HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION SITE (A CASE STUDY OF IWO, OSUN STATE)

ABSTRACT

Building construction sites are most times very hazardous due to the bulk and types

of materials and equipment employed towards the realization of building project.

To this effect, various forms of accidents abound at various stages of construction

and in various operations. This project work aims at investigation and evaluation,

the response of construction firms/managers to health safety and welfare

requirements on building construction sites in Iwo, Osun State. Different methods

such as survey approaches using questionnaire, site visitation and interview were

adopted to realize the aims of this work. The method of data collection and

analysis adopted are the statistical table (percentage) and bar-chart respectively.

The results of their finding indicates that most of the construction firms and

contractors in Iwo, Osun State do not abide to the statutory regulations governing

safety at work, while most of them do not consider the need to educate and train

workers on safety practices. This work reveals the causes of site accidents and has

suggested the remedial measures to be adopted. These methods include among

others abiding to; the health and employing professional on building sites. With

this building industry Iwo, Osun State will be free from accidents and hazards.

 
 

1.0      INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Health and safety is an important issue in construction works. A building

construction site is a construction site where major construction activities take

place, requiring the issue of health and safety to be taken into serious

considerations. Hazards on building construction sites need to be defined and

eliminated through effective health and safety measures.

Hazards as one of the characteristics nature of work on a construction site raises

the issue of health and safety on building construction site as one of the numerous

problems facing the building industry in Iwo, Osun State. This problem may have

directly or indirectly or negatively affected both human and material resources and

may have also brought about perpetual agony and hardship to various families that

are victimized by fatal industrial hazards.

Health, as defined by oxford dictionary of current English is the state of being free

from illness or injury; a person’s mental or physical condition.

Webster’s dictionary of English language puts it that health is the state of fitness of

the body or mind; it is the general condition of the body or mind with reference

soundness and vigor.

Safety as defined by the Oxford dictionary of current English is the condition of

being safe While Webster’s encyclopedia dictionary of English language defined

“Safety” as the condition of being safe from risk or danger. It is the quality of

averting or not causing injury, danger or loss.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Most building construction workers are exposed to some hazards through

enormous power tools, falling of construction materials, defective scaffolding and

electrical defaults. The building construction sites in Iwo, Osun State harbor a

greater number of quacks and unformed labourers and contractors who do not care

about the health, safety and welfare of their workers. Moreover, these contractors

are not registered with the government and the contractors registering body. These

groups of contractors only seek for their own individual welfare and they are

abound mostly in rural areas of Iwo, Osun State and go mostly for minor building

works whose contracts are most cases initiated orally. These quack contractors are

predominantly, illiterates but comprise experienced operators who are retired to

retrench in the civil service construction firms and their apprentices.

According to Eze (1990) to affect the health and safety measures on building

construction sites, the associated hazards must be recognized and monitored with

the view to adopting adequate and satisfactory protection measures to safeguard

the lives of workers.

Accidents that occur during construction and demolition activities result in injury,

mostly to employees on site. Accidents can occur even before works begin during

survey and investigatory phase of a project and after works have been completed,

because of faulty design or construction causing death or injury to those engaged

on maintenance work and to members of the public.

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For the purpose of this research work, the researcher has formulated the following

research questions and the question will be answered in the cause of the study:

1. What is the level of awareness of construction personnel on safety

provisions in the various contract forms and regulations used in Iwo, Osun

State?

2. What is the extent of implementation of the safety provision contained in the

construction industry, description of the general problems inherent,

 circumstances that allowed accident events to occur and the lessons that

should be learnt to improve health and safety in the construction?

3. What is the effect of not implementing health and safety regulations in

construction industry?

1.4 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The major aim of this project research is to critically examine the effect of lack of

HSE and report on measures to be adopted to ensure that health and safety are

regularly and adequately maintained on building construction sites in Iwo, Osun

State. The efforts of management staff in giving instruction to subordinates and

setting down rules which should be monitored for strict compliance on the part of

construction firms and operatives on building construction sites to be improved in

Iwo, Osun State.

