ABSTRACT
This research project looked
into effective safety and health planning on construction sites. The objectives
were: to identify various health and safety measures to help manage workers
welfare on site, to identify negative factors affecting health and safety
practices on site and to identify common site hazards experienced on site.
Secondary datas were reviewed which were sourced from journals, magazines,
newspapers and from online e-books, while the primary datas were sourced from
respondents in the study area through distribution and collection of
questionnaire forms. The results of the sampled questions on the questionnaire
forms were subsequently analyzed thereof. From the findings, it was found that
the health and safety measures that was perceived should be given more
priorities are: site layout and planning, site tidiness, health & safety
training, health & safety warning signs, first aid kits and accident
reporting, personal protective clothing and good working environments/welfare
facilities. From the findings on the negative factors affecting health and
safety practices are: lack of attention from leaders, reckless action, poor
safety conscientiousness of managers, lack of training, poor equipment
maintenance, lack of experience of managers, lack of personal protective
equipment, non-perfect safety and regulations, lack of protection in material storage
and poor equipment on site. From the findings on the common site hazards
befalling workers in construction sites are: roof-work, scaffolding, ladders,
lifting and carrying, cement, excavation and demolition. It was concluded that
the main factors resulting in inefficiency in health and safety on construction
sites includes; ‘lack of attention from leaders’, ‘reckless action’ and ‘poor
safety conscientiousness of managers’. Therefore, it was recommended that
employers and contractors should provide suitable programmes that are
consistent with national Laws and Regulations to ensure the health and safety
of workers and also, site supervisory staff should be sensitized with
Occupational Health and Safety and should share that knowledge with co-workers.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Construction
industry is an important part of the economy in many countries and often seen
as a driver of economic growth especially in developing countries. According to
Wahab (1989), the construction industry is a vital component of the Nigerian
economy. Typically, construction industry contributes to 11% of gross domestic
products (GDP) in most developing countries Giang and Pheng, (2010); while the
central bank of Nigeria (CBN, 2007) noted that the construction industry
provided 12% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Nigeria. However many
construction activities are inherently health and safety risks such as working
at height, working underground, working in confined spaces and close proximity
to falling materials, handling load manually, handling hazardous substances,
noises, dusts, using plant and equipment, fire, exposure to live cables, poor
housekeeping and ergonomics.
Williams
(2002) opined that construction workers face more on the job injury and
fatality risks than workers in any other professional field and that one out of
every five workplace fatality involves a construction worker. Furthermore,
construction sites are full of various dangers that have the potential to cause
hundreds of thousands of injuries and a multitude of deaths each year. These
sites are filled with heavy equipment and machinery, toxic substances,
explosives and other dangerous conditions, all of which can cause serious
injury or even death. Construction sites privy to injuries resulting from
fires, explosions and falls from high-rise buildings or scaffolding.
The
construction industry is one of the world’s major industries. Its achievement
in rebuilding areas devastated by both natural and man-made disasters, and in
providing power, services and communications to meet the rising needs and
expectations of people throughout the world, has conferred great benefits on
the human race. Despite mechanization, construction remains a major employer of
labour – it often employs between 9 and 12 percent of a country’s working
population and sometimes as much as 20%. There has, however, been a price to
pay for this continuous growth and activity. Although it is difficult to obtain
accurate statistics in an industry in which many accidents go undetected and
unreported, in many countries known fatal accidents and those involving loss of
working time, frequently exceed those in any other manufacturing industry.
In
an urban context, health and safety accidents are relatively higher due to the
fact that high rise buildings remain predominant with the fast-growing
complexities of domain-wide construction projects to cope with modernizing
cities arena and high demand for housing, offices, services and other
infrastructures due to the high urbanisation. Despite its importance,
therefore, construction industry is considered as being risky with frequent and
high accidents rate and ill-health problems to workers, practitioners and end
users.
