A Case Study of Health and Safety Management in Burj Khalifa Project

This case study examines the health and safety management practices employed during the construction of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. It identifies key risks associated with the project's design and construction phases, including those related to working at height, material transportation, and environmental factors. The study also reviews the Dubai government's regulations aimed at mitigating these risks and assesses their effectiveness. Furthermore, the analysis extends to the project's civil engineering context, considering factors such as budget adherence, project timeline, and the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM). The social impact of the construction on the surrounding community, both positive and negative, is also evaluated, along with the project's overall dependability on the public. The study concludes by emphasizing the importance of risk management and adherence to safety regulations in large-scale construction projects.

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
BURJ KHALIFA CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
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Burj Khalifa Construction Project
Introduction
The study relates to Burj Khalifa formerly known as Burj Dubai before its inauguration.
The name means Khalifa towers in English which makes a mega tallest multistory building in the
United Arab Emirates. The structure forms the highest building ever on the planet with a height
of 829.8 meters. The building is located at Sheikh Moham Rashid Boulevard, United Arab
Emirates. The reason and purpose of building Burj Khalifa were solely grounded on government
judgment to branch out from an economy that is oil-based to one that relies on provision and
tourism. Majority of government representatives considered the project since it could attract
more international recognition leading to investment (Baker, 2007)
Figure 1: site map of Burj Khalifa.

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
The building was contracted by Samsung C&T Besix of South Korea and developed by Emaar
Properties and Adrian Smith. The construction began in 2004 and exterior completed after five
years, and publicly launched in 2010 as part of the fresh progress called Downtown Dubai. The
project type was infrastructure with a contract type of built only of construction value US$3.2m.
Risks to health and safety
Burj Khalifa forms one of the largest and tallest construction structures in the world
making risks involved become unmatched. Due to this, design risk factors will be majorly
analyzed and discussed. The major risks on design factors highly relate to factors involving
height, workers and contractors operational at height, materials being taken and conveyed at
height and the kind of most if not all physical kind at height, for example, wind load and heat
energy resulting from the sun. How this risks would be tackled would be added to the building
design since it was wanted to be the tallest in the world (Aldred, 2010)
Identification of risk.
Whenever it involves construction projects as hefty as Burj Khalifa, whenever a threat is
not detected in initial stages of the construction course, the risk may become a challenge for the
construction process and future usage of the construction structure. The structure might not fulfill
its necessities and goals which includes value and period of completion. The main role of peril
management is geared to reduce the chances of occurrence of undesirable effects on the
construction scheme (Baker, 2008)
In order to implement this, one needs first to pinpoint and locate the origin of the impact.
In relation to risk handling, as soon as the risks have been allocated and recognized, they are

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
categorized and grouped to improve a better understanding of the risks. This enhances a better
planning process and criteria for the risks later and may allow for future use as references. In the
Burj Khalifa construction project, there exist various varying risk outlines that are capable of
being categorized. Nevertheless, in the case of this study, the perils would be related to key risks
concerning the design phase and construction stage of the project. The perils in the mentioned
categories include the following:
Design phase
 Materials and their durability(Jafferji, 2016)
 The sun and its effects
 Location of the intended construction building
 Alteration of design impact on budget and time
 Wind strength of high buildings
 Gravitational force effects on elevated buildings
Construction phase
 Transport of supplies to high heights
 Employees working at high floors of the building in construction
 Objects falling from distanced heights
 Risk of collapsing during construction (Ta, 2009)
 Exposure of workers to radiations from the sun
 Danger as a result of machinery operations at the site

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
With an aim of limiting the possibility of these risks from occurring, the Dubai government
enacted rules and regulations to be considered during the construction process of the Burj
Khalifa structure. The legislative laws included the following:
 According to the work safety and health duties, the individual with management role and
handling of the workstation must guarantee that the mode of accessing and leaving the
workstation and any issue coming up from the workplace is lacking peril to health and
safety to any individual (Kijewski, 2012)
 The head contractor for the construction project must be aware or informed of the work
health and safety duties that apply to PCBUs that carry out construction work and
specific roles that are imposed on the head contractor in the given industry.
 The head contractor in a construction site must make manage and control work health and
safety risks accompanied by the specific work. In addition, he or she must ensure no and
limited unauthorized entry or access to the work site.
 The above outlined legislative construction site regulations were fully implemented as it
was a basic requirement before commencing of the project. Contrary to the
implementation of regulations, a limited occurrence of the risks was experienced in a
manageable manner. Controlled environmental pollution was still experienced as air and
water resources were occasionally polluted during the construction process
Civil engineering context
The internal measure of project success is whether the project achieves its original goal of
the establishment. The best evaluation of success is a measure of the scheme based on three
viewpoints namely: cost, duration, and value. In this scenario, Burj Khalifa construction scheme
can also be rated by the above method of evaluation. It is thus likely to measure the cost and