1.4.1 OBJECTIVES

1. To assess the awareness of construction personnel on safety provisions in

the various contract forms and regulations used in Iwo, Osun State.

2. To ascertain the extent of implementation of the safety provision contained

in in the construction industry, description of the general problems inherent,

 circumstances that allowed accident events to occur and the lessons that

should be learnt to improve health and safety in the construction

3. To assess the level of lack of implementation of the of health and safety

regulations in construction industry

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the ways to make workers to be aware of construction personnel on

safety provisions in the various contract forms and regulations used in Iwo,

Osun State?

2. What are the ways to make workers to ascertain the extent of

implementation of the safety provision contained in in the construction

industry, description of the general problems inherent, circumstances that

allowed accident events to occur and the lessons that should be learnt to

improve health and safety in the construction?

3. What is the level of lack of implementation of the of health and safety

regulations in construction industry?

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be of immense importance to the construction companies in not

only Iwo, Osun State but other states as well and in Nigeria as a whole. This is
because the study will open their eyes to the various measures that can be used to

ascertain the various causes of hazards, their effects and solutions to them when it

occurs on the building construction sites.

This project will help to reduce the bad reputation and perception of Nigeria

construction industry, mostly in Iwo, Osun State in particular as a result of shoddy

performance during project execution and repair.

The health and safety of workers on construction sites in Iwo, Osun State has to be

monitored form time to time during construction to minimize or prevent injuries to

persons during constructions processes.

The study will be significant to students who might wish to use it as a basis for

further research. It will serve as a spring board form which further research might

take-off. The data already gathered and documented in this project will serve as a

source of information to students.

1.7 SCOPE AND DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY SCOPE

The scope of this work is to critically study and reveal the various accidents that

occur frequently on site and also suggest the possible remedy to check same on

building site in Iwo, Osun State.

1.8 DELIMITATIONS
This project work covers the followings areas:

1. The problems of health and safety on building construction sites, considered

from many perspectives, in a view to maintain a reasonably high standard of

health and safety on building sites.

2. The duties of management in the issue of health and safety of workers on the

building sites, with particular emphasis and references to building

construction sites. It discuses and consequently educating the uninformed in

construction, the need to imbibe safe working practices to reduce risk of

accidents and generally enhance good health and welfare of personnel on the

construction sites.

3. The examination of the effects of non-compliance to safety regulations and

causes of the non-compliance

4. It recommends where appropriate the possible solution to the problems

1.9 LIMITATION

Due to the economy, the research study is limited to evaluate health and safety on

building construction site, using Iwo, Osun State as a case study. The research is

compelled to limit it to this, due to time and financial constraint.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Construction Tradespeople and Accident Exposure

In the context of this study, construction tradespeople include craftsmen, artisans,

and other site operatives that are different from the built environment professional

and experts. Tradespeople are workers with trade specializations where work

experience requires training on the job; due to modernization and to avoid gender

bias, it is more fashionable to use the term ’tradespeople’ (Ugulu et al., 2019).

They include skilled carpenters, masons, plumbers, plasterers, painters, and

glaziers. Eze et al. (2017) submitted that construction artisans, craftsmen, or

operatives are the categories of construction field workers that are physically and

directly involved in the execution of the works and production of the finished

buildings and other construction-related structures. This set of workers forms the

main construction site workers that are commonly engaged by all categories of

construction organizations. Thus, the productivity of construction projects and the

performance of construction organizations are dependent on the tradespeople.

