), nose mask (17.2%), goggles (11.3%) and hearing protection (10.8%). For all types of PPE, use was higher for workers in foreign-owned companies compared with locally-owned companies: goggles (Odds ratio [OR] 55.2), hearing protection (OR 52.0), gloves (OR 23.7), hard hat (OR 20.2), nose mask (OR 17.8), reflective vest (OR 5.3) and shoes (OR 4.1), (p<0.001 for all ORs). No site had any signage to promote PPE use.ConclusionsMajority of workers used shoes. Less than half of workers used other types of PPE and use of some types (goggles and hearing protection) was minimal. Workers in foreign-owned companies were significantly more likely to use all the seven types of PPE than locally-owned companies. Although there is still room for improvement in foreign-owned companies, locally-owned companies should be able to attain similar PPE use to that in foreign-owned companies. Necessary PPE should be provided and site supervisors should encourage workers to wear PPE when on site.

Triggers of Delays in International Projects Using Engineering Procurement and Construction Delivery Methods in the Belt and Road Initiative: Case Study of a High-Speed Railway Projects

Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been put in practice by the Chinese government, several High-Speed Railways (HSR) have been built by Chinese Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) firms. However, many delays have created severe detrimental consequences on the progress of most HSR projects. This study sought to explore the essence of the recurring triggers of delays in international EPC HSR projects under the BRI, and a structured questionnaire survey approach was applied to compile the first-hand dataset from Chinese EPC firms working for BRI infrastructure projects. The data were evaluated, and the Relative Importance Index (RII) was adopted to assess the magnitude of the important delay triggers. The findings suggest that HSR projects are still susceptible to unavoidable delays in global construction infrastructure projects. In the engineering phase, improper management of the design, unsustainable land acquisition, and insufficient use of EPC joint venture are the salient trigger of delays. In the procurement phase, the leading causes of unsuitable procurement, undervalued procurement cost, inefficient logistics in labor and materials, improper planning, unqualified site supervisors, inefficient technical standard management, and inefficient constant payment terms are likely to trigger delays in the construction phase HSR projects. Five critical groups of delay factors are identified by this study, which has an essential primary contribution to the body of knowledge and is helpful to EPC contractors working for HSR projects under BRI.

Challenges influencing the safety of migrant workers in the construction industry: A qualitative study in Italy, Spain, and the UK

The construction industry is notoriously high risk for accidents, injuries, and deaths, particularly for non-national or migrant workers, who comprise a significant proportion of the workforce. This paper presents an international, qualitative study focused on exploring the challenges which influence the safety of migrant construction workers in Italy, Spain, and the UK. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, we formulated two research questions about the challenges relating to safety that migrant workers face and the challenges to safety training effectively improving migrant workers’ safety behaviours. We present our template analysis of semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 88 participants from four occupational groups across all three countries. This identified commonalities and differences in interpretations of the primary challenges to migrant workers’ safety, amongst participants from the various occupational groups (workers, site supervisors, safety trainers and safety experts) in Italy, Spain, and the UK. These were associated with: increased use of subcontractors; dilution of safety standards down the supply chain; pressure to breach safety regulations on site; differing safety-related attitudes and behaviours due to national cultural differences, language barriers and issues relating to training (provision, delivery, language, content and transfer). Finally, we summarise the contributions and limitations of our study, arguing further interventions related to safety training are needed, along with ethnographic studies to explore how both macro-level and contextual factors affect safety outcomes for migrant construction workers.

The Project Communication and Trust Nexus as an Antecedents of Project Success: Moderating Role of Authentic Leadership

The present study aims to investigate the impact of project communication on project success with the mediating role of trust and the moderating role of authentic leadership. The sample is drawn using a convenient sampling technique. The data is collected through the online survey method due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from project-based construction companies of Pakistan ( n = 245). The analyses are established using SPSS v.25 and AMOS v.23 software to test hypotheses. The results indicate that project communication is positively associated with project success; trust mediates the relationship between project communication and project success. Similarly, results also confirm that the moderating role of authentic leadership is strengthening the relationship between project communication and trust. This research is beneficial for project managers, site supervisors, and leaders, since project managers need to develop communication and trust between the employees as communication, leads to the successful completion of projects and achievement of goals. Managers should connect the employees so that the workflow does not get disturbed. Lack of communication can badly affect the success of the project and lead it toward failure. The manager or work supervisor needs to keep all the employees bound together so that they perform effectively.

