Abstract
Occupational health and safety continues to be a major component of the built environment. The study investigates the effectiveness of occupational health and safety laws and regulations in the construction industry in Ghana and identifies the influencing factors. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among 49 stakeholders from four relevant groups—regulatory institutions, consultants, contractors, artisans and labourers. The findings of the study suggest that the existing occupational health and safety legal and regulatory framework is barely effective. Stakeholders were aware of the existence of some laws and regulations but mostly could not identify the specific laws and their relevant contents. Consequently, compliance is found to be irregular. The key recurring factors affecting effectiveness of occupational health and safety laws and regulations include: negligence and lack of priority for occupational health and safety, lack of training, lack of funds for occupational health and safety, lack of capacity of regulatory and supervisory institutions, and lack of occupational health and safety education within construction firms. The findings of the study are foundational in strategic interventions aimed at improving compliance with occupational health and safety laws and regulations in the construction industry of Ghana.
Highlights
The construction industry is reputed as being a hazardous environment due to the high rate of incidence of accidents and fatalities [1] [2] [3]
Many institutions are responsible for occupational health and safety (OHS) in Ghana
We present the discussion of results in relation to the three themes in the study namely; the patterns of behaviour of regulatory institutions and consultants, actions of construction companies and factors affecting the effectiveness of OHS regulations and laws
Summary
The construction industry is reputed as being a hazardous environment due to the high rate of incidence of accidents and fatalities [1] [2] [3]. Construction is rated among the five most high risk sectors with solutions to occupational health and safety (OHS) issues proving invisible [4]. A study reported by [5] indicates that, in 2010/11 the construction industry accounted for 27% of fatal injuries to employees. It can be argued that poor implementation of OHS standards in the construction industry will lead to frequent and more OHS incidents and accidents which could negatively impact on the progress of many projects. The implementation of effective safety programmes and ensuring compliance with OHS regulations has been established as a critical success factor in construction projects [11]. An enabling OHS regulation forms the framework within which OHS programmes of construction firms when properly implemented will guarantee the success of construction projects
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