Coping with the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploration of the Strategies Adopted by Construction Firms

Purpose: The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has tested the resilience of the construction industry, putting the safety of workers and overall businesses at risk. This study explores the different strategies adopted by construction companies to protect the health and wellbeing of employees, security of the construction sites and projects, and keep the overall business operational amid Covid-19 pandemic. Design/Methodology: A preliminary study that involves field study and survey research was used to collect data for the study. The results from the preliminary analysis served as inputs for constructing the questionnaire, which was analyzed using descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis and reliability analysis. Findings: The results reveal that the key underlying measures put in place by construction businesses include restricted site access, support bubbling of office and site staff, enhanced hygiene and social distancing protocol, contract risk identification and mitigation, self-isolation measures and heightened construction site safety. Along with a further discussion of the underlying measures, the top-rated strategies that were adopted by construction firms are also discussed in the paper. Originality/Value: As many construction companies remained opened handling essential projects amid the pandemic, the study presents the effective and efficient strategies that were used in ploughing through the trying times. This study provides the opportunity for construction companies that escaped early impacts of Covid-19 due to site closure and policy makers to learn from the strategies adopted by construction companies that were operational amid the pandemic.