3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/45
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Assessment of stakeholders' awareness of the construction health and and safety regulations on construction sites in South Africa(2018) Masimula, GcinithembaIn 2009, the Construction Industry Development Board commissioned the study of construction health and safety in South Africa, which revealed that despite the advancement in legislation in the form of the Construction Regulations promulgated in July 2003, health and safety performance in South Africa is still poor and the enforcement of the legislation by the Department of Labour Inspectorate was found to be lacking. The research established that there is a need for developing strategies that would cultivate the culture of health and safety necessary to improve compliance in health and safety amongst the people in the construction industry. This research report presents an assessment of stakeholders’ awareness of the construction health and safety regulations on construction sites in South Africa. The main objective of the study was to identify the reasons for the occurrence of accidents on the construction sites, despite the existence of health and safety legislation. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the mixed methods approach was employed to collect data from the construction industry stakeholders, namely contractors, clients and designers / consultants. The questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. The findings of the study indicated that health and safety is very important and should be prioritised just like any other issues in the construction industry. It was also found that human error, especially top management, is responsible for occupational accidents. This is because some organisations choose not to comply with the legislation on health and safety, while some workers choose not to utilise or fail to effectively utilise provided personal protective equipment prior to engaging in construction activities. Based on these findings, it was recommended that the Department of Labour Inspectorate should enforce health and safety legislation in the construction industry by regularly conducting site inspections and imposing penalties for non-compliance. It was also recommended that health and safety issues are every stakeholders’ business and therefore, every participant in this regard should play his or her role in ensuring better working conditions for the people in the construction industry. It was also proposed that the Construction Industry Development Board should utilise health and safety records for companies as a grading criteria and non-complying contractors be downgraded in order to improve their performance.Item “Health and safety culture on small residential construction sites: the case of Waterfall Country Estate, Midrand”(2017) Shabangu, Nthumi IndiraThe construction industry plays an important role in our lives, more specifically the residential sector, which serves to help people access their basic human right to housing. Housing is a basic human right which most South Africans are yet to realise. The high demand for housing and other forms of infrastructure by both the private and public sectors have attracted entrepreneurs who fall under the small and medium contractor categories, to venture into the residential construction mostly as sub-contractors. The construction industry is predominantly constituted of small, micro and medium enterprises. The construction industry is also unfortunately widely known to be a hazardous and accident prone sector; whereby workers are exposed to health and safety hazards on a daily basis, some which lead to loss of life. Literature has found that small and micro enterprises (SMEs) experience more occupational health and safety problems in comparison to their medium and larger counterparts. A positive safety culture is considered as an essential contributor to improved occupational safety performance in construction. Due to the highly reported health and safety challenges faced by construction SMEs, the study seeks to determine the existing safety culture of small and micro enterprises operating in private residential construction sector. The researcher explores the safety perceptions, attitudes, and behaviour of construction workers and management safety practices on small residential construction sites and therefore determine the existing safety culture. An existing safety climate assessment questionnaire was administered to workers employed at the Waterfall Country Estate, Midrand and the findings indicated that there generally exists a good safety culture on the affluent residential construction site. Unsafe worker behaviours have been blamed as the lead cause of accidents on construction work sites, but the current health and safety status of industry calls for more accountability instead of blame shifting amongst stakeholders. Interventions and strategies that seek to address the occupational health and safety of the construction industry should not be reactive, but should rather be a proactive and anticipatory process. It is therefore crucial to begin exploring proactive approaches towards the establishment of a positive health and safety culture, whereby more commitment and accountability is shown from all key stakeholders who collectively have the means to influence and contribute towards the creation of a positive safety culture in residential construction.