Abstract
M. Tech.
Relative to
other industries in South Africa and construction industries worldwide, the South African
construction process generates a disproportionate number of fatalities, injuries and disease, the
direct and indirect cost of which contribute to the cost of construction. Serious accidents and
injuries resulting in personal injury and wrongful death occur with alarming frequency at
construction sites in the U.K. The majority of accidents are not
caused by careless workers but rather by failure to control. According to the Health and Safety
Executive report published in 1988 out of the 90% of all construction accidents leading to death
70% could have been prevented by positive management actions and interventiion.
Clients influence construction health and safety performance. Architects and design engineers often disavow responsibility for health and
safety issues associated with the construction of their work. Arguably, this denial will only
change if clients insist that construction health and safety is addressed on their projects. Health
and safety begins with the attitude that accidents are preventable and that requirements for
healthy and safe work practices must be followed. Health and safety should
not be left solely under the control of the workers if injuries are to be curtailed or diminished,
because the health and safety environment consists of many factors over which workers have
little or no control. An
underlying belief is that the majority of accidents are not caused by careless workers but by
failure in controls. Although the best site management of health and safety cannot prevent all
accidents, entities other than those actually performing the work do have an important role to
play in enforcing proper safety standard measures : It is possible to prevent
accidents from occurring. Success in health and safety has a great deal to do with people, especially those who will be
responsible for ensuring that the project will be delivered safely. There is some
evidence that the importance of health and safety is being realised by clients.
Costs associated with worker injuries and fatalities are borne ultimately by the client and
insisting that health and safety be included in design and construction considerations will prevent
the occurrence of injuries and ultimately reduce the construction costs. Clients mostly set health and safety culture during the construction phase. Health and safety prequalification
criteria to design approval post the design phase that shows that clients would
prefer their involvement to be in specific phases. Clients do not realise that they can make
significant contributions to improve health and safety performance during the early stages of a
project.
Clients who have to pay for construction work do not make specific cost provision for
construction safety. Clients need to afford health and safety the same status
as other project parameters.
It is widely accepted that contractors should bear the responsibility for health and safety during
the construction phase. The study found that clients regarded the construction and maintenance
phases as the most important to address health and safety. Again clients do not realise the
significance of placing health and safety importance in the initial phases of a project.