Abstract
Abstract The rate of construction accidents in the Ghanaian construction industry is not encouraging. The study sought to identify the factors affecting the effective health and safety practices in the construction industry within the Cape Coast Metropolis. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the construction firms and ‘Yamane formula’ to arrive at the number of respondents (44) for the study. Structured questionnaires were distributed among site engineers, site supervisors, safety officers, quantity surveyors, foremen, chief masons and chief carpenters. Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the data analysis and results were presented in a form of descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that the level of health and safety practices within the Metropolis was high and the factors that affected the implementation of health and safety programmes were severe among the firms. Few of the company’s health and safety programmes were effective and this calls for the strengthenig of the construction sector policy by the ministries responsible for implementation.
Highlights
The construction industry is significant in terms of its socio-economic contribution (Dakhil, 2013)
Lack of an emergency response plan, insufficient communication, poor personal attitude, inadequate evaluation of safety programmes, absence of safety officers on site, poor personal motivation and contractors’ ignorance on safety due to the time pressure of the project schedule were found to be the most severe issues among the factors affecting the implementation of health and safety programmes
The most effective factors that can enhance the implementation of health and safety policies were found to be execution of full verification of safety performance, processes and programmes against approved standards, maintenance of good work environment and approved health and safety standards, consulting with construction workers and clients on safety matters, developing an effective safety reporting system and provision of effective control of safety and health risks
Summary
The construction industry is significant in terms of its socio-economic contribution (Dakhil, 2013). Construction is risky and prone to health and safety risks. This is attributable to the physical environment and the nature of work, operational methods and the use of heavy equipment, and physical properties of the construction project itself (Menzel and Gutierrez, 2010). Fosu (2019), citing Ayitey, posited that Ghana’s construction industry was substantively underdeveloped and as a result, institutional inefficiencies became a common phenomenon. It is essential for the government of Ghana to critically consider establishing a constitutionally mandated regulatory body to ensure the strict adherence to health and safety (H&S) provisions during contract execution (Fosu, 2019). A study conducted by Mustapha et al (2018) on the Examination of Baltic Journal of Real Estate Economics and Construction Management
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