IMPROVING HEALTH AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN AN INTERNATIONAL GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Abstract

Many organizations desire to improve their health and safety (H and S) performance. The study reported on is focused on evolving a framework of interventions to improve an international general contractor’s GC’s H and S performance, the objectives being to determine the: importance of project parameters; importance of 122 aspects / interventions / issues / stakeholders in terms of improving the GC’s H and S performance, and respondents’ perceptions regarding the GC’s H and S status. The questionnaire was circulated by the GC to the three levels of management and H and S practitioners in the four entities via e-mail. Top management commitment to H and S, toolbox talks, top management accountability for H and S, a mission of ‘continuous improvement’, and site management accountability for H and S predominate in terms of aspects / interventions / issues / stakeholders contributing to improving the GC’s H and S performance. A healthy H and S culture exists within the GC, which is reinforced by respondents’ perceptions that the GC’s H and S status is between compliant to proactive / proactive, the GC can improve its H and S performance, and the requisite ‘cocktail’ of aspects / interventions / issues / stakeholders must be in place, and each to an optimum extent, to enable the GC to improve H and S performance. The GC should focus on anticipating and preventing H and S issues, and a process of continuous improvement / innovation.