OVERVIEW OF SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Author(s):  
Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud ◽  
Mohd. Hamdan Ahmad ◽  
Yahya Mohd. Yatim

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries worldwide due to deadly fatalities and accidents recorded yearly, compared to other sector of the economy in many countries. Though many safety programs have been established and implemented, the situation does not seem to have been mitigated the menace of accidents. Developing countries, like Nigeria, still lack laws and regulations on health and safety practices. The health and well-being of construction workers are being threatened by the increasing cases of injuries and casualties recorded at construction sites. The construction industry in Nigeria is also labor intensive with labor cost running between 40 to 65% of the total project cost. Operators are majorly categorized into multinational and indigenous construction companies. Indigenous companies in Nigeria are involved in an estimated 50-100% public and private clients in both traditional and non-traditional systems of procurement. However, indigenous companies’ record 2 and 5 percent accident and injury level among workers with 300% more risk than the multinationals. Thus, this paper aims to provide an overview of the construction safety performance and construction stakeholders’ operations in the construction industry of Nigeria. The overview is of potential benefit to the administrators of building development, building designers and policy makers.

Author(s):  
Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud ◽  
Mohd. Hamdan Ahmad ◽  
Yahya Mohd. Yatim

The significance of safety commitment to improving safety performance and reducing risk is widely accepted and substantive research has been conducted globally in order to improve the safety performance of the construction industry such as: “safety commitment”, “design for safety”, “safety culture”, “safety climate”, “behavior base safety BBS”. Despite the research and improvements that have been made through the years, construction stakeholders are continuously being challenged with occurrences of injury on site. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the factors, which influence of management commitment toward improving safety performance in the construction industry of Nigeria. Data was collected through a questionnaire and analysis was performed using SPSS version 16 software. The results of the study showed that “involvement of workers in the preparation of safety programs for the site” and “appropriate issuance of motivational directives by the top management to enhance safety” significantly impact on the safety performance of construction stakeholders. Thus, the research outcome would be of benefit to top management of construction companies, policy makers and building development approvers.


Author(s):  
Fatemeh Nouban ◽  
Serah Onuh John

Managing health and safety on construction sites has always been a challenging issue faced by the Nigerian construction industry. Safety conditions on the construction sites depends on type or nature of work to be carried out and the management make commitment to implement safety projects concerning construction. There are no requirements assigned for implementing a security management system by the Nigerian government. Construction industries lacked a framework to implement security regarding projects on construction sites. Developing a Safety Framework can help professionals involved in carrying out construction works, implement and improve safety practices in executing their projects on sites. This study presents the development of a structure for implementing an effective health security on construction sites. An extensive review of the literature was carried out to design an appropriate security framework. The results underscore the requirement for competent personnel who must be appointed to ensure safety on construction sites. Finally, a security framework was developed in which companies can accept and adhere. The results of this research will help Nigerian construction companies to improve safety on construction sites.


Author(s):  
Nour Eldeen Abo Nassar

The construction industry is one of the most significant industries that contribute greatly to achieving economic development. However, it is also considered one of the industries that is always exposed to a high risk of hazards in addition to being full of risky activities. Accidents that occurred in construction industries have caused many defects in project progress, for example, delays in completing the project, increasing project cost, reducing productivity, and creating negative impressions about the company. The major reason for the accidents is poor worker safety performance, with a host of contributing causes. For improving safety performance, the root causes of incidents that occur in construction as well as the factors influencing them must be studied. Health and safety issues are the main problem and concerns in the building industry. Though much development has been made in construction safety, the industry still lacks a lag behind most other industries in terms of safety. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the factors that could affect the safety performance of a construction site to reduce the frequency of accidents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68
Author(s):  
Abdullateef Adewale Shittua ◽  
Hawwa Ibrahim Ahmadb ◽  
Alhassan Mohammed Isahc ◽  
Mohammed Ndagi Mohammedd

Studies have shown that site sanitation practices are capable of improving the health and safety (H&S) performance of construction companies. In spite of this, evidence has shown that the level of compliance to these practices by construction firms is still poor. This study evaluated the effect of site sanitation on the safety performance of workers on construction sites. Data were obtained through a well-structured questionnaire. Analysis of data was done using Relative Importance Index (RII), Mean Item Score (MIS) and Spearman’s Rank Correlation. It was found that provision of first aid facilities is the measure most complied with on sites (RII = 0.96); relationship between level of compliance to good sanitation measures and accident rate is not significant; and provision of Personal Protective Equipment is the most effective strategy for minimising rate of accidents (MIS = 4.95). It was concluded that the effect of site sanitation on safety performance of workers on construction sites in Minna is not significant. It was thus recommended that construction firms should always comply with the measures for enhancing good sanitation on sites, especially “Provision of drinking water”, in order to improve safety performance on site. Key words: Construction, Safety, Sanitation, Performance, Workers.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kanchana ◽  
P. Sivaprakash ◽  
Sebastian Joseph

