Abstract
This study investigates by means of an exploratory study the implementation of occupational Health and Safefty in small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) contractors in Gauteng, South Africa. Occupational H&S (OHS) is still a critical problem in the construction industry as characterised by many SMEs. The study adds value to the existing electronic database through the integration of the research results. To identify the existing gap, a systematic literature review approach has been used. The reviews were undertaken through keywords and safety-related topics in the literature. Various characteristics of OHS-related problems were found deriving from the lack of safety precautions among the employees.
A quantitative survey approach was used in which a structured questionnaire was administered to a purposively selected sample composed of 111 employees from different companies registered under the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) based in Gauteng Province. The collected data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPPS version 22.0). The results of the study confirmed that employees in the selected SMEs companies within the construction industry are satisfied with the degree of adherence to OHS standards. The study further revealed that the companies participated actively in the implementation of OHS according to the Occupational Health and Safety Management System (OHSMS) and that its recommendations were taken seriously by these companies.
Adopting the positivism approach, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to ongoing construction sites in Gauteng Province, South Africa. It revealed that the workers’ attitudes towards the implementation of OHSMS in the workplace are needs to be improve on to aid implementation Several factors such as the new approach to technical harmonisation and standards has inspectorate division and have led to poor construction site H&S. This has been exacerbated by lack financial and administrative resources to combat construction site accidents and ill health effectively. It is posited that a change in attitude is necessary if the H&S performance of numerous SMEs operating in the construction sector is to improve.
Finally, employees are satisfied with the workplace surroundings area such as ventilation, lights and hygiene. Based on the analysis, the study seeks to propose a way forward for improve safe and healthy construction sites in relation to global practice run by construction SME’s working as subcontractors.
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The study concluded that it is crucial to understand the main impacts of this bad implementation on the value of building projects in order to design appropriate mitigation strategies for the poor implementation of OHS by Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contractors. Time delays, insufficient good practices, legal and other requirements, loss of profits, decreased productivity, and cost overruns were the main consequences of poor OHS by SMEs contractors. The most effective approaches to reduce inadequate OHS implementation by SMEs contractors are regular workplace inspections, worker education and training, and OHS training. Developing countries have not kept pace with developed countries in terms of strategies to improve the H&S of workers. An analysis of the OHS profile would assist in the development and implementation of effective strategies.
Keywords: Occupational health and safety, OHS culture, construction sites, safety management systems, attitudes, safety awareness.