IMPACT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY PRACTICES ON BEHAVIOUR OF CONSTRUCTION WORKERS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA

Abstract

The Health and Safety of workers is a very substantial issue to reflect with relation to the realization of construction industry’s goal. However, health and safety behaviour of the industry is a challenge to the developmental initiative of the country. The research addressed the challenges encountered by construction workers when adopting health and safety practices capable of guiding construction activities on the safety performance of building construction workers. This led to the evaluation of the impact of health and safety practices on the behaviour of construction workers with a view to mitigating the challenges faced in adopting health and safety practices on construction sites. The use of quantitative approach was adopted in this research. The research data were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to 220 selected construction firms registered with Abuja’s business directory. The response rate of the questionnaires was 67%. Mean item score (MIS) was used to rank the health and safety practices workers adopted by construction workers on a 5-point Likert scale. The research found out that the most adopted health and safety practices by construction workers is “The use of personal protective equipment provided” (MIS = 4.58) and that the health and safety practices have significant influence on the behavior of construction workers on site. The challenges encountered when adopting health and safety practices is” Inadequate health and safety training for operatives (workers)”, “Inadequate first aid kits box”, “Lack of training facilities”, and “Unavailability of proper protective personal equipment” (MIS = 4.77, 4.75,4.41 and 4.38 respectively). The most effective strategies to aid successful adoption of health and safety practices by construction workers is “Rewarding workers who demonstrate exemplary safe work behavior on site to encourage others” (MIS = 4.89). The research recommends that Construction managers should embrace strategic approach on site such as: creating safety awareness, safety briefing, include safety matters right from the planning phase, set safety guidelines into conditions of contract, reward workers that exhibit excellent safety performances and there is need for the Government to intensify their effort towards safety implementation by partnership with professional bodies in the built environment to organizing special training on health and safety practice on construction site for the construction workers.