During
the past decade, the construction industry has borne an unparallel demand for
health and safety in workplace. Technology has created expanded requirements
and need for accident prevention at the workplace. Many tasks have become increasingly
complex and demanding and their potential for serious injury has become
heightened, as a result; construction industry has broadened its management
functions to include the application of safety and health program has evolved
from an obvious need for its services. Serious hazards, bad safety performance,
the occupational safety and health and the continuous prodding by the labour
movement have caused the promulgation of most safety program; health and safety
in the workplace have created a new awareness of safety requirements for
workers. Under its impact, existing safety and health laws have been expanded
and new federal and state laws exerted even pressures on business. Despite the
growing interest in appraising the industrial health and safety progress in
order to reduce the death-toll, injury, industrial diseases and property loss,
accident rates have been on the increase. But before getting immersed in
details, it is worth trying to examine the attitudes to safety. Health and
safety is universally desired and by implication that danger is something
everyone wants to avoid. According to Prince Charles (2006), there is enormous
satisfaction in achieving something which is potentially hazardous and which
requires concentration and self discipline. The construction industry has
therefore earned the reputation of being a dangerous or highly hazardous
industry because of the disproportionately high incidence of accidents and
fatalities that occur on construction sites around the world Smallwood and
Haupt, (2008). Similarly Sohail (2009) labels construction industry as very
hazardous. Internationally, construction workers are two to three times more
likely to die on the job than workers in other industries while the risk of
serious injury is almost three times higher. Ioannides Pisimisi and Papaioannou
(2004) noted that bulldozers, backhoes, dump trucks, Lin and Mills (2010) noted
that, the higher the investment in safety, the better the safety performance.
However, personal observation by the authors reveals that keeping a project
under budget is often accomplished at the cost of safety to construction
workers. Evidence of the lack of reasonable care for labour is seen in
different ways. For example, a contractor will skimp on required safety
equipment for workers – such as hard hats, goggles, gloves, respiratory
equipment, hire less experienced, cheaper labour to do work, hire fewer workers
than required to keep the work site complaint with safety standards, use older
and less efficient tools and equipments have a greater likelihood of harming
construction workers all in a bid to keep the project under budget.
Construction
safety and health management therefore deals with actions that managers at all
levels can take to create an organizational setting in which workers will be
trained and motivated to perform safe and productive construction work. The
system should delineate responsibilities and accountabilities. It should also
outline procedures for eliminating hazards and identifying potential hazards
before they become the contributing factors to unfortunate accidents.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Contributing
to the high rate of accidents and militating against effective health and
safety on construction sites are those characteristics of the industry which
distinguish it from the rest of the manufacturing sector and they also
constitute the major statement of the problem. These are:
i.
Lack of awareness and understanding
of safety and health measures by workers.
ii.
The large numbers of illiterate
workers who sees health and safety on site as waste of time.
iii.
Constant neglect on safety and health
practices by site professionals.
iv.
Lack of communication between site
managers and labourers leading to unforeseen accidents.
v.
Exposure of site professionals and
workers to unfavourable weather on site.
1.3 Aim and Objectives
The
aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of health and safety
practices on some selected construction sites. In other to achieve this aim,
this project work is set out with the following objectives:
1.
To identify various health and safety
measures to help manage workers welfare on site.
2.
To identify negative factors
affecting health and safety practices on site.
3.
To identify common site hazards
experienced on site.
1.4 Scope and Delimitation
This
study is mainly on safety and health of workers on construction sites and right
or privilege to an effective safe working environment. Hence, by quantitative
analysis, through questionnaire survey, it is intended that the nature of
challenge, to effective safety management shall be treated with much interest
and review.
However,
studies of this nature which require direct access (field survey) to
participants in their various locations require:
(a) Time
(b) Mobility and identification
of location/population of the study for ease of data interpretation
(c) High cost (funds) of
reaching out to all concerned in the sample size.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The issue
of site health and safety is extremely relevant since by failing to adhere to
its principles, it affects its victims morally, financially, and
psychologically. Furthermore, improving the health and safety management of the
construction industry has repeatedly been shown to save lives, time and money
including the general productivity of labour and economics of a country
(Rwamamara, 2007; kikwasi, 2010).
================================================================
Item Type: Project Material | Attribute: 59 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Price: N3,000 | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment