Occupational Health and Safety Risk Levels of Building Construction Trades in Nigeria

Abstract

This study assessed the occupational health and safety risk-level of common building construction trades in Nigeria. It also identified the sources, frequency and magnitude of risks inherent in the activities of various building construction trades. Being site-based survey research, it made use of a structured questionnaire administered to the selected building construction workers of different trades in Anambra State, Nigeria. The collected data were subjected to quantitative risk analysis using mean value method and risk prioritisation number. The study found that masonry, carpentry (including formwork and roofing), and iron bending and steel fixing are common building trades associated with high risks; whereas electrical fitting and installation, painting, tiling, and plumbing are medium risk building trades. It also found that the rate of occurrence and magnitude of impact of different safety risk factors differ across the building trades, which could be attributed to the differences in activities and modes of operation in different building trades. On this premise, the study suggested a multi-risk management and control approach for construction managers on building construction sites since the frequency of risk occurrence and the magnitude of risk severity differ across trades. It further called for institutional and legislative re-strengthening of extant labour laws in Nigeria.

Implementation Phase Safety System for Minimising Construction Project Waste

“…Several considerations for enhancing CS during IPh have been reported by different researchers. In previous studies [9,[34][35][36][37], 20 factors were identified: (1) scaffolding, (2) ladder access to heights, (3) mobile scaffolds, (4) workplace access, (5) housekeeping, (6) roof work, (7) personal protective equipment, (8) mobile-elevated work platforms, (9) site safety information documents, (10) plan of action, (11) competency of workers and ongoing training, (12) monitoring system, (13) hazard reporting, (14) accident reporting, (15) incidents/near misses, (16) discipline, (17) Health and Safety Authority(HSA) inspections, (18) communication in the workplace, (19) responsibility for safety in the workplace and (20) cooperation. International laws, regulations and specifications have discussed safety requirements in CPs as labour laws [38], such as Occupational Safety and Health Agreement No.…”

Health and Safety Management on Construction Projects: The View of Construction Tradespeople

“…The health and safety performance of construction organisations in the construction industry of Nigeria is poor. This is evident in the submission of Okoye (2018). It was posited that in Nigeria, construction tradespeople are still being exposed to injuries, disease, and fatalities.…”

“…There are a lot of extant studies on health and safety on construction projects that sampled construction professionals, consultants, clients, or contractors (Abas et al, 2020;Agyekum et al, 2018;Belayutham & Ibrahim, 2019;Chen et al, 2020;Mohammed et al, 2015;Williams et al, 2019). While only a limited number of them sampled construction tradespeople (artisans, craftsmen, operatives), who are the set of workers carrying out the actual building production work (Kukoyi & Smallwood, 2017;Okoye, 2018;Tanko et al, 2020). Kukoyi & Smallwood (2017) carried out a qualitative study of Health and Safety (H&S) Construction Practices in Lagos.…”

Modeling of the Accidentality Phenomenon in the Construction Industry

“…The proposed model is important for construction practice. Based on a large set of data on accidents included in the CKD, it is possible to study the impact of the following on the accidentality phenomenon: Technologies used in the construction industry, the types of carried out construction works, and the methods used to organize work and equipment.publications [4][5][6]. In order to increase the level of occupational safety in the construction industry, a detailed analysis of the accidentality phenomenon should be conducted, the circumstances and main causes for the occurrence of this phenomenon should be identified, and intensive and continuous preventive actions should also be carried out.The main purpose of the research presented in the article is to examine the characteristic features of the accidentality phenomenon as a process that creates a sequence of accidents that occur at discrete moments of time on various construction sites in terms of their location, construction, and technical equipment.…”

“…publications [4][5][6]. In order to increase the level of occupational safety in the construction industry, a detailed analysis of the accidentality phenomenon should be conducted, the circumstances and main causes for the occurrence of this phenomenon should be identified, and intensive and continuous preventive actions should also be carried out.…”