scholarly journals Studies on Labour Safety in Construction Sites

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kanchana ◽  
P. Sivaprakash ◽  
Sebastian Joseph

Construction industry has accomplished extensive growth worldwide particularly in past few decades. For a construction project to be successful, safety of the structures as well as that of the personnel is of utmost importance. The safety issues are to be considered right from the design stage till the completion and handing over of the structure. Construction industry employs skilled and unskilled labourers subject to construction site accidents and health risks. A proper coordination between contractors, clients, and workforce is needed for safe work conditions which are very much lacking in Indian construction companies. Though labour safety laws are available, the numerous accidents taking place at construction sites are continuing. Management commitment towards health and safety of the workers is also lagging. A detailed literature study was carried out to understand the causes of accidents, preventive measures, and development of safe work environment. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey, which was distributed among various categories of construction workers in Kerala region. The paper examines and discusses in detail the total working hours, work shifts, nativity of the workers, number of accidents, and type of injuries taking place in small and large construction sites.

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaid Mohammed Hatem ◽  
Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid ◽  
Ogundipe Kunle Elizah ◽  
Abdulrahman Zahid ◽  
Ahmed Allawi ◽  
...  

The Iraqi construction industry has many problems, especially when it comes in terms of coordinating and managing welfare facilities for the construction project. Proper managing and regular maintenance of welfare facilities is a task divided between official parties in charge of safety and health, mostly the contractors, clients, managers, and work-force. The need for safe work conditions that seem very much lacking in the Iraqi construction sites. This research examines how effectively management is mainly conducted within construction welfare facilities in Iraq’s construction industry. Using a quantitative methodology for collecting and analyzing data in consdreation of the listed objectives, A questionnaire survey was administered to experienced engineers (58) that are involved in the construction industry for investigating the keys causative in management and maintenance aspects. The data was analyzed and interprented using SPSS-12. Most of the analyzed results were classified as important and very important, but some awareness was missing related to planning and inspection. Finally, the interpretation illustrated that the awareness of management and maintenance of welfare facilities are in need to be more studied within the scope of worker’s productivity, health, and safety.


Author(s):  
Fatemeh Nouban ◽  
Serah Onuh John

Managing health and safety on construction sites has always been a challenging issue faced by the Nigerian construction industry. Safety conditions on the construction sites depends on type or nature of work to be carried out and the management make commitment to implement safety projects concerning construction. There are no requirements assigned for implementing a security management system by the Nigerian government. Construction industries lacked a framework to implement security regarding projects on construction sites. Developing a Safety Framework can help professionals involved in carrying out construction works, implement and improve safety practices in executing their projects on sites. This study presents the development of a structure for implementing an effective health security on construction sites. An extensive review of the literature was carried out to design an appropriate security framework. The results underscore the requirement for competent personnel who must be appointed to ensure safety on construction sites. Finally, a security framework was developed in which companies can accept and adhere. The results of this research will help Nigerian construction companies to improve safety on construction sites.


Author(s):  
Nour Eldeen Abo Nassar

The construction industry is one of the most significant industries that contribute greatly to achieving economic development. However, it is also considered one of the industries that is always exposed to a high risk of hazards in addition to being full of risky activities. Accidents that occurred in construction industries have caused many defects in project progress, for example, delays in completing the project, increasing project cost, reducing productivity, and creating negative impressions about the company. The major reason for the accidents is poor worker safety performance, with a host of contributing causes. For improving safety performance, the root causes of incidents that occur in construction as well as the factors influencing them must be studied. Health and safety issues are the main problem and concerns in the building industry. Though much development has been made in construction safety, the industry still lacks a lag behind most other industries in terms of safety. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of the factors that could affect the safety performance of a construction site to reduce the frequency of accidents.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romuald A. Rwamamara ◽  
Ove Lagerqvist ◽  
Thomas Olofsson ◽  
Bo M. Johansson ◽  
Kazys Algirdas Kaminskas

