Abstract—Construction industry is a hazardous industry that comprises a wide range of activities, involving construction, alteration, and/or repair of all types of building and structures. Activities that construction workers engage in may expose them to a wide variety of health hazards. In Thailand, the construction industry is ranked the first on occupational injuries and illnesses that come from, for example, inappropriate use of personal protective equipment, removing safety guards from the workplace, and ineffectiveness of safety signs and symbols used in construction sites. This paper, therefore, focuses on examining key factors influencing the construction safety equipment selection utilizing the exploratory factor analysis method. A total of 20 items affecting the selection decision are extracted from the construction-related literatures, and are used for questionnaire survey development. The analysis results group the 20 items into six key factors, namely 1) the Safety-related Policy, 2) the Equipment Design, 3) the Personal, 4) the Cost Value, 5) the Supplier Agreement, and 6) the Supplier Support factors. The results also suggest that the suppliers’ relationship, the after sale service, the site condition, the workers’ attitude, the compatibility function, and the comfortability issues must be considered when making the selection decision. 
 

Index Terms—construction industry, exploratory factor analysis, safety equipment selection

Cite: Thanwadee Chinda, "Factors Influencing Construction Safety Equipment Selection," International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 333-336, November 2016. doi: 10.18178/ijscer.5.4.333-336