The Validity and Reliability of Counseling Internship Supervision Training Module among Academic Supervisors and Site Supervisors

This study aims to develop theCounseling Internship Supervision Training Module that can benefit the academic supervisors at public universities. This training module is one of the efforts in increasing academic supervisors’ efficacy in the theoretical and skill aspects in counseling supervision. This module is developed based on a systematic supervision model namely theSystem Approach to Supervision (SAS) by Holloway (1995). This module contains 5 stages of supervision and they comprise of 16 activities. Session 1: Introduction, Session 2: Pre-supervision Skills, Session 3: Supervision Process, Session 4: Supervision Evaluationand Session 5: Post-Supervision Skills and Actions. This study is carried out to test the validity and reliability of theCounseling Internship Supervision Training Module. A total of 10 assessors for the module validity comprises of academic supervisors at the public universities such as UPSI, UM, UPM and UKM who are also lecturers in the counseling field. Meanwhile to measure the module’s reliability, a total of 30 school counselors inBatang Padang were involved as the respondents of the study. The finding with regard to the module’s validity shows that the minimum percentage value is 82 percent for the statement “The module content can be implemented following the steps determined”and the statement “the module content can increase the supervisor’s character more effectively”. The maximum percentage is 87 percent for the statement “this module content can fulfill the target population”. Meanwhile, for the reliability coefficient finding, the alphaCronbachCounseling Internship Supervision Training Module on the 30 school counselors in the district ofBatang Padang is high, which is 0.984. This study implication shows that this module can serve as the teaching module to supervisors to train them to become effective supervisors.

Going Virtual: The Impact of COVID-19 on Internships in Tourism, Events, and Hospitality Education

ABSTRACT This study explored virtual internship practices and the adaptation to changes brought by the current COVID-19 pandemic crisis by interviewing a small group of interns and site supervisors to understand how virtual internships were practiced in the wake of COVID-19. The findings of the study provided several insights into virtual internships. Overall, just like the conventional fieldwork, well-planned and designed virtual internships could be an empowering learning experience that allows students to capitalize on the practical strengths while applying classroom learning experiences to actual management situations. The study also discussed the advantages and challenges of virtual internships perceived by the student interns. The implications of the study and suggestions for future research were addressed.

Addressing behavioural safety concerns on Qatari Mega projects

This study explores the behavioural safety measures for addressing accidents on Qatar mega projects which are infamous for their high rates of accidents and fatality. Using extant literature and brainstorming as sources of preliminary information, questionnaire was used for collecting quantitative data, which was analysed using reliability analysis and exploratory factor analysis.The finding suggests that there is a low level of behavioural safety awareness among the construction workers due to their lack of adequate safety knowledge, with the rate of accident exacerbated by use of improper safety gears or improper use of such gears. Putting production ahead of safety, due to urgency and timeliness of the projects, engenders poor disposition to safety among site workers. To turn the tides on the high rates of accidents and fatality, more proactive approaches to safety management is essential for engendering behavioural safety among the operatives. Such measures include enhanced communication and feedback on safety practices, increased use of safety signs to raise awareness, education and regular observation and appraisal of the employees. A key requisite for achieving a positive behavioural safety outcome is an increased commitment of the management team and the site supervisors who are expected to implement a robust safety policy as well as the carrot and stick approach for engendering positive safety behaviour.With behavioural safety management recognised as an effective approach for mitigating health and safety concerns on construction sites, this study suggests measures for mitigating unsafe behaviours, thereby reducing accidents and fatalities on the Qatari Mega projects.

Risk assessment for occupational health and safety of Soekarno-Hatta international airport accessibility project through HIRARC method

Statistic based on BPJS data in 2019 have shown that the number of work accident recorded 77.295 cases and the construction sector is still the highest contributor to work accident cases in comparison to other sectors. Soekarno-Hatta International Airport accessibility project connects the northern perimeter road with the southern perimeter road with a total length of 4 km. This study focuses on the flyover construction, considering that is the highest risk on construction activities. Risk assessment tool on this research using HIRARC method. In general, there are three major steps of HIRARC; hazard identification, risk assessment and risk control. Identifying hazard is a process to determine the risks of hazards that occure in construction work. Assessing risk of construction work calculated using likelihood and severity index. Then, the result of hazard identification and risk assessment, risk control are taken to mitigate the hazard risk. This study instrument used interviews and observations both used risk assessment sheet which filled by safety officers, safety supervisors, site engineers and site supervisors. There were 45 hazards identified for five construction work which are, (i) survey (ii) land clearing, (iii) excavation work, (iv) pilling work, and (v) bored pile work. The conclusion that can be drawn is that there are seven extreme risk at this project, i.e. (i) Workers fall into lake; (ii) Workers get hit by road users; (iii) The operator is exhausted; (iv) Crane wire rope failure; (v) Vibro hummer failure; (vi) Workers pinched by bracket formwork and (vii)Workers injured by pieces concrete pile cutting.

