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A Study on the leadership behaviour, safety leadership and safety performance in the construction industry in South Africa

- Skeepers, Natalie C., Mbohwa, Charles

Application of modified statistical triangle of accident causation in construction health and safety

- Mustapha, Z, Aigbavboa, C, Thwala, Wellington Didibhuku

  • Authors: Mustapha, Z , Aigbavboa, C , Thwala, Wellington Didibhuku
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Construction industry - Safety regulations - South Africa , Construction industry - South Africa - Safety measures , Construction industry - Health aspects
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: uj:5296 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/15050
  • Description: The purpose of the paper is to investigate safety hazard identification in the con-struction industry towards the improvement of employee’s health and safety (H&S). Unidentified hazards in the construction industry are likely to present the most unavoidable risks. Therefore, hazard identification is paramount to con-struction safety management since risk assessment is the practical means by which hazardous events are managed. The study is mainly literature review with reference to existing theoretical literature, published and unpublished research. The paper presents an overview of hazards and accident causation. The findings from the study have shown that falls at construction sites are the leading cause of death and most of these deaths were attributed to falls from roofs, scaffolds, and ladders. Construction accidents lead to delay in project completion, increase the expenses and ruin the reputation and reliability of constructors. The following were identified as some of the barriers to H&S improvement: lack of information sharing across projects, full-time safety department, subjective nature of hazard identification and risk assessment. The study explores safety hazard identifica-tion in the construction industry towards the improvement of employee’s H&S. The study presents a strong background on hazard identification in the construc-tion safety management.
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Demographic attributes influence on health and safety practices for small and medium construction enterprises

- Agumba, Justus N., Haupt, Theo C.

Nutritional quality and health and safety performance in the South African construction industry

- Okoro, Chioma Sylvia

  • Authors: Okoro, Chioma Sylvia
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Construction industry - Health aspects - South Africa , Industrial safety - South Africa , Construction industry - South Africa - Safety measures , Construction workers - Health and hygiene , Construction workers - Nutrition
  • Language: English
  • Type: Masters (Thesis)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/56185 , uj:16340
  • Description: Abstract: Nutrition is linked with construction worker health and safety (H&S) performance. Some accidents, injuries and in some cases, deaths on construction sites are direct or indirect results of physical and psychological distresses (chronic health conditions and mental instability) arising from poor nutrition of construction workers. However, despite the undeniable contribution of nutrition to H&S performance improvements, there seems to be very little research on the nutrition of construction workers, especially in South Africa. The study therefore investigated the predominant nutritional intake of construction workers in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, the factors which influence the predominant intake, and the influence of nutrition on worker safety performance, and recommended possible interventions to improve construction workers‟ nutrition. A theoretical framework showing interrelationships between nutrition and its influencing factors as well as between nutrition and safety performance was developed based on the literature reviewed. Empirical data was collected through a field questionnaire survey. The questionnaire, which was first piloted, was administered to construction workers in order to determine how often they consumed various foods in a week, the factors which influenced their food choice and their safety performance on construction sites. Reliability test (Cronbach‟s alpha) was applied to the measurement sub-scales. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 software, empirical data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Principal components analysis (PCA) and multiple regression analysis (MRA) were used to analyse the data. Results revealed that construction workers‟ weekly consumption consisted mainly of corn meal, meat, fruits and vegetables. Nutritional knowledge, culture and resources were found to influence construction workers‟ nutrition. Other influencers were economic factors as well as personal ideas and systems. Nutrition was indicated to influence leading safety performance, whereas no significant effect was found on lagging safety performance. This research provides valuable evidence for improving the nutrition of construction workers and thus H&S performance on construction sites. Knowledge of the factors which influence the nutrition of construction workers will allow for