Safety performance of building contractors in Ghana

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Date
2015-04-24
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Abstract
The construction industry is considered one of the most hazardous industries not only in developing countries like Ghana but also throughout the world due to its unique nature. For example Kumasi alone recorded 124 construction accident deaths from 1999 t o 2014. The hazards for this industry make it very essential to pay more attention to construction safety and to impr ove the safety performance of building contractors. However, safety is not a luxury but a necessity, and may be considered an important function to be u sed against unnecessary loss. Very little research has been done in this field in Ghana. The aim was to empirically conduct an in-depth study into the safety performance of Building Contractors in Ghana. The objectives of this research are t o identify factors that significantly influence the safety performance of building contractors in Ghana, to identify and adapt a standardised tool for evaluating the safety performance of building contractors and to evaluate the safet y performance using the identified standardised tool. Seventy –five sub factors were identified and grouped into ten main factors. In this study, only K1D1 building contractors in Accra metropolis were considered. A field survey was conducted through a questionnaire for forty-six building contractors in Accra metropolis. The collected data was analysed to presents statistical measures by using SPSS software. Ranking of the factors were done using the mean score and standard deviation values. It was concluded that the main factors influencing safety performance of building contractors in Accra metropolis are; organizational safety awareness & commitment, development of safety policy, financial motivation to application of safety, productivity bonus payment and relation between worker and management on site. Three out of the selected companies were used for the iii case study. The results of the case study shows that; relationship between worker and management on site should be cordial, government must make it compulsory for professional workers to join a professional body, productivity bonus for their workers and plans to allocate specific budgets for safety records and providing technical guidance in job performance for their workers need to be improved, the building contractors must implement a system for safety incentive for the workers, company management to conduct clear safety policy and periodically random safety inspections for technical works and the concerned government authorities to hire qualified, competent and certified engineers to conduct regular site inspections.
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A dissertation submitted to the Department of Building Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of master of science (MSc) in Construction Management.
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