Abstract
Globally, the construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities. In Namibia, the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) status of workers in construction industries remains a challenge primarily due to the dearth of studies that investigate the health and safety of workers. The objectives of this study were to investigate the status of occupational health and safety in the construction industry in Windhoek, Namibia, with a view to recommend interventions that would improve occupational health and safety of workers in the targeted sector. A quantitative, descriptive study design was conducted among 549 participants from 13 construction sites that were operating at the time of conducting the study. Data were collected by means of an interviewer led questionnaire. SPSS version 23 was used to analyse data. The study identified a number of different approaches to be provided on construction industry for OHS improvement such as OHS programme implementation, training of workers on OHS aspects, provision of medical services to construction workers, adequate provision of welfare facilities, and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) provision. The study has proven that there is a need to improve the OHS in the construction industry to prevent occupational accidents, injuries, fatalities and diseases. The practical guidelines were developed which could be useful if implemented in construction sites to improve the OHS in the construction industry.
Highlights
The construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities [1]
The analysis shows that, 30 (5.4%) participants indicated the importance of having occupational health and safety committees in construction sites to guide them on Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) aspects and 41 (7.4% ) indicated the need to nominate OHS representatives at workplaces
Occupational Health and Safety Training of Workers As shown in table 2, the analysis shows that 97 (17.6%) of the participants indicated the importance of conducting OHS training on construction sites
Summary
The construction industry is regarded as a very dangerous industry due to the labour-intensive nature of the work resulting into a high rate of occupational accidents, injuries, diseases and fatalities [1]. [3] conducted the study by retrieving the documents, from the Ministry of Labour, Industrial relations and Employment creation, focused on Windhoek’s construction industry’s occupational accidents, injuries and diseases for the period April 2011 to March 2016. The study revealed that there were no documented information regarding occupational diseases from the construction industry during the reviewed period of five years (April 2011 to March 2016) [3]. These figures are evidencing the higher rate of occupational accidents in the Windhoek construction industry, as well as lack of reporting of occupational diseases from the construction industry. The improvement of OHS in the construction industry is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) goal 3 and 8 which are alluding to “Good Health and Wellbeing” and Decent Work and Economic Growth’’ respectively
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