Many construction work tasks are physically very strenuous and the incidence of work‐related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) among construction workers is considerably higher than those in most other occupations. The aim of the study presented in this paper was to contribute to understanding a healthy construction site brought about by the best practices implemented by large construction sites to prevent WMSDs. A triangulation method made of interviews, site observations and studies on company's documents was used to identify the best practices in 13 several construction projects. A range of the best practices both in the pre‐construction and construction phases of the projects were identified in six different areas of the balance of the construction workplace system; however, there seems to be a significant need for good practices in the management of a systematic work environment. It is now established that Swedish construction industry has several best practices to protect work‐related musculoskeletal health. However, inadequate worker participation and the neglect of health and safety issues by designers in the planning process as well as the implications of some remuneration methods on the production schedule were perceived as detrimental to the musculoskeletal health of construction workers. Santrauka Daug statybos darbu yra fiziškai labai itempti, o su darbu susijusiu raumenu ir skeleto sistemos pažeidimu dažnis tarp statybininku yra kur kas aukštesnis negu tarp daugelio kitu profesiju. Šio tyrimo tikslas – pletoti supratima apie sveikatos būkle ir jos svarba dirbant statybu aikštelese, igyvendinant didelius statybos objektus, siekiant išvengti su darbu susijusiu raumenu ir skeleto sistemos pažeidimu. Tyrimams buvo taikytas interviu, pagristas trianguliacijos metodu, darbo procesu stebejimo statybos aikštelese metodas, buvo nagrineti statybos kompaniju dokumentai, siekiant identifikuoti 13 skirtingu statybos projektu. Geriausia praktika, prieš pradedant statybas ir jau statant, buvo nustatyta šešiuose skirtinguose statybu regionuose, tačiau tokia praktika yra svarbi darbo aplinkos vadyboje. Pripažinta, kad Švedijos statybos pramoneje taikomi keli būdai, kaip apsaugoti statybininkus nuo raumenu ir skeleto sistemos pažeidimu. Vis delto mažas darbininku domejimasis šia problema, sveikatos bei saugos problemu nepaisymas planavimo procese, kai kuriu atsilyginimo būdu itraukimas i gamybos veiksniu saraša buvo vertinti kaip faktoriai, žalingai veikiantys statybininku raumenu ir skeleto sistema.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Titas Dėjus

Construction business is quite specific, that is why work safety management in construction companies is very specific too. Work safety management in construction companies and sites is difficult and much more complicated than in companies of other businesses. Analysis of work safety management systems in construction companies can be very diverse. It depends on the work quality and technological processes in construction sites (from the preparation for construction work to different extra processes). Because of the specific features of building, like its dynamic or diversity, it is very difficult to ensure safe work conditions constructing using traditional methods and especially new methods, processes, and technologies. There is practically always a risk of having an accident at work (while installing reinforced concrete, wooden or metal constructions or doing other construction technological processes) because it is almost inconceivable to decrease its possibility to the least level. Work safety in this article is analyzed in the light of dangerous actions doing installation or other construction work. There is also made a survey of scientific literature about dangerous actions and of experience of Lithuanian Work Inspection at construction sites, and report on observation of exact construction sites picking out the most dangerous factors, the most important of which is labors’ falling down from height. In the article there are data (about influence of dangerous actions on construction process) analyzed and systemized. All of them were picked out during forensic examination of work safety Summarizing made researches the author advises to use such preventions: it is advisable to pay attention not to all possible dangerous factors, but only to three of them – falling down from height, objects falling down on labors, and injuries made by working mechanisms. The author advises to use work safety assurance scheme (3rd picture) and while preparing technological projects to use 3S principle (principle of three schemes).


