HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES ON CONSTRUCTION SITES

HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES ON CONSTRUCTION SITES

(A CASE STUDY OF ILORIN METROPOLIS)

Abstract

Construction Health and Safety practices are of significant importance to the improvement and sustainability of the construction process. This is why at various levels of the construction process, the major stakeholders have endeavoured to improve Health and Safety management practices in construction industry. In both developed and developing countries, the construction industry is considered to be one of the most significant industries in terms of its impact on health and safety of the working population, making it both economically and socially important. However, the construction industry is also recognized to be one of the most hazardous compared to other sectors of the economy. For this reason, this study aims at evaluating the health and safety practices on construction sites in Ilorin metropolis with a view to enhancing workers performances in order to improve the firm’s productivity. The data were collected from the construction personnel and operatives by using questionnaire and personal observation of some selected sites to evaluate health and safety practices in the construction industry which were both analysed using Relative Importance Index (RII). In total, there were 70 questionnaires which were distributed to respondents, with a response rate of 64.3% and then the layout of 8 active construction sites were observed. From the results obtained, it was observed that the level of commitment from the main construction parties towards the improvement of health and safety practices in construction industry is still at an average level based on the RII computation. Also, as for the construction site layout, the only consideration that was highly considered is the access. Thus, it was recommended that, the construction parties should always ensure to strictly adhere to the guide lines provided by the competent authorities by ensuring that their respective roles are being properly discharge as required and at the same time improve on those aspects that are lagging behind so as to obtain maximum result as far as health and safety is concerned. Conclusively, in designing and management of construction site layout those considerations given in this thesis should always beconsidered, incorporated, and ultimately complied with as laid down by the construction regulations in order to ensure that adequate levels of health and safety performances are accomplished.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The construction firm is known to be one of the riskiest industries in most countries (Edmonds and Nicholas, 2002). The circumstances in developing countries like Nigeria are worse than what exist in developed countries due of lack of concern, precise records and legal regulations on health and safety.  Idoro (2004) asserts that Nigeria lacks legal regulations on health and safety and that those regulations that serve as reference point are either British or American ones. As a colonised country, it is apprehensible for Nigeria to rely on the rules of her colonial master, but what cannot be comprehend is the incapability of the country to have even district  versions of those rules, let alone new ones since the independence in 1960.

Health and safety in the manufacturing firm is controlled by the Factory Act of 1990, which is a district version of the Factory Act of 1961 of Britain. The provisions of this act have enable the Federal Government of Nigeria to establishlegal practice and structures for examine the health and safety status of factories, to give an account of construction accidents and injuries in factories and for sanctioning non-conformity with legal health and safety status and standards. Such rules, system and structures do not subsist in the construction firm consequently; contractors are allowed to use their free will on such crucial matters. The results are that contractors give little resources to upholding a healthy and safe construction work environs; they do not hang onto precise records of construction accidents and injuries on site and also, they do not release or report such data. The prevailing circumstances cannot ameliorate the health and safety condition of the industry (Marosszeky, Karim, Davis and Naik, 2004).

Though spectacular betterment has taken place in recent decades, the record of safety in the construction firm goes on to be one of the most woeful (Farooqui, 2008). The deterrence of construction accidents normally entails anticipating future accidents and their existence under given conditions. The creation of such anticipations is usually established on acquaintance about preceding accidents. The main causes of construction accidents are associated with the unique creation of the industry, complicated work site circumstances, behaviour of human, and poor safety management, which lead intodangerous equipment,procedures and work methods. Therefore, accent in both developing and developed countries demands to be directed on training and the use of comprehensive safety programmes (Farooqui, 2008). Ascribable to the reality that accident rates in construction are eminent when equated to other industries, the construction and projects managers have to be fully ready to address construction accidents when they happen, taking on proper investigations and reporting procedures subsequently. Accident statistics constitute not only terrible human calamities but as well as considerable economic costs. This is because accidents cause harm to plant,equipment and the productive work time losstill the usual site working beat and team spirit are bushelled. Construction   accidents can also cause work interruption and abridge the rate of work (Enshassi, Peter, Mohamed and El-Masri, 2007).

