Abstract
Research about the implementation of health and safety (H&S) in the construction
industry is required, as it may create more awareness on strategies to significantly
reduce the rate of incidents and fatalities in construction organisations. It may
encourage such organisations to improve their H&S performances on construction
projects. The aim of this research is to establish the drivers of H&S implementation in
construction organisations within the Gauteng Province in South Africa. The research
adopted a quantitative research methodology. A survey questionnaire was used to
collect primary data. Judgemental and snowball sampling techniques were employed
to select the respondents consisting of site engineers, site agents, contracts managers,
construction managers and project managers. Data were analysed through descriptive
statistics, mean item score and standard deviation. Findings indicated that the most
important drivers are the need to manage hazards; organisations regard H&S as
important; compliance with the legislation; consideration of H&S as a way to do
business and to reduce costs associated with accidents and injuries. These results may
assist construction organisations in setting H&S as a priority, since little attention has
been paid to the objective of H&S implementation. This study was restricted to large
construction organisations within the Gauteng Province in South Africa and therefore
may not be generalizable to all construction organisations within South Africa and in
other geographical locations.