Construction tradespeople are very essential in the delivery of construction projects

be it civil and/or building projects. This is because their inputs in the installations

and assembly of building materials and components have an impact on the time,

cost, and quality of the final product (Afolabi et al., 2018). These trade workers are

constantly being exposed to various degrees of hazards and fatalities due to the
nature of the work they do and their level of involvement. However, some are

more exposed to HS challenges than the others; because the content of the risk of

every worker's assignment differs from trade to trade. Construction tradespeople

work in teams or groups and are made of skilled, semi-skilled, and laborers with

varying degrees of experience on the job and awareness level of health and safety-

related matters. Laborers were found to be more exposed to accidents than skilled

carpenters, masons, and plant operators (Alinaitwe et al., 2007). In an earlier study,

steel/ironworkers and roofers were the building trades with the highest exposure to

health and safety risks (Baradan & Usmen, 2006). In the USA, Choi (2015)

reported that the trade groups with the highest susceptibility to construction site

hazards and accidents are laborers, carpenters, steel/ironworkers, and operators.

Workers, whose tasks involve lifting, like the masons and their laborers (helpers)

are exposed to injuries like musculoskeletal injuries/disorders (Ray et al., 2015).

Lifting entails, manual material handling activities and these have a serious impact

on the muscles and skeletal posture of the workers. One of the trades with the

highest accident rate in the construction industry is masonry as reported by

(Schneider & Susi, 1994).

The vulnerability of the construction tradespeople to accidents and injury and other

site hazards is a reflection of their level of involvement in the delivery of

construction works. Understanding the trades with the highest accident-prone rate
and the likely causes is vital in the HS planning and control and management of

fatalities on site. Szóstak (2019) states that construction works are executed

throughout the whole calendar year usually under variable atmospheric conditions.

These works are done during the day, evening, and night times. Some construction

workers are made to work overtime beyond the normal eight-hour day; thus, with

such conditions, workers are exposed to high health and safety risks. Furthermore,

according to Szóstak (2019), Construction workers in the case of accidents play

three roles (these are; the decision-maker, the perpetrator of an accident, and the

victim).

2.2 Accidents Types and Causes on Construction Sites

The construction industry experiences a frequent level of accidents, and this

according to Zou et al. (2007), has been blamed on job pressures, long construction

periods, hazardous machine operations, complex processes, work environment

being hazardous. Bell and Healey (2006) reported that the major causes of

accidents are consist of poor management practices (i.e. inadequate supervision),

the pressure to meet production targets, inadequate safety management systems,

failure to learn lessons from previous incidents, communication issues (i.e.

between shifts, between personnel and management), inadequate reporting

systems, complacency, violations/ non-compliance behavior, inadequate training

(i.e. in areas of emergency responses, fire, and safety), lack of competency,

excessive working hours resulting in mental fatigue, inadequate procedures,

modification/ updates to equipment without operator knowledge and/or revised risk

assessments, inadequate maintenance of tools and equipment, and maintenance

errors.

Arunkumar and Gunasekaran (2018) grouped the major causes of accidents into

five groups and they are; unsafe act, unsafe working condition, communication

barrier, management commitment, and training. The possible factors responsible

for the accidents are failure to follow safety rules, ignorance of PPE (Personal

Protective Equipment), space congestion, improper use of safety items, and

improper equipment.

The Perecman Firm (2014) posits that on the construction site, the 'fatal four'

causes of accidents and fatalities are falls, struck by objects, electrocution, and

caught-in between. Furthermore, these 'fatal four' causes 3 out of 5 construction

workers' deaths. Other common accidents on-site include slip and fall, ladder

accidents, scaffolding accidents, power tool, and machinery accidents,

musculoskeletal disorders, and vehicle accidents. However, workers' attitudes and

behaviors contribute to the occurrence of accidents on sites. Many fatalities have

been blamed on negligence, unsafe worksite conditions, absence of protective

safeguards, and abuse or poor handling of tools and/or equipment. Similarly,

Williams et al. (2019) found that the most occurring accident type is contact with
working tools, vehicle-related, slip and trip, and falls. Williams et al. (2019) further

reported that the major causes of accidents are; failure of edge protection, safety

standard violations, overloading of scaffold and crane, wrong placement of ladder,

loss of control over body movement, failure in the designs, absence of warning

signs, over speeding of vehicle, wrong selection of working tools, non-usage of

personal protective equipment, improperly installed equipment, horseplay, and

poor housekeeping.

