SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SITE

SAFETY MANAGEMENT IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SITE

Background of the study

The construction industry in Nigeria has since being on a steady rise in recent years owing to the large expanse of undeveloped Land required to provide shelter for the booming population. As a result, the population of construction workers has also soared. The building construction industry is made up of different personnel

having different trades to handle different construction process. Bala et al. [4] cited large number of seasonal migrant as one of the several reason for this growth in population because many of them are ignorant of construction processes. With this increase both in terms of development as well as personnel comes an increase in site

accidents. According to Smallwood et al 2008, the construction industry has earned a reputation of being a dangerous or highly hazardous industry because of the disproportionately high accidents and fatalities that occur on the construction sites around the world. The International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization claims that one in six fatal accidents at work occur on a construction site .

Health and safety is of extreme importance within the construction industry as different construction operations take place at about the same time. This can be attributed to building project delivery dates agreed upon during bidding for construction jobs by building contractors. Health and safety is relevant to all branches of industry, a practice that is particularly imperative for the construction industry [1]. In advanced countries of the world, visibly improvements have since been made to mitigate site accident. This in turn cannot be completed said of Nigeria as the industry is blighted by reports of accidents on construction site with even the

multinational companies falling prey of such distasteful occurrence. Construction managers over time have devised a cheaper means of employing laborers on casual or temporary basis. This is partly because they are not tied to any permanent employment contract which strips them of any benefit from the company or employer in term of insurance. As a result, the contractors do not feel responsible for any unfortunate occurrence in term of accidents that eventually befall the laborers. This in turn affect the productivity of such laborers as issues of life is taken first before work hence the evident defect seen in workmanship output especially in the Nigeria building industry.

Information about accidents in the Nigerian construction industry is also not properly documented. This makes it an arduous task getting relevant data. This was stressed by Okeola [16] that because most contractors fail to report cases of accidents to the ministerial departments in charge of such occurrence, there are no reliable data. It has therefore become imperative to look into these accidents as it has over time rendered site laborers useless to themselves and the society due to the extent of this injuries sustained in the line of duty.

This was discussed further by Awodele and Ayoola [3], Smallwood and Haupt [17] that not less than hundreds or construction workers are being killed each year and a much more maimed on construction sites in Nigeria. It has also in some extreme cases led to death as a result of the neglect of some construction managers’ adherence to health and safety laws but in place. Construction site workers are often exposed to very risky job descriptions ranging from working at heights, welding, working underground, handling

dangerous plants and equipment, drilling and handling fire cables.

Accidents on construction sites which are inevitable can be reduced to a bearable minimum if parameters are put in place and are strictly adhered to by all the parties involved. The training of site workers on the extreme importance of health and safety procedures is also essential to curb further sad tales of site accidents.

Building construction projects in Nigeria is characterized with swift project execution. Even with the use of modern day technology which involve the use of construction machines and mechanism, there is still a need to include manual labour in the building construction process.

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