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Costs Of Health And Safety Management In Building Sites
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Despite being among the countries that signed
the occupational health and safety law in the Geneva Convention of
1981, the pathetic health and safety situation in Nigeria construction
industry made Idoro (2008; 2011), to conclude that the contractors’
management efforts on occupational health and safety, do not reflect in
their scope of operations and the accident and injury rates of the
Nigerian construction industry are high, as there are many collapse
building and structures everywhere, workers falling off height, because
they didn’t wear their body harness, etc.
One factors stand-out clear
about the low level of safety performance in the Nigerian construction
industry, that is, cost related concern (Okoye, 2013). Construction
organizations increasingly argued that safety concerns are not well
prioritized in the building sector compared to oil and gas industry
(Onyejeji, 2011).
Now, with increased awareness and re-emerging
interest to improve safety performance in the building sector (Idoro,
2011; Okoye, 2013), it is requisite to understand the cost implications
of implementing safety practices in the Nigerian construction industry.
According to Idoro (2011), a better approach to improve safety is to
focus on proactive efforts dealing with the cost of mitigation. Against
this backdrop, this study is targeted at improving state of existing
knowledge about the magnitude of contractor’s cost on safety management
programme.
1.2 Statement of Research Problem
There is
a high rate of accidents on construction sites across the globe but the
developing countries have peculiar situation that calls for immediate
attention. According to Adade-Boateng, Fuhar and Adinyira (2016), the
construction industry continues to record high occupational accidents
worldwide. The industry employs about 7% of the world's population and
yet accounts for 30-40% of global occupational accidents (ILO 2005). In
many developing countries, accurate statistics of injuries and
fatalities in the construction industry are virtually non-existent due
to poor recording and notification systems (Adade-Boateng, Fuhar and
Adinyira, 2016). Ha¨ma¨la¨inen et al, (2006) argued that in spite of
this, figures obtained are still used as a "baseline for occupational
safety work". Available data would suggest that accident rates in
developing countries are 3–6 times greater than in the developed
countries (Jason, 2008). Idoro (2011) observed that contractor’s
management efforts on occupational Health and Safety does not reflect
the scope of operation. Some organisations don’t give the protection of
their workforce the priority it deserves. This is due to the lack of
knowledge, skills and motivation, or limited staff resources (Chapman
and Ward, 2003). Previous research also stated that cost is also an
important factor responsible for the poor Health and Safety Performance
in the construction (Smallwood, 2004). Cost is a critical criterion
determining contractor’s decision to invest.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The construction industry is inherently hazardous. Thus, there is a need to make the construction site a safe place to work although the poor safety record remains a concern. The determination of the aggregate costs of health and safety programmes is considered a leap for achieving construction safety in construction project delivery. This study evaluated the costs of health and safety programmes in building project delivery. The study determined among others, cost-related factors affecting heal ... Continue reading---