HG.org Legal resources (2020) identified the common causes of fatalities on

construction sites to include; Slip and falls which is caused by unsafe working

conditions, falling on stairwells caused by incorrect installation or absence of

handrails, Stepladders which can tip over or even collapse, Falls from roofs caused

by lack of fall protection, failure to obey safety regulations for scaffolding.; which

can easily collapse, Collapsing of trenches and excavation faces due to non-use of

supports, power tool accidents in situations where the eye and ear protection were

neglected, improper lifting with back muscles instead of legs, and dump trucks,

forklifts, and other vehicles.

Certain conditions reduce the efficiency of site operations and predispose them to

hazards and accidents. Yusof and Misnan (2019) revealed that these variable are

poor occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management, financial constraint, lack

of training and knowledge on safety management, high competition, lack of

communication, unsatisfactory safety motivation, poor safety culture, inefficient

safety person in charge and time pressure.

2.3 Measures for improving HS management practices on construction sites

According to Kirwan (1998), Safety management has to do with actual practices,

roles, and functions that are connected with remaining safe. It is usually carried out

through an organization’s safety management system with the support of different

safety management practices (Agyekum et al., 2018). The design of the safety

management practices differs from country to country because of the cultural

differences in the construction industries of both developed and developing (Ali et

al., 2009; Ismail et al., 2012). Choudhry et al. (2008) posit that for a company to

remain competitive, it must implement safety practices that meet the dynamic

needs of the construction industry. According to Choudhry et al. (2008), The

benefits of implementing good safety management practices are: Reducing the

number of injuries to personnel and operatives in the workplace through the

prevention and control of workplace hazards; minimizing the risk of major

accidents; controlling workplace risks improve employee morale and enhances

productivity; minimizing production interruptions and reducing material and

equipment damage; reducing the cost of insurance as well as the cost of employee

absences; minimizing legal costs of accident litigation, fines, reducing

expenditures on emergency supplies; and reducing accident investigation time,

supervisors’ time diverted, clerical efforts, and the loss of expertise and

experiences. Construction and client organizations are thus, required to implement

good safety management practices in order to enjoy the full benefits inherent in

safety health and environment.

Construction projects are complex with a lot of stakeholders and parties. There are

different types of machinery, equipment, tools, trucks, materials, and various

categories of workers that are working currently. The movement of these materials,

equipment, and people is some time without a pattern, thus, exposing humans,

materials and the building components to various degrees of hazards. Even though

there is a high exposure level of workers to fatalities, there a possible measure for

minimizing the injuries on construction sites, and these involve all hands being on

deck for it to succeed.

Every stakeholder and party to a construction contract has a role to play in terms of

ensuring that HS is taken seriously on site. Safety is everybody's business when it

comes to construction contracts and other developmental projects. The project

clients have a critical role to play, they stand on top of the hierarchy for bringing

the needed change to issues relating to the safety of workers, equipment, materials,

and the building being executed. Lingard and Blismas (2013) posit that client is in

the most suitable position to initiate the cultural change required to ensure safety

improvement. This is because clients take the major decisions that would make or
mar safety implementation and adherence on site. Construction projects because of

the need to meet project quality specifications and schedule, could compromise

quality and this could result to rework and an increase in construction costs. It is

the role of the client to ensure and acknowledge that safety plays a complementary

role in quality and schedule, which consequently leads to a decrease in

construction costs (Sunindijo, 2015). Thus, the clients need a comprehensive safety

intervention. This includes ensuring that only contractors with proven safety

performance records are awarded projects during the procurement phase.

Health and safety training and induction programs for new employees are one of

the ways to endure effective safety performance of construction contractors.

