The effects of Health and Safety Hazards on Labour Rroductivity in Construction Projects

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Date
2021-06-10
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Abstract
The construction industry is one of the key drivers of growth in the Ghanaian economy. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of health and safety hazards on labour productivity in construction projects. The specific objectives were to identify the health and safety hazards on working environment, to examine the attitude of construction workforce to health and safety hazards and to identify effects of health and safety on labour productivity. After extensive review of data, a well-structured questionnaire was designed and distributed to fifty-eight (58) staff of 30 sampled construction firms within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The data gathered were coded and entered into SPSS for analysis. The study employed frequencies, percentages, mean and relative importance index. The results were presented in tables and chart. The study revealed that the major source of health and safety hazards on construction projects in the Ghanaian construction industry are hazards due to falling objects, vibration, dust particles, heat, and high temperature, noise, machines injury, accident through fall, chemical hazards, open pits/excavations and lubricant burnt smell. The study found poor attitude to health and safety among construction workers, a majority of them fail to put on PPE despite being provided, attention of health and safety management in actual practice is not sufficient, most construction companies fail to provide PPE for their workers and there is inadequate training of construction workers on health and safety hazard. The study also produced evidence that health and safety hazards have effect on labour productivity on construction projects. It is therefore important that management of construction firms should not only provide adequate protective clothing, but they should also put in place a monitoring team tasked to go round to check whether the staff really do put on their protective clothing and materials given. It is recommended that contractors of the various construction companies set up a human resource and safety department to enforce safety education campaigns and capacity building programs for both management and casual staff.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science
Keywords
Health and Safety, Hazards, Labour Productivity, Construction Projects
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