Skilled labour shortage is the shortfall of workforce in specific trades or shortage of workforce with requisite skills. The paper seeks to identify areas where there are skilled labour shortages in the building construction industry within the Central Region. A survey research approach was employed to get the study population that consisted of project managers, site engineers, site foremen and engineers working with contactors. Questionnaires were designed based on the research specific objectives and used as the main instrument for data collection. Findings from the study revealed that the shortage of skilled manpower was from painters and decorators, electricians and tile workers. Further findings showed that skilled labour shortage was caused by socio–economic conditions, external forces, job attractiveness, job characteristics, job satisfaction, industry limitations and personal factors. Employees should be encouraged to develop their trade competences and change their attitude to work, while employers should build their manpower base through training.
Over one-third of the volume of concrete is occupied by coarse aggregate and any changes in coarse aggregate type can affect its strength and fracture properties. The paper examined the impact of coarse aggregates on compressive strength of concrete. Slump and compaction factor tests were conducted on the mixture of quartzite and crushed granite course aggregates, and quarry dust (fine aggregate). Nominal mix (1:2:3) was adopted and mix compositions were calculated by absolute weight method. Twelve (12) cubes (150x150mm) of each type of coarse aggregate were cast for 7, 14, 21, and 28 days to determine their compressive strengths. Quartzite was found to have the highest average compressive strength of 24.48N/mm2 with an average density of 2160kg/m3 , while compressive strength of crushed granite was 22.01N/mm2 with an average density of 2300kg/m3 on the 28 day of testing. Concrete made from granite had the highest workability, while concrete made from quartzite aggregate had the highest compressive strength. Densities and compressive strengths of the individual aggregates accounted for the variation in strengths of the concrete, due to differences in properties and strengths. In conclusion, the effect of any type of coarse aggregate on the compressive strength of concrete will be known and also enable contractors to determine the type of aggregate to be selected for a particular work. Keywords: Compaction factor test; slump test; strength; workability.
The construction industry in Ghana is faced with employees' negligence in obeying rules and regulations, and acts that conflict with health and safety. The purpose of the paper was to present the revised health and safety (H&S) compliance model for the construction industry based on a developed theoretical six factor model. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted on the theoretical model to assess whether the variables were suitable for Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).The EFA carried out on the theoretical model led to the revision of the H&S compliance model. The extraction method employed on the theoretical six factor model during the EFA was Principal Axis Factoring with Oblimin Rotation (PAF Oblimin).Findings from the study show that Total Variance Explained had fourteen factors above 1.00. Further findings show that four factors were retained from the six factor theoretical model. In some cases few variables were combined with other factors to form new factors. The combination of the variables led to the formation of new factors with different latent constructs. The remaining two factors from the theoretical model also form part of the new constructs. Twelve factors were finally obtained from the EFA, with a minimum of three variables each. The factors with negative factor loadings indicate their weakness in the model because they cross load over another. Hence, two factors with highest number of negative factor loadings were dropped, remaining ten factors with good communalities above 0.3 as shown in the revised model.
Sustainable use of waste materials may contribute to reducting negative environmental impact of non-decaying waste materials. The paper examined coconut shell (CS) and palm kernel shell (PKS) wastes for concrete production in construction industry. Experiments were conducted on concrete produced with CS and PKS wastes to determine their workability, compressive strength and density. Silt test, grading of aggregates, slump, compacting factor and compressive strength of concrete were carried out at the laboratory to determine the silt content, particle size distribution, workability and consistency of mix, compressive strength and density for concrete production. Three types of concrete mixes were prepared (a control mix, others consist of 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% replacement of crushed PKS and 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% replacement of crushed CS. Findings show that workability of CS and PKS concrete decreases when the replacement percentage of crushed CS and PKS increases. And it is similar for both compressive strength and density. Workability of CS and PKS concrete is lower than that of normal concrete (control mix). Compressive strength of CS concrete (7.88 Mpa to 19.29 Mpa) was found to be higher than that of PKS concrete (6.85 Mpa to 13.29 Mpa) for all the days. It implies that CS concrete is stronger than PKS concrete.
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