The human being life is a precious thing, and its protection from fatal diseases and accidents is a priority worldwide. The main objective of this study was to assess and evaluate the current safety situations on construction sites in the southern part of the West Bank of Palestine. The safety of workers in the construction industry in Palestine as well as in many developing countries is still not given proper attention, and reinforcement and activation of the current safety legislation is needed.

Globally, construction waste is becoming a serious environmental problem in many large cities in the world due to large quantities of waste generated throughout the construction and demolition activities. Attitudes and behavior are corner stones in the construction waste management, and their understanding can contribute to solving many waste management problems. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors that affect contractors' attitudes and behavior in construction waste management in the southern West Bank of Palestine. The findings showed that contractor size, following waste reduction practices, and number of unskilled labors, are significant factors explaining contractors' attitudes toward waste management; while following waste reduction practices, perception of construction waste environmental impacts, number of skilled and unskilled labors, and training of field supervisors are significant factors affecting contractors' behavior regarding waste management. The study recommends upgrading the current legislations to create integrated and comprehensive waste management system.

Medical waste management is of great importance due to its infectious and hazardous nature that can cause undesirable effects on humans and the environment. The objective of this study was to analyze and evaluate the present status of medical waste management in the light of medical waste control regulations recommended by the WHO in Jenin governorate. The management of Medical waste in Palestine as well as in many developing countries is not given the proper attention. Still there are lacks of legislation and defined policy regarding this issue.

The water quality of 100 cisterns in Hebron city- Palestine was studied through the period from December, 2007 till April, 2008. Water samples were collected directly from cisterns in two sterile glass bottles and tested for physical parameters (electrical conductivity, salinity, total dissolved substances, pH, temperature and turbidity), chemical parameters (alkalinity, chloride, total hardness, calcium, magnesium, ammonia and nitrate), microbiological parameters ( total coliform(TC) and faecal coliform(FC)). All the results of physical parameters are within the acceptable limits of WHO, EPA and Palestinian standards except turbidity which exceed these limits in 24 % of the cases. The percentage of contamination of total coliform and faecal coliform was 95%, 57%, respectively. The chemical parameters exceed the standards by different percentages (calcium 47%, magnesium 32%), other parameters give results below the maximum contaminant levels. Sources of pollution of these cisterns were studied also by a questionnaire answered by the owner of the cistern..

Solid Waste in Developing Countries Integrated solid waste management needs a strong legislative framework as well as reinforcement measures besides professional institutions for being implemented. In the study area (Ramallah and Jericho cities), no cleaner production methods are applied for waste reduction, no recycling and reuse alternatives, no composting plants exist. This thesis assesses the technical and economic status of existing system. It is found that the solid waste management in the study area is not self sustaining since the overall all cost recovery from actual expenditures is 67% and 15% for Jericho and Ramallah respectively, suffering from lack of coordination, primary collection methodology is different, in Jericho it is the curb side collection, while in Ramallah it is community bin collection, only 12 % and 2% of respondents in Jericho and Ramallah respectively had received environmental education. It is recommended to revise the cost tariff system for solid waste as well as the collection methodology and finally continuous physical and chemical characteristics of waste profile should be dynamically conducted.