Effects of Work Pressure on Employee Safety Behavior in the Construction Industry in Ghana.

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Date
November, 2016
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Abstract
The construction industry generally continue to record relatively very high rates of workplace injuries and work related illnesses compared to many other industries globally. The situation is even worse in nascent economies where workplace safety laws and standards are far from adequate and monitoring and evaluation of safety performance is either minimal or practically non-existent. There is growing empirical evidence suggesting that work pressure has a positive relationship with work related accidents and injuries. This study scrutinizes worker perceptions about the effects of work pressure on their safety behavior and their exposure to accidents in the construction industry in Ghana. The study adopts a descriptive survey approach and uses primary data from a field survey of 187 construction site workers in Ghana. The results of the empirical investigation suggest that there are high levels of work pressure related accidents in the construction industry in Ghana. The findings also point to the fact that work pressure is mostly caused by work overload, delayed schedules, and a mismatch between employee skills and allocated tasks. Recommendations made based on the findings, suggestions made by the respondents of the study, and the reviewed literature include: construction firms in Ghana should employ appropriate number of employees to reduce work pressure caused by work overload; supervisors should encourage workers by providing incentives for hard work and appreciate worker effort and construction firms in Ghana should start projects on time.
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A Thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirement for a degree of Master of Science.
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