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 962-971
Author(s):  
Khalid Daniyal ◽  
Bilal Aslam ◽  
Umer Khalil

Health and Safety (H&S) is a professional approach to substitute harmless and vigorous work conditions for any industry. The construction industry is of utmost importance because it is associated with elevated accident rates compared to the other sectors. To some extent, cultural progression is also reliant on communication among all the groups inside a corporation. Effective communication happens in a construction corporation, among upper management and the employees arbitrated by the supervisors. Therefore, if the construction supervisor's capabilities are ignored, the plans to progress the satisfactory H&S culture may be unsuccessful. The aptitude for conducting H&S induction training to employees is one of the construction supervisor's abilities, and in developing countries, the supervisor's capabilities are ignored. Moreover, the organization's eagerness on H&S, which corresponds to the induction training, is relatively less. The current research reports an examination to analyze how the supervisors possess H&S capabilities and skills to oversee site H&S induction training to workforces successfully. For the analysis, Pakistan's construction industry was targeted, and numerous construction firms were contacted in this regard. The data for the intended objective was accumulated through talks and surveys with site supervisors in construction companies of various extents from all over Pakistan. The outcomes exposed insufficient training, an absence of management dedication, and an inadequate familiarity or usage of visual/audio communication assistance by construction companies in Pakistan. Thus, it is suggested that there is a need for the supervisors to understand the use of multilingual skills and current technologies to assist valuable site H&S induction training that can progress a path towards an optimistic H&S culture.


Author(s):  
Abubakar Sadiq Mahmoud ◽  
Mohd. Hamdan Ahmad ◽  
Yahya Mohd. Yatim

The construction industry is one of the most dangerous industries worldwide due to deadly fatalities and accidents recorded yearly, compared to other sector of the economy in many countries. Though many safety programs have been established and implemented, the situation does not seem to have been mitigated the menace of accidents. Developing countries, like Nigeria, still lack laws and regulations on health and safety practices. The health and well-being of construction workers are being threatened by the increasing cases of injuries and casualties recorded at construction sites. The construction industry in Nigeria is also labor intensive with labor cost running between 40 to 65% of the total project cost. Operators are majorly categorized into multinational and indigenous construction companies. Indigenous companies in Nigeria are involved in an estimated 50-100% public and private clients in both traditional and non-traditional systems of procurement. However, indigenous companies’ record 2 and 5 percent accident and injury level among workers with 300% more risk than the multinationals. Thus, this paper aims to provide an overview of the construction safety performance and construction stakeholders’ operations in the construction industry of Nigeria. The overview is of potential benefit to the administrators of building development, building designers and policy makers.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Liaudanskienė ◽  
Nerijus Varnas ◽  
Leonas Ustinovichius

Being one of the largest European industry branches, construction is also characterized by some of the worst workplace health and safety indices in the region. On average, workers at construction sites face double the chance of non‐fatal accidents at work compared with workers from other EU sectors. With a view to reducing the number of accidents and occupational illnesses in the construction sector, numerous legal acts have been passed and consistently implemented within recent decades, which allowed improving work conditions in the EU member countries. Although EU legal acts apply in Lithuania, the increase in accidents at work in the construction sector is reflected in the statistics. To prevent accidents at work and occupational illnesses, as well as increase work productivity and job satisfaction, the implementation of measures ensuring safe work at construction sites becomes a necessity. Work safety in various construction processes can be achieved not only by making use of collective and personal protective equipment, occupational risk assessment, employee instruction and training on safety at work, but also by properly organizing work and creating proper working conditions. In order to ensure safe work for construction workers, knowledge and application of standard legal acts is necessary. Santrauka Statyba ‐ viena iš didžiausių Europos pramonės šakų. Šio sektoriaus darbuotojų saugos ir sveikatos rodikliai yra vieni prasčiausių regione. Palyginti su kitu ES sektorių darbuotojais, statybose dirbantiems darbininkams kyla vidutiniškai dvigubai didesnė nemirtinų nelaimingų atsitikimų tikimybė. Siekiant sumažinti nelaimingų atsitikimų ir profesinių ligų skaičių statybų sektoriuje, per kelis pastaruosius dešimtmečius buvo priimta ir nuosekliai taikyta daug teisės aktų, leidusių pagerinti darbo salygas ES valstybėse narėse. Nors Lietuvoje įgyvendinti ES teises aktai, tačiau statistikos duomenys byloja apie nelaimingų atsitikimų statybos sektoriuje augimą. Norint užkirsti kelia nelaimingiems atsitikimams ir profesinėms ligoms, pagerinti darbo našumą, darbuotoju pasitenkinimą darbu, būtina imtis priemonių, užtikrinančių saugų darbą statybvietėse. Atsižvelgiant i tai, kad, vykdant įvairius statybos procesus, saugų darbą gali užtikrinti ne tik kolektyvinių bei asmeninių priemonių naudojimas, profesinės rizikos įvertinimas, darbuotojų instruktavimas ir mokymas saugos klausimais, nelaimingų atsitikimų bei profesinių ligų išvengimą gali garantuoti tinkamas darbu organizavimas ir darbo salygų sudarymas. Norint tinkamai užtikrinti saugų darbą statybose dirbantiems darbininkams, būtina išmanyti ir vykdyti norminius teises aktus.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-14
Author(s):  
Majed M Moosa ◽  
Leo P. Oriet ◽  
Abdulrahman M Khamaj