Development and Initial Validation of the Supervision Competencies Scale (SCS)

Supervision is an important component of counselor development; however, limited research exists on evaluating supervision. There is also a lack of comprehensive, psychometrically strong assessments to measure supervision competencies. In this study we focused on the development of the Supervision Competencies Scale (SCS), an assessment designed to measure a supervisor’s competence. There were 416 counseling supervisors, including 194 faculty members, 111 practitioners, 33 students, 22 administrators, 14 site supervisors, 32 that reported other, and 10 that did not indicate a position. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis and found a four-factor structure (Factor 1: Supervision Skills; Factor 2: Supervision Laws and Ethics; Factor 3: Supervision Modalities; Factor 4: Supervision Knowledge) with 53 items. The SCS had strong internal consistency (Total = .97, subscales ranged from .8—.958). Educators, trainers, supervisors, and researchers may use the SCS in various capacities to promote the development of supervision competencies.

Exploring the Program-Site Alliance: Building Partnerships Between Counseling Programs and Fieldwork Sites

Practicum and internship experiences are critical in students’ professional development in counselor education programs, and the dynamics that occur between programs and field sites can impact these experiences. A program-site alliance is a measure of how well these entities work together. Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, the authors interviewed five site supervisors and found five themes (Site Supervisor Role, Communication Within the Program-Site Alliance, Independent Mutualism, Regulated Support, and Inconsistency Between Program-Site Alliance) capturing the essence of the program-site relationship. The authors explore implications for practice and future research.

Supervision Experiences of School Counselors-in-Training: An Interpretative Phenomenological Study

School counselors-in-training receive university and site supervision during their field experiences. University supervision may be provided by a faculty member or doctoral student who lacks school counseling experience. School counselors as site supervisors may not be trained to supervise. Further, the multiple systems may have differing expectations for supervisees. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to explore the lived experiences of eight master’s level school counselors-in-training with supervision. The four super-ordinate themes included: impact of counselor education program, supervisor characteristics, significance of feedback, and characteristics of the supervisee. Findings suggested programmatic changes counselor educators can make to strengthen student preparation.

Factors Influencing Intern Performance and Employability in Sport Management: A Voice from Internship Site Supervisors

Recent literature refers to internships as one of the most impactful aspects of an academic degree program and a catalyst for developing necessary employability skills (Narayanan, Olk, &amp; Fukami, 2010; Shoenfelt, Stone, &amp; Kottke, 2013). The purpose of this study was to utilize internship site supervisor evaluations to assess interns’ skills, knowledge, and ability as a means of gaining a greater understanding of employability in the sport industry. A total of 420 usable, final supervisor evaluations were gathered from the academic years 2012-2013 through 2018-2019. Interns’ quality of work ( = .49, p &lt; .001) was the most important predictor in explaining their performance as an intern, followed by their attitude ( = .20, p &lt; .001), dependability ( = .12, p = .002), quality of oral communication ( = .10, p &lt; .001) and maturity ( = .07, p = .015). Similarly, interns’ quality of work ( = .37, p &lt; .001) was the most important predictor for their employability, followed by attitude ( = .24, p &lt; .001), quality of oral communication ( = .15, p &lt; .001) and quality of writing ( = .09, p = .020). Students, higher education institutions and industry practitioners are in a constant flux between what is offered within the sport management curriculum and what is required by the sport industry (Emery et al., 2012). Other scholars (e.g., de Schepper et al., 2020) also found this as a challenging balance between developing well-rounded graduates and providing appropriate sport management job opportunities.