Sunindijo (2015) submitted that the cost of training and compliance is a major

impediment, especially to SMEs because of their limited financial strength and

economic forces. HS training and induction programs can improve safety

consciousness and performance of construction site operatives. To ensure

sustainable safety training in construction organizations, Sunindijo (2015)

advocated for safety training incentives and supports. Companies with existing

training programs need to be assessed for effectiveness and to ensure that the

practices are not neglected.

HS improvement strategies identified by Belayutham and Ibrahim (2019) include;

safety being considered as criteria during tendering, construction organizations

should provide a suitable platform for exchanges of knowledge and experiences

that will promote best practices, funding of OHS training to be taken over by the

government, making safety one of the Key Performance Indicators, strict

enforcement of safety regulation, creating more safety-conscious culture, rewards,

and penalties for defaulters, effective communication system on-site, and health

and safety training programs. Hasle and Limborg (2006) opined that the

government should effectively monitor and ensure the enforcement of safety

regulations by organizations. Enforcement of safety regulations will go a very long

way in ensuring the safety of construction workers and reduced accidents and other

health hazards.

In the Eswatini Construction Industry, Aghimien et al. (2019) revealed that the

creation and implementation of HS plans, proper workers welfare, and government

and client support are the key drivers of HS management practices among SMEs.

This implies that accidents and fatalities on construction sites can be curtailed by

the use of HS management plans and their implementation s on site. Also, a good

welfare package for workers and government and clients supports is necessary.

Accidents prevention strategies identified by Construction world (2017) are; daily

safety meetings, reduce the amount of night work, proper safety gear, reflective or

highly-visible clothing, regular and frequent breaks, clear signage to warn of

danger, introduce a warm-up or calisthenics exercise, avoid sunlight to minimize

fatigue, practice defensive driving/parking/backing up, be aware of worker diets

and encourage healthy eating. Wong et al. (2015) recommended that good

occupational health and safety (OHS) practices can be improved in construction

companies through Financial supports to small construction organizations to

improve the OHS competence of the workers, punishing non-compliant workers

and giving financial rewards to compliant workers, conduct proper safety training

before engaging in any construction works, constant monitoring and appraisal of

the company's' safety performance, explicit description of OHS responsibilities on

each project in the contractual arrangements, and involvement of tertiary education

sector in OHS training; are the possible ways of overcoming the impediments to

good health and safety management practices by construction organizations.

Williams et al. (2019) submitted that appropriate preventive measures for the

occurrence of accident include: management enforcing compliance with safety

standards, the use of personal protective equipment (safety belts, safety nets),

correct placement of ladder through proper supervision, constant training on right

selection and use of equipment/tools, the correctness of design, an inspection of

equipment, site discipline among workers, appropriateness in the usage of safety

items, conspicuous location of warning signs, regular maintenance of tools and

equipment, and reporting of accidents. In the Malaysian construction industry,

Tanko et al. (2020) reported the awareness level of use of PPE is high but with a
low compliance level. They recommended the provision of safety training and

penalties to workers who fail to comply with PPE usage.

To maintain zero-accident conditions in the workplace, Sukamani & Wang (2020)

recommended a more focus on the safe environment in the construction industry.

An upgrade of safety practices for improved workers' safety status will be also

advocated, and this would be achieved by the provision of adequate safety

facilities, cultivating a better safety climate and safety culture, and the provision of

adequate financial budgetary supports. Potential workers should select construction

organizations with an acceptable positive safety disposition; this is to ensure the

maintenance of satisfactory safety behaviors in the workplace (Sukamani & Wang,

2020).
CHAPTER THREE

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

For any research finding to be established, it is pertinent to discuss the methods

adopted for data collection. This section of the study highlights the way and means

by which the research will be accomplished and particularly the approach adopted.

Primarily research signifies assembling of facts that are then interpreted to

enlighten and increase a reader’s knowledge on a subject area (Naoum 2003). The

research methodology demonstrates the procedure through which the research

objectives can be actualized. It also establishes the procedure for data collection

and analysis. Fellow and Liu (2003) assert that methodology is the breakdown of a

particular method used in a specific study.

