An integrated ISM-MICMAC approach to identify and prioritize civil engineering-related hazards: a case study in Egypt

Purpose This study aims to (1) illustrate and cluster civil engineering-related hazards and (2) explore the mutual influence of such hazards by jointly applying interpretive structure modeling (ISM) and matrice d’impacts croisés multiplication appliquée à un classement (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) (MICMAC). Design/methodology/approach Through a comprehensive literature review, a checklist of potential civil engineering hazards was compiled, followed by semi-structured interviews with experts in Egypt to validate the identified hazards. A questionnaire survey was conducted among 52 engineers to assess their perceptions of the impact of these hazards on construction safety performance. The ISM was then used to establish interrelationships among 27 identified risk factors, prioritizing them based on their driving and dependent powers. Findings The study identifies key safety factors, with top management’s lack of safety awareness being the most influential. This issue, along with insufficient training, poor safety awareness of project managers and reluctance to allocate resources for safety, strongly drives other safety concerns. These factors are interconnected and affect the construction workforce’s safety. Improving safety performance requires addressing these factors, starting from top management and extending to proper training and resource allocation. Originality/value This research contributes to the body of knowledge by providing a systematic framework for understanding and managing civil engineering-related hazards in the construction industry. Also, it offers complete knowledge to the practitioners for confronting the negative impacts of civil engineering-related hazards. Consequently, it helps in enhancing the safety performance level in the construction sites.