Abstract:
The COVID-19 outbreak is the greatest global health crisis in many years. It has had a
dramatic effect on workforces and workplaces all around the world. The construction
industry has been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and has been
challenged to improve the safety and wellbeing of its workforce and control the collapse
of construction productivity. The objectives of this study were to identify and rank the
factors affecting lack of labour productivity in major contracts during the COVID
pandemic and effect of labour productivity on successful project delivery in major
contracts during the COVID pandemic in Sri Lanka and to recommend management
strategies to combat them. A thorough literature search on recently published literature,
industry experiences, reports, and other related documents was performed to collect and
categorize the required data. 40 COVID-19 challenges were identified, and the results
revealed that 19 factors including absenteeism at work site, travel restrictions, supply
chain disruptions, cash flow delays and social isolation due to teleworking. 27 strategies
were identified to overcome these challenges, and 14 results demonstrated including
avoid material shortage at the site, conduct a risk analysis, create an end-end supply
chain map, initiate flexible work schedules to promote social distancing, increase of
hygiene of construction. The findings of this study will help the project managers and
authorities in the construction industry understand the challenges of the pandemic and
adopt effective strategies that will improve the health and safety of their workforce
