Roles of Construction Organizations in Revitalizing Occupational Health and Safety of the Nigerian Construction Industry

Abstract

Occupational accidents have been ravaging the Nigerian construction industry, the sector accounted for 39.24% of the whole occupational accidents between 2014-2016. The effects of occupational accidents can be noticed in the productivity of the construction organizations, making the sector contribute to only 4% of the GDP of the Nigerian economy. Therefore, the need to strengthen health and safety in construction sites is indispensable. This study aimed to explore the roles of construction organizations in revitalizing the health and safety of the Nigerian consecution industry. The questionnaire was used to solicit information for this study. The 300 questionnaires were distributed and 247 were returned, representing 82.33 percent, therefore, considered for the analysis of the study. SPSS software was used in the analysis of the study. The finding of the study revealed that among the top three methods considered essential to revitalizing occupational health and safety are; education and training on health and safety, compliance with health and safety regulation and laws, and enforcement of health and safety rules on the employees. The study recommends more commitment toward health and safety from construction organizations, professionals, government agencies, and employees.

Benefits and challenges of wearable safety devices in the construction sector

“…The construction sector is one of the most dangerous industries (Kamoli and Mahmud, 2022). Construction operations are risky, with a high accident and fatality record (Chan et al, 2016;.…”

“…Fifty-four thousand injuries were recorded each year in Great Britain, the second-highest number of injuries among all industries (Health and Safety Executive, 2019), which cost the British economy 1.2 billion pounds in 2017-18 (Health and Safety Executive, 2019). In three years (2014)(2015)(2016), occupational accidents in the Nigerian construction industry accounted for 39.24% of occupational accidents in every sector of the economy (Kamoli and Mahmud, 2022).…”

“…Over the years, H&S incidents in Nigeria have influenced the productivity of the construction sector, making the sector to contribute only 4% to the gross domestic product (GDP) (Kamoli and Mahmud, 2022). Sixty thousand fatal accidents reportedly occur on construction sites worldwide yearly, equating to one fatal accident every 10 min (Chen and Luo, 2016).…”