Research Proposal Assignment: New Summer Working Regulations for Gulf Construction Company

Question

Task: You should prepare a research proposal assignmenton “New summer working regulations in Qatar and its effectiveness in reducing heat related illness among workers in a construction company in Qatar”.

Answer

Introduction
Development and growth are becoming Qatar's staple in recent years, making it a popular destination for foreigners of all backgrounds. Qatar is located in an arid region, however has a charm and elegance to it thanks to modern constructions and architectural wonders. Everybody who lives and works in Qatar may expect a dry, subtropical environment with minimal annual rainfall. In addition, the city hosts to many of the world's largest construction businesses, who have created and developed some of the world's most beautiful and innovative structures. There are a number of construction companies there, including the Gulf Construction Company (GCC). When Al Darwish United Group of Companies was founded in Qatar in 1976, GCC was one of its subsidiaries, and they've since grown into a major contractor backed by in-house teams, affiliates, and linked businesses. Subsidiaries provide "specialised" construction additional services to their professional construction abilities. In addition to being OHSAS as well as ISO certified, Gulf Contracting also has integrated HSSE plus quality system.

However, as previously stated, Qatar is among the most dry and hot climatic conditions, making it impossible for the main component of almost any construction firm, namely the workforce, to operate effectively (Al-Bouwarthan et al., 2020). Health hazards and injuries are common on construction sites, and then they can have an impact on the overall well-being of construction crew members. Injuries, dangers, and risks to these personnel will have a significant effect on employee performance. Laborers on construction projects are at risk of thermal stress, which is a serious health concern in itself (Acharya et al., 2018). A general increase of temperature had occurred as a result of alterations in climatic conditions around the planet. In other words, persons who live or work in hot climates or during hot seasons are at risk of being overheated. People who work on construction sites are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the heat. The construction workers' emotional, physiological, and psychological health deteriorates as a result.. Skin issues, heat exhaustion, heat fever, heat stroke, and persistent heart disease are among the health consequences of exposure to high temperatures.

Micro-cooling settings and macro-environment surroundings can be used to reduce heat-related problems. Personal thermal clothing is used in micro-cooling surroundings, while cooling systems are used in macro-cooling surroundings. In order to avoid the harmful effect of temperature in the worksite, jobsite workers should be using personal cooling strategies as well as equipment’s that control temperatures (Che Mohammad Nizam et al., 2021). The circumstances in the construction sector have deteriorated significantly, according to a study conducted by several construction firms. There must be a review of workplace practises, a rise in safety precautions, as well as an improved performance in the norms of safe work procedures to reduce heat exposure.

Research aims
Construction personnel are exposed to severe heat circumstances for a lengthy period of time, their health in general is impacted. Employees in the construction sector have been plagued with health issues as a result of increased exposure to thermal stress at work. As a consequence, workers have health problems related to their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Therefore, the primary aim is to prepare a study that could help GCCprepare themselves for the next summer in terms of heat and thermal stress being an obstruction for labour well-being and productivity of their employees.

Research objectives
There's a slew of objectives to be targeted in this research.
• The study's primary goal is to examine the effects of heat stress on construction site employees' health. This will be accomplished by determining the root cause of the extreme heat that has affected so many places of the planet recently.
• This would also look at the working circumstances that put employees at risk for such high temperatures.
• As well as examining possible interventions to lessen or eliminate heat-related disorders and impacts, that would help develop guidelines and plans for the GCC to put into action before the following summer.

Literature Review
Once the body's mechanisms for regulating its core temperature start to deteriorate, heat stress ensues. Heat stress may be caused by a variety of variables, including air temperature, work speed, humidity, as well as clothing. The threat of heat stress might not have been immediately apparent to someone walking through the worksite. During a heat wave, the body's temperature rises, causing the body's temperature to rise as well. The flow of blood and oxygen and the evaporation of perspiration regulates body temperature from the inside out. Additionally, heat may be dissipated from the surface of skin via convection and radiation.