Introduction: Research indicate that construction site accidents are a global concern, and rates are rapidly increasing. In developing countries such as Saudi Arabia, safety issues are frequently ignored, and little is known about their causes. Objectives: This study aimed to shed light on factors causing accidents in Saudi Arabian construction companies. Methods: An online detailed survey, using Google Form, of accident features was distributed randomly to potential employees in 35 construction companies in Saudi Arabia, where one of the top administrators or safety officers were required to respond to the survey. It was conducted from 1st June to 31st August, 2013. The safety practices and perceptions of accident causes were assessed. Results: The response rate was 63%. Over half of the surveyed organizations encountered all of the selected accident types. While 19 (86%) of the construction companies maintained the equipment regularly, 15 (68%) had regular maintenance staff and 13 (59%) inspected the equipment before use. Although 18 (82%) of the workers were supplied with personal protective equipment (PPE), only 12 (55%) emphasized its use and offered site orientation for new employees.  In the last part of the survey, respondents were requested to rate 25 factors affecting safety performance at the construction sites on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most important. The three most important factors of poor safety performance were the firm's top leaders, a lack of training, and the reckless operation of equipment. Conclusion: Changing attitudes of surrounding safety culture have the potential to significantly improve safety outcomes in the Saudi Arabian construction industry. Two Saudi Arabian corporations, Saudi Aramco and Saudi Chevron Petrochemical provide a positive model for increasing construction safety in the country, but there is a paucity of industry-level data. Further scholarly attention is strongly indicated.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 50-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Spillane ◽  
Lukumon O. Oyedele

Purpose: The overall aim of this research is to identify and catalogue the numerous managerial strategies for effective management of health and safety on a confined, urban, construction site. Design/Methodology/Approach: This is achieved by utilising individual interviews, focus groups discussion on selected case studies of confined construction sites, coupled with a questionnaire survey. Findings: The top five key strategies include (1) Employ safe system of work plans to mitigate personnel health and safety issues; (2) Inform personnel, before starting on-site, of the potential issues using site inductions; (3) Effective communication among site personnel; (4) Draft and implement an effective design site layout prior to starting on-site; and (5) Use of banksman (traffic co-ordinator) to segregate personnel from vehicular traffic. Practical Implication: The construction sector is one of the leading industries in accident causation and with the continued development and regeneration of our urban centres, confined site construction is quickly becoming the norm - an environment which only fuels accident creation within the construction sector. Originality/Value: This research aids on-site management that requires direction and assistance in the identification and implementation of key strategies for the management of health and safety, particularly in confined construction site environments.


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