EFFECT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON SAFETY PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTORS

Abstract

The construction industry plays a significant role in the economic development of a nation. However health and safety performance of the industry is a challenge to the developmental initiative of the country. The research addressed the problem of inadequate measures of H&S management practices and regulations capable of guiding construction activities on the safety performance of building contractors. This led to the evaluation of the effect of the H&S management practices on the safety performance of contractors with a view to determining measures for effective safety performance. The use of quantitative approach was adopted for this research. The research data were collected with the use of a well-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were administered to 50 selected construction companies registered with Federation of Construction Industry in Abuja. The response rate of the questionnaire was 84%. Mean item score (MIS) was used to rank the major H&S practices and regulations in order of implementation by construction companies on a 5 - point Likert’s scale. Correlation analysis was used to determine the relationship between H&S management practices and safety performance of contractors on sites. The research found that H&S management practices of construction contractors have non -significant influence on the safety performance of contractors on sites. The research recommends that contractors should be compelled to draw up safety responsibilities and put more emphasis on the role of management of H&S practices and provisions should be made to make it a statutory duty for every contractor to have a safety management programme on site for improved safety practices.