Ramifications
The safety and health of workers had already been the only subject of several publications. Heat stress on construction projects and occupations in general has been explained by many papers. There has already been a lot of research done on how to cope against heat stress in the workplace, as well. Pulse rate, oxygen intake, exhaustion, tiredness, and respiration rate are all indicators of how heat stress affects regular bodily functions (Gaur & Goel, 2018). Whenever two samples of employees are examined, one under hot circumstances and the other under cold ones, similar results are obtained (Gaur & Goel, 2018). As a result, the effectiveness values in the control group are lower than those in the exposed group. Construction crews who are subjected to heat stress have physical, physiological, and mental health consequences. The body’s natural cognitive performance is lowered as a result. Constructors suffer the most from heat exhaustion, heightened irritation, and a lack of capacity to focus with even the most fundamental of tasks while working in the sweltering heat of the midday sun. It is possible for the body's core temperature to rise to harmful levels (over 39 C/102 F) when significant amounts of humidity are present (Li et al., 2019). There are several examples of direct effects of heat on employees in the construction sector, such as death from cardiovascular problems. Chronic renal disease, teratogenic consequences, and impaired clinical characteristics have been linked to greater exposure to heat in external and labour-intensive jobs, as well as decreased productivity and lost earnings. The body could tolerate a hot atmosphere for a while under normal conditions. Nevertheless, if one does it for a lengthy period of time, the body's coping systems may be overwhelmed, resulting in irrational behaviours and incoherency in performing tasks. As a result of the rapid loss of water, sodium, and nutrients from the system, heat stroke and other symptoms such as muscular cramps and dizziness can occur. The dilatation of blood vessels causes heat oedema, which results in the buildup of liquid in the body's core areas (Singh & Mukhopadhyay, 2020).

Causality
Employees in the Gulf area, and in especially the Qatar peninsula, must perform physical labour in temperatures that typically reach 45°C, with humidity levels of approximately 80% and exposure to dangerously high levels of sun radiation. Heat stress is a term used to describe the physiological effects on health of employees exposed to high levels of heat while performing their jobs in hot environments. To take use of Qatar's abundant natural oil and gas production, has pushed the country ahead and has helped them transformed itself into a bustling global centre of activity (Gohar, 2017). Economical, geopolitical, infrastructural, commercial, and tourist are only a few examples. That said, building and agricultural are by far the most directly impacted by the climate. Climate change is also a factor. Almost everyone in the scientific community agrees that global warming is driving climate change. Average surface temperature rose by 0.85 °C between 1880 and 2012, based on meteorological measurements, making the 30 years from 1983 to 2012 the hottest decade in the Northern Hemisphere. Increasing data suggests that human-induced glasshouse gas emissions are responsible for almost half of the rise in global surface temperature between 1951 and 2010. As a result of climate change, heat waves are expected to stay longer, occur more frequently, and be more powerful. A wide range of climate change models and simulations have supported this conclusion. There has also been an increased number of heat waves over the past several years, which is consistent with climate change estimates.

Dwelling in an enclosed space with no access to fresh air can also produce heated temperatures. When heat-generating devices, such as those found in manufacturing facilities, are present, such situations may arise. In the first place, it's critical because it identifies the root causes of the dangers, injuries, and health problems that employees face on the job. Among these include worker negligence, hazardous manual duties, unsafe work practises, stress and an inadequate supervision. Other factors that contribute to occupational injuries include exposure to hazardous substances and compounds, repetitive motions, the use of potentially harmful instruments and equipment, through use of drugs, and an inadequate training (Yi & Chan, 2015). Excessive heat in the building is the most obvious problem, since it causes several health issues for those who work there. Research shows that employees' health suffers greatly when temperatures rise too high, especially in manufacturing and construction environments. As a result, the study is noteworthy since it identifies the primary factor affecting employees' health at their varied workplaces, particularly construction sites (Li et al., 2019).

Mitigations
Yi & Chan, (2017) emphasises the relevance of a hybrid cooling vest worn by employees in Hong Kong throughout the summer months. Because the jackets lessen the impacts of heating on construction personnel, it warrants the usage of the jackets Workers on building sites as well as other hot environments should wear cooling apparel and ventilation systems, and also open up their workspaces to allow for the free flow of air, to assist keep them cool. Ventilation fans built into the clothing will assist keep the wearer as cool as possible (Messeri et al., 2019). Workers on building sites are particularly vulnerable to heat stress-related illnesses, thus this is critical. There are other important steps that may be taken to reduce the danger of heat exhaustion on building sites (Mittermüller et al., 2021). This is accomplished by wearing the correct clothing that shields the body from the sun's sweltering heat (Rowlinson et al., 2014)bl.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has developed a variety of guidelines for workplaces in hot conditions, including hierarchy of controls as well as heat warning programmes (Mittermüller et al., 2021).When employees are suffering heat stress, frequent and regular rest breaks can help alleviate the effects of heat exhaustion. Rebar workers' physiological or behavioural factors (e.g., heart rate, hypertension, percentage body fat, as well as smoking habits) and environmental conditions (e.g. WBGT, air pollution index) were simulated using Simulation Model to evaluate the probabilistic model of the optimised break schedule.By ordering all work to cease in between periods of 11:30 am and 3:00 pm throughout the summer, Qatar, the U.A.E, as well as other Middle Eastern nations ensure that their workforces are not overworked. This rule, however, is frequently ignored and heats can still rise to dangerous levels during non-restricted times. It was discovered that migrant construction crews still were putting in long hours of work to complete their projects in Qatar, despite the country's strict labour laws. Numerous deaths in the Middle East are being reported by the Nepalese as well as Indian governments due to heart attacks produced by heat exhaustion, which indicates that the regulations are inadequate (Gohar, 2017).