Supervisor's capability and aptitude to supervise Health and Safety (H&amp;S) induction training to site workforces: A case study of the construction industry of Pakistan

Health and Safety (H&amp;S) is a professional approach to substitute harmless and vigorous work conditions for any industry. The construction industry is of utmost importance because it is associated with elevated accident rates compared to the other sectors. To some extent, cultural progression is also reliant on communication among all the groups inside a corporation. Effective communication happens in a construction corporation, among upper management and the employees arbitrated by the supervisors. Therefore, if the construction supervisor's capabilities are ignored, the plans to progress the satisfactory H&amp;S culture may be unsuccessful. The aptitude for conducting H&amp;S induction training to employees is one of the construction supervisor's abilities, and in developing countries, the supervisor's capabilities are ignored. Moreover, the organization's eagerness on H&amp;S, which corresponds to the induction training, is relatively less. The current research reports an examination to analyze how the supervisors possess H&amp;S capabilities and skills to oversee site H&amp;S induction training to workforces successfully. For the analysis, Pakistan's construction industry was targeted, and numerous construction firms were contacted in this regard. The data for the intended objective was accumulated through talks and surveys with site supervisors in construction companies of various extents from all over Pakistan. The outcomes exposed insufficient training, an absence of management dedication, and an inadequate familiarity or usage of visual/audio communication assistance by construction companies in Pakistan. Thus, it is suggested that there is a need for the supervisors to understand the use of multilingual skills and current technologies to assist valuable site H&amp;S induction training that can progress a path towards an optimistic H&amp;S culture.

Occupational Health and Safety Practices in Cape Coast Metropolis

Abstract The rate of construction accidents in the Ghanaian construction industry is not encouraging. The study sought to identify the factors affecting the effective health and safety practices in the construction industry within the Cape Coast Metropolis. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the construction firms and ‘Yamane formula’ to arrive at the number of respondents (44) for the study. Structured questionnaires were distributed among site engineers, site supervisors, safety officers, quantity surveyors, foremen, chief masons and chief carpenters. Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the data analysis and results were presented in a form of descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that the level of health and safety practices within the Metropolis was high and the factors that affected the implementation of health and safety programmes were severe among the firms. Few of the company’s health and safety programmes were effective and this calls for the strengthenig of the construction sector policy by the ministries responsible for implementation.

Developing key indicators for site supervisors’ task performance in construction firms

The task performance level of site supervisors on construction sites has a great impact on the overall project performance. Yet, attention has been towards project performance rather than site supervisors’ task performance. The purpose of this study is to develop key indicators for measuring the task performance of site supervisors in construction firms. A mixed method approach was adopted with the use of a questionnaire and interview. The population for this study consists of construction site supervisors. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The result of the analysis was further validated using an in-depth interview method. The result shows that the task performance of site supervisors can be measured using 13 key indicators, which can be broadly categorised as job knowledge, job skills, cognitive ability and task proficiency. Construction firms should adopt the 13 task performance indicators developed in this study as policy and practice in their organisation for performance appraisal of their site supervisors. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on task performance by developing key task performance indicators for measuring the behavioural performance of site supervisors.

A Creative Supervision Approach for School Counselors Supervising Interns

ABSTRACT The Ethical Standards of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) make it clear that school counselor site supervisors of interns should seek out ongoing education in the area of supervision. Readers of this manuscript will learn a creative approach, using both the School Counselor Supervision Model and Bibliosupervision, to help in the supervising of their interns while also meeting the mandate of ASCA’s Ethical Standards. Practical steps and scenario examples are provided.

The Impact of Supervisory Styles on Satisfaction of Undergraduate Counselling Interns in Malaysia

Clinical experience in counsellor education would not be possible without the kind support of our site supervisors. Day-to-day guidance, advice, and real understanding given to undergraduate students are essential in helping students develop and grow into competent counsellors during their internships. Supervisors play different roles and styles during the supervision process. Thus, this study aimed to assess student perceptions of counsellors' supervisory styles and examine what impact those styles have on the satisfaction of undergraduate counselling interns. This study is quantitative, where a total of 138 counselling interns were selected from four public universities in Malaysia. The results showed that in the Malaysian backdrop, four supervisory styles have a major relationship with supervisory satisfaction, and they are as follows: directive teacher, supportive teacher, counsellor, and delegating colleague (consultant) styles respectively. This study has also filled the knowledge gap existing in the realm of counselling supervisory styles. Furthermore, the newly modified instruments of supervisory styles inventory may be applied to the undergraduate level interns. In practice, this helps supervisors to enhance the supervision process. The undergraduate counselling interns mostly are satisfied with supportive supervisory style. In this regard, supervisors or counsellor educators may find the most functional and appropriate style that suits their interns.&#x0D; Keywords: principal supervisory, satisfaction, supervisor, supervisory style, undergraduate counselling interns