Contractor’s perception towards safety and its consequences on construction workers in cape coast metropolis

Abstract

The construction environment has been declared as a hazard prone area due to high number of accident and death. The study aims to identify influential factors that contribute to poor safety practices and its consequences on construction workers in Cape Coast Metropolis. Seventy respondents were taken as the sample size for the study. Descriptive analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from the field. Findings show that poor site management, working without safety gadgets, failure to use their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and negligence of workers were the main causes of accidents on sites. Poor site management had the highest ranking among the seven variables. Effects of poor safety practices on building construction site and delays in work execution were due to injury of workers, extra cost due to payment of compensation to injured victims, not motivated due to injury of worker and declined reputation of firm. Management team should motivate workers for safe work done, provide adequate PPE for their workers on site and have documented health and safety policy on site. Site authorities and management team should be on site regularly to ensure proper safety practices on construction site. Management should put appropriate safety measure in place to minimize the impact of poor safety practice on workers.