Safety can be referred to as a condition in which one is free from danger, injury or damage. Safety should always come first in our everyday life, i.e. at homes, place of work such as offices, factory, workshop, etc.Whereas hazard on the other hands can be described as an actual or possible situation which might create unplanned injuries or destructions to people or harm, loss of an items or properties. It can also be taken as the safety counterpart. Consequently, the assessment of the workplace safety could be carried out by assessing all on-site risk elements. The safety operation of each of the element can then be quantified by appraising the equivalent on-site risk factors. Furthermore, with the decrement in the potential hazard, its safety functioning improves (Fang, Xiea, Huang and Lick,2004). It has been founded that the diminution of hazardous events is the basic to sound construction safety management since it is these events that have the capacity to create accidents which might result in injuries and human death(Carter and Smith, 2001). Thus, it is important to carryout the risk assessment. A risk assessment can be referred to as heed fulscrutiny of those things in the work process or workplace which could induce harm to people. It also includes finding out whether adequate precautions have been taken or more should be made to foreclose harm. The essence is to ascertain that no person gets harm. The most crucial is thing is to determine whether a hazard is substantial and if it is addressed by acceptable precautions so that the risk is low. The project supervises team and their manners can also affect the hazard exposure and safety operation during construction process.

1.2 Need for the Study

Throughout the world, construction operatives are threefold more likely to be killed and likely to be injured as operatives in other occupations. In Hong Kong, it was recorded that a total number of 3,001 convictions for health and safety offences with a total fine of $17million in 1993. From this figure, it was revealed that 1,382 convictions with a total fine of $1million were related to construction site only (Okeola, 2009). In Italy, it was also observed that the deadly accidents in the construction field account for about 25 per cent of the total of the accidents happening in the industry and services (Baldacconi and Santis, 2000). Also, in New South Wales, Australia, the built-in hazards and related risks of the construction firm are excogitated in its high occurrence and frequency injury rates attested by the fact that in 1998/1999, construction had the 3rd highest occurrence based on recompensed injuries (Dingsdad and Biggs, 2003). The United State of America National safety Council, discovered that construction injuries reported to beabout 11percent of all work associated injuries, and more than 30percent of all fatalities rate as at 1991 (Eppenberger and Haupt, 2003).

Human being a priceless asset constitutes the most vital aspect of a building profession. However, construction accidents on the other hands have been creating many human disasters, productivity, delay projects and loss of life. Unfortunately, this duty has been a neglected aspect of the entire construction process due to the following reasons:

• The inability of government or professional bodies to monitor construction activities in order to enforce safe working practices.
• Urgent desire by a client to have his project completed early and handed over to at a high reduced price.
• Carelessness on the part of supervisor and operatives on work sites in an attempt to meet construction targets or to earn higher wages.

The need to be addressed or else they will constitute a cog in the wheel of construction development in the country.

The upsurge in the fatality rate of the construction firms is now a matter of concern to the environment and construction professional. According to the publication of Nigeria Institute of Building (NIOB), the professional builder (1993), the construction firm has a fatality record of 13 per cent and it rank second after petroleum and coal sector in the group of construction firms with high fatality rates. Furthermore, the publication revealed that in many of the reported cases, accidents could have been prevented if safe working practices had been adopted.It is obviously, based on the aforementioned fact that there is need for an urgency so as to improve on health and safety on our various construction sites in Nigeria. It is on the basis of this that the study sets out to assess   safety and health performances on building construction sites in Ilorin metropolis.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The study aims at evaluating the health and safety practices on construction sites in Ilorin metropolis with a view to enhancing workers performances in order to improve the firm’s productivity.

To achieve this, the following objectives were pursued:

• To examine the layout of the various construction sites.
• To identify the roles of employers (contractors) regarding health and safety and their respective level of compliances.
• To identify the roles of operatives/workers and the level of compliances.
• To identify the roles of consultants and the level of compliances.
• To identify the roles of government and the extent of enforcement.
• Based on 1-5 above, recommend ways by which health and safety practices could be improved upon if found inadequate.

1.4 Scope and Delimitation

The scope of this project work focuses on construction firms and some selected construction sites in Ilorin metropolis. This study was limited to building construction firms in the metropolis.

1.5 Methodology

The research work was carried out with the use of questionnaire survey and personal observation in form of checklist for the personnel and management staff in some construction firms as well as some construction sites in various parts of the metropolis as a means of obtaining primary data.Other materials such as books of authors, professional construction journals, seminar papers, magazine, past project work, etc. relating to the subject were also reviewed and consulted as secondary source of data.