Assessment of Safety and Health Performance of Contractors Construction Project in Nigeria using SHASSIC Method

Abstract

There is need for the construction industry to comply with necessary law and regulations as regard to safety and health of their workers in order to improve on their safety records. In Nigeria, construction industry loses 5 – 7 % of its workforce annually to construction accidents. This has given the industry a poor safety and health record. As such this paper will assess safety and health performance of contractor’s construction project in Nigeria using Safety and Health Assessment System in Construction (SHASSIC) method. The assessment is usually carried out in three different approaches i.e document check, site/workplace inspection and employees interview. The result of the assessment show that the performance of the contractors is two (2) stars in ranking. This means that in term of compliance to safety management standard on sites, the construction firms/organizations considered for the work fall within two (2) stars in ranking were all there potential and significant workplace high risks/hazards are partly managed and not properly documented. Therefore what the industry needs is an act (OSHAct) that provides for the promotion, coordination, administration and enforcement for occupational safety and health. Also, effective application of OSH management system can lead to safety construction work and reduce the rate of accidents on construction sites and improve safety records.