Safety Management Practices of Construction Organisations in Nigeria

Abstract

Studies on construction safety have not investigated proactive measurement of safety climate and culture among construction organisations in Nigeria. Hence, this research investigated the safety management practices (workable safety programme, safety programme issues, safety training, safety inspection, safety assessment, and penalty for not wearing safety equipment) employed by construction organisations in Nigeria. The results revealed that effective communication, support and involvement of the management played very important role in ensuring an effective safety programme in the construction industry. The findings show that workers with bad assessment records were punished, reprimanded or dismissed accordingly. It was also found in the study that construction organisations placed emphasis on safety inspection to identify potentially hazardous conditions and unsafe actions in order to initiate corrections. The study concluded that the personnel across levels of engagement in the construction industry must be trained periodically on the emerging safety practices, use of kits and behavioural culture such exposure and training session would also allow increased preventive and on-hand efforts to mitigate risks associated with construction processes. The study recommended that safety audit process must be carried out either by using competent in-house personnel or outsourced staff to assess levels of compliance of construction firms with safety policy on ground. This would provide avenue for zero non-compliance with safety practices and culture by personnel in the construction industry.