Influence of Leadership Behaviour on the Health and Safety Performance in the United Arab Emirates Construction Industry

The study aimed to determine the influence of leadership behaviour on the health and safety performance in the United Arab Emirates Construction Industry was studied by this research. Construction is by far the largest industry in the UAE and the maintenance of health and safety standards that are in line with the current mandates of UAE health and safety standards are required. This ensures the safety of workers and all other project stakeholders. In addition, accident-free sites result in saving for the projects as savings will increase with no cost of accidents. Questionnaires were prepared targeting construction project leaders, in addition to construction workers at various sites in the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, also projects of different sizes were visited. Construction project leaders revealed that they do maintain current health and safety plans and policies that are in line with UAE laws and that training as well as incentives are provided for their workers. Workers, admitted to the fact that they receive the adequate training and that they are in full compliance with the set health and safety rules and regulations. Primary data, represented by the collected responses from the managers and workers interviewed, was compiled with the secondary data obtained through a thorough literature review prior to conducting the qualitative data analysis. The analysis of the data revealed a number of positive conclusions that are signs of proper implementation of health and safety rules by both managers and workers at construction sites. On the other hand, the analysis identified a number of issues, particularly with respect to the construction workers, that need to be further considered in a future study.