Proposed research methodology
Data Collection
In order to find relevant scientific articles and other sources of information, such as reports from governments and non-governmental organisations (NGO), a comprehensive review will be used. Web of Science, University Library, then PubMed, relevant papers in peer-reviewed publications, as well as web-based queries were among the databases queried (also including Google Scholar). The searches were conducted using key words and phrases such as "construction workers," "heat stress," and "heat-related illness," as well as "Qatar construction companies," "Construction workers in the Middle East," "construction industry," and "Construction industry regulations," and also "Middle-east construction companies." As a result of the restricted number of papers, the query was comprehensive and did not consider the type of research. Papers and conference proceedings from non-governmental, government, and intergovernmental organisations were included in the list of non-scientific sources.

Evaluation and analysis
The analysis and evaluation would focus on the results gained after filtering keywords such as construction worker heat stress experience, HRI risk, or HRI intervention. Due to climate change, weather fluctuations, and the development of heat management methods, older articles would not have been applicable for this study, which took place during the last decade or ten years (Bluestein, 2018). The analysis would be done as Qualitative using the aforementioned journals in conjunction with thematic analysis and thereafter synthesis of result.

Conclusion
Construction workers currently in Qatar are at high risk for heat-related illness, however the issue has been largely ignored in the public health arena. As global temperatures continue to rise, this is a crucial oversight, given the current trajectory. There are several low-cost treatments that can help prevent heat-related health consequences, such as longer breaks, vented work places, shade, appropriate clothing, and the usage of potable water. The paper would present a set of recommendations and prevention strategies so that GCC is able to come up with a working guidelines and prevention plan before the next summer and apply across their on-going and upcoming projects in the Middle East.

References
Acharya, P., Boggess, B., & Zhang, K. (2018). Assessing Heat Stress and Health among Construction Workers in a Changing Climate: A Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(2), 247. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15020247
Al-Bouwarthan, M., Quinn, M. M., Kriebel, D., & Wegman, D. H. (2020). Risk of Kidney Injury among Construction Workers Exposed to Heat Stress: A Longitudinal Study from Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(11), 3775. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17113775
Bluestein, S. (2018). Demystifying the Construction of Qualitative Research Methodology: An Approachable Text for Doctoral Students. Research proposal assignmentThe Qualitative Report. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2018.3708
Che Mohammad Nizam, Ahmad Rasdan Ismail, & Norlini Husshin. (2021). A Review of Heat Stress Impact Towards Construction Workers Productivities and Health Based on Several Heat Stress Model. Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences, 85(1), 161–168. https://doi.org/10.37934/arfmts.85.1.161168
Gaur, M., & Goel, S. (2018). Effects of Occupational Heat Stress on Performance and Health of Construction Workers. International Journal of Architecture, Engineering and Construction, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.7492/ijaec.2018.020
Gohar, O. (2017). Blooming under heat. Nature Middle East. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2017.140
Li, L., Liu, H., Chen, L., & He, J. (2019). Investigation on heat stress of construction workers in summer in Chongqing, China. E3S Web of Conferences, 80, 03005. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20198003005
Messeri, A., Morabito, M., Bonafede, M., Bugani, M., Levi, M., Baldasseroni, A., Binazzi, A., Gozzini, B., Orlandini, S., Nybo, L., & Marinaccio, A. (2019). Heat Stress Perception among Native and Migrant Workers in Italian Industries—Case Studies from the Construction and Agricultural Sectors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(7), 1090. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16071090

Mittermüller, J., Erlwein, S., Bauer, A., Trokai, T., Duschinger, S., & Schönemann, M. (2021). Context-Specific, User-Centred: Designing Urban Green Infrastructure to Effectively Mitigate Urban Density and Heat Stress. Urban Planning, 6(4), 40–53. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v6i4.4393

Rowlinson, S., YunyanJia, A., Li, B., & ChuanjingJu, C. (2014). Management of climatic heat stress risk in construction: A review of practices, methodologies, and future research. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 66, 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2013.08.011

Singh, R., & Mukhopadhyay, K. (2020). Change in blood pressure and pulse rate in construction workers working in intense heat. Annals of Clinical Cardiology, 2(2), 105. https://doi.org/10.4103/accj.accj_22_20 Yi, W., & Chan, A. (2017). Effects of Heat Stress on Construction Labor Productivity in Hong Kong: A Case Study of Rebar Workers. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(9), 1055. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14091055
Yi, W., & Chan, A. P. C. (2015). Which Environmental Indicator Is Better Able to Predict the Effects of Heat Stress on Construction Workers? Journal of Management in Engineering, 31(4), 04014063. https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)me.1943-5479.0000284