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
duration difference in amid original plan and real outcome by the earned value analysis to realize
the impression of the project. In relation to cost and budget of the project; original planned cost
of the Burj Khalifa project was $876million dollars whereas the finishing cost amounted to
roughly $1.5billion dollars (Irwin, 2008)
Due to this, it is important to find out a reason as to why there exists a wide difference
between budgeted cost and the final construction cost of the project. First, a rise in prices of raw
materials e.g. iron, cement, and other construction materials. Second, change of design as the
concluding height of the construction was a hundred meters past the initial design. Burj Khalifa
is the tallest building structure on the planet. Engineers, architects, and workers turned to
building information modeling application software to accomplish the whole construction
workflow, minimizing on time and money wastage, improving communication, and decreasing
waste with an aim of delivering projects safely, on time and on budget.
To enable, manage and dispense a fully complete and information-rich 3D model,
designers are considering building information modeling. The application software interfaces
with other clarifications and manufacturing machinery, enhancing workflow and limiting errors.
The software enabled Eversendai to model the Burj Khalifa structural behavior during strong
wind and earthquakes, reallocate the gravity load to the structures extremities, succeed the floor
framing system and advance the highly long lasting solid foundation to safeguard against water
and destructive soil conditions (Parker, 2013)
Effects of Burj Khalifa construction project work on the community
As with most construction works in life, they usually constitute both negative and
positive impacts on the normal life of the neighboring community as a whole. Assessing and

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
analyzing the effects always form the first procedure in moving forward and implementing a
construction project. After applying this, it’s better implementing strategies to major on positive
impacts on the entire community. The following are some of the construction project impacts of
Burj Khalifa on the community;
Positive impacts
 Creation of economic boom- There existed new job opportunities for local business
owners, laborers and service providers i.e. transportation of materials to the working site.
 Improvement on transport network- The neighboring community benefitted from the
sudden improvement of roads accessing the work site to facilitate easy transport.
 Post construction benefits- The local community benefits from income generation
through maintenance and repair of the project, cleaning services, utility and management
and various business opportunities.
Negative impacts
 Environmental impacts- Construction work does not only result in harmful emissions to
the atmosphere on the global scale but also impacts the local community.
 Water quality- Construction work affects community water quality as pollutants are
emitted to water supplies.
 Soil erosion- Soil erosion often does not occur strictly at the construction site but also
downstream which poses a serious threat to the community (Aitcin, 2015)
Risks to the public
The following include hazards that posed risks to the neighboring public in general:

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
I. Falling objects- This was minimized by making sure objects did not fall outer the site
boundary.
II. Delivery and other workstation vehicles- It was made certain pedestrians were not struck
by vehicles entering or exiting the site.
III. Opening and quarries- People could be injured if they fall into diggings, manholes,
stairwells or from open floor ends hence need for putting up barriers or protections (RPP
MAPM, 2012)
Dependability of the project on the public
Burj Khalifa forms the highest structure on the planet. At the top, is the Dubai mall where
visitors buy tickets at the welcome area as they enjoy several interactive features such as the
Dubai then and now, traveling at 10 meters per second speed and many more. Burj Khalifa has
got also a variety of leisure and retail facilities, parking facilities, offices, the club, pavilion, park
and water features. In general, Burj Khalifa forms a major economy block in Dubai and has been
source of revenue and income to both the government and the public as a whole (Choi, 2015)
Conclusion and Recommendations
In every project, risk management whose main role is to reduce the possibility of
occurrence of negative effects on the construction scheme must be properly managed. Here, peril
determination is the most crucial process as it forms the first stage to understanding all the perils
relating to the construction project. Burj Khalifa forms one of the largest and tallest construction
structures in the world making risks involved become unmatched. Therefore whenever a risk is
not recognized in early stages of the construction procedure, then it may prove challenging for
the construction and future consumption of the construction structure. With an aim of limiting

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
the possibility of these risks from occurring, the Dubai government enacted rules and regulations
to be considered during the construction process of the Burj Khalifa structure (Feys, 2015)
One of which asserts that, according to the work safety and health regulation, the
individual with supervision role and control of the workstation must ensure that the mode of
accessing and leaving the workplace and any issue originating from the workplace is without
perils to health and safety to any being. With regards to the aforementioned findings it's in order
to accredit the level of health and safety management of the project in its entirety since it meets
the legislative construction site regulations, a basic requirement before the commencement of the
project which requires the head contractor in a construction site to make, manage and control
work health and safety risks accompanied with the specific work. In addition, he or she must
ensure no and limited unauthorized entry or access to the work site (Nehdi, 2013)

Burj Khalifa Construction Project
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Burj Khalifa Construction Project
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