3.2 Research Design

In attempt to achieve the research questions, efforts will be put to ensure that

questionnaires will be structured in five sections so as to collect the appropriate

information on each research question.

Also, the research questions focuses on specific objectives of the study, personal

distribution of questionnaire will be adopted among the concerned professionals

department to the topic of the study.

This project is a primary research that involves visiting, administering and the

collection of information with the aid of questionnaires from the professionals in

the consulting, and contracting firms.

3.3 Population of the Study

The population that will be considered in this research is the construction

professionals in contracting, consulting and public firms which will involve a few

respondents. The target population will be a selected consulting and contracting

firms in Iwo, Osun state, Nigeria. 100 questionnaires will be administered. 20 for

Civil Engineers, 20 for Quantity Surveyors, 20 For builders, 20 for Architects and

20 for profession HSE staffs.

3.4. Sampling Techniques

Simple random sampling techniques will be adopted in the selection of respondents

in order to minimize bias in the study.

3.5. Sample Size

In order to ensure that reliable and adequate data to investigate the research

problems is generated, it is necessary to have a population sample, which is

heterogeneous and comprehensive. It is also important that such population gives a

true representation of the target population. Samples are always the subset or small

parts of the total number that could be studied. Due to the nature of the research,
both consulting firms and contracting firms in the construction industry will be

considered.

3.5 Research Instrument

The research instrument which will be used for this study will be questionnaire

administration. The design of questionnaire will be based on the objective of the

study. The questionnaires investigated two objectives. The questions will be

designed in structured form in which the questionnaires will be presented to the

respondents and the interviewees in same form and order, having same wordings.

The questionnaires will comprise of two sections: section A containing the

background information which include the educational qualification, organization

type, years of experience, professional qualification and designation. Section B

will be based on matters related to the research objectives.

3.6 Method of Data Collection

For the purpose of analysis in this study, the questionnaire will be in two distinct

parts, part A consists of demographical data, which include the name and address

of the firm, professional background and year of experience. While part B of the

questionnaire deal with probing questions into the research study.

Responses to the items will be of two steps. First step is by ticking in the option

best agreed with the respondent opinion. A respondent experienced the research

problems which are associated with the Facility Management construction firm.
The other steps will be by ranking, by using scale of 5 most frequent, 4 frequent,

3 moderately, 2 fairly, 1 not fair. These factors were rated out of hundred. The

resulting values were summed up and arranged to give the magnitude of important

of each factor for research problems.

3.7 Procedure for Processing and Analysis of Data

The data collected from the survey will be ordinal or ranking because the distance

between any two number assigned in the linker scale are not known the use of

parametric meaningful results and the non-parametric procedures adopted for this

study were frequency and severity index analysis. Relative index ranking technique

is a non-parametric technique widely used by construction management

researchers for analyzing structured questionnaire response data involving ordinal

measurement of attitudes.

The frequency analysis will be first carried out to determine the frequency of

responses which were then used to calculate severity indices by means of the

formula:

Severity index [∑ aixi] x 100%

5∑ xi

Where

xi= variable expressing the frequency of the response for i

i= 1, 2,3,4,5 as illustrated below

 x5= frequency of the Strongly Agreedand corresponding to a5 5

x4 = frequency of the Agreed and corresponding to a4 4

x3 = frequency to the Undecided and corresponding to a3 3

x2 = frequency of the Disagreed and corresponding to a2 2

x1= frequency of the Strongly Disagreed and corresponding to a1 1

3.8 Likely Constraints

Despite the fact that research work witnesses the daylight, there may be same

impediment in the collection of the data and these can be state as follows;

1. Low response from the practitioners and ministries

2. Lack of interest in completion of questionnaires.

3. Understanding ability of some respondent on the project work is shallow

4. Same respondents still find some of the frame questionnaires unfamiliar

5. Most of the Quantity who are respondent and always busy thereby present them

from taking time to give response on time.