Construction industry has accomplished extensive growth worldwide particularly in past few decades. For a construction project to be successful, safety of the structures as well as that of the personnel is of utmost importance. The safety issues are to be considered right from the design stage till the completion and handing over of the structure. Construction industry employs skilled and unskilled labourers subject to construction site accidents and health risks. A proper coordination between contractors, clients, and workforce is needed for safe work conditions which are very much lacking in Indian construction companies. Though labour safety laws are available, the numerous accidents taking place at construction sites are continuing. Management commitment towards health and safety of the workers is also lagging. A detailed literature study was carried out to understand the causes of accidents, preventive measures, and development of safe work environment. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey, which was distributed among various categories of construction workers in Kerala region. The paper examines and discusses in detail the total working hours, work shifts, nativity of the workers, number of accidents, and type of injuries taking place in small and large construction sites.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. V. S. Raja Prasad ◽  
K. P. Reghunath

In India the construction industry is the second largest employer next to agriculture and about 31 million people are employed in construction sector. Indian construction industry is labour intensive comprising of semi- skilled and unskilled workers. The measurement and evaluation of an organization's performance on health and safety conditions at work mainly aims at the provision of information about the current situation and the progress of the strategies, processes and activities that are adopted by an organization with the view to keep H&S hazards under control. The construction industry needs a new paradigm for measuring safety performance on construction sites that is a proactive approach rather than just depending on the reactive data. The proactive approach is able to provide essential feedback on performance before incidents occur. This paper presents proactive safety measures to eliminate unsafe actions/conditions which contribute towards accidents and injuries by conducting safety sampling survey and overall safety performance was evaluated by inter observer reliability of internal and external safety auditors. The study was conducted in a large construction organization, certified under OHSAS 18001 and involved in construction of high rise buildings in India.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-14
Author(s):  
Majed M Moosa ◽  
Leo P. Oriet ◽  
Abdulrahman M Khamaj

Introduction: Research indicate that construction site accidents are a global concern, and rates are rapidly increasing. In developing countries such as Saudi Arabia, safety issues are frequently ignored, and little is known about their causes. Objectives: This study aimed to shed light on factors causing accidents in Saudi Arabian construction companies. Methods: An online detailed survey, using Google Form, of accident features was distributed randomly to potential employees in 35 construction companies in Saudi Arabia, where one of the top administrators or safety officers were required to respond to the survey. It was conducted from 1st June to 31st August, 2013. The safety practices and perceptions of accident causes were assessed. Results: The response rate was 63%. Over half of the surveyed organizations encountered all of the selected accident types. While 19 (86%) of the construction companies maintained the equipment regularly, 15 (68%) had regular maintenance staff and 13 (59%) inspected the equipment before use. Although 18 (82%) of the workers were supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE), only 12 (55%) emphasized its use and offered site orientation for new employees.  In the last part of the survey, respondents were requested to rate 25 factors affecting safety performance at the construction sites on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. The three most important factors of poor safety performance were the firm's top leaders, a lack of training, and the reckless operation of equipment. Conclusion: Changing attitudes of surrounding safety culture have the potential to significantly improve safety outcomes in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. Two Saudi Arabian corporations, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Chevron Petrochemical provide a positive model for increasing construction safety in the country, but there is a paucity of industry-level data. Further scholarly attention is strongly indicated.


Author(s):  
Georgios N. Aretoulis ◽  
Christoforos H. Triantafyllidis

The tasks performed by a project manager are of special importance to the well being and economic prosperity of construction companies. This paper is aiming at defining the Greek project managers' dominant cognitive abilities, personality characteristics, skills and knowledge. An effort is made to identify available attributes associated with successful management performance and career development. The survey was conducted based on a structured questionnaire. The effort led to 102 responses, originating from engineers and construction professionals, throughout the Greek Construction Industry, including Public-Work Authorities. The questionnaire was based on international management literature and interviews. The study discusses the results of the survey and provides a comparison with those attributes identified in the international literature and correlates the participants' profile with their responses.


2015 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nurul Azita Salleh ◽  
Faizatul Akmar Abdul Nifa ◽  
Muhammad Nazrin Shah Zakaria ◽  
Norazah Mohd Nordin ◽  
Abdul Khalim Abdul Rashid

IM-SmartSAFETY is an application developed as a medium for delivering contents to foreign workers in response to language problem in Health and Safety Induction Course (HSIC). It is a compulsory initial course for all workers including local and foreign workers and professionals before entering into construction sites. In ensuring IM-SmartSAFETY meets the objective of the course, learning theories, particularly constructivism, social, and minimalism, have been applied along the development process. In accordance, this paper discusses the importance of applying learning theories in the IM-SmartSAFETY. Constructivism theory is important in IM-SmartSAFETY because it supports the creation of new knowledge through creative and critical thinking based on the existing knowledge while solving problems in existing cases. Meanwhile through social theory, emphasis on cognitive is deeper than on physical behavior in which visual representation of positive and negative behavior could be imitated. It also promotes social interaction among the peers and between the trainees and the trainers through activities provided in the application. Further, minimalism theory is important because it ensures the application is appealing in terms arrangement of text, information, graphic, color, and audio so that they never confuse the foreign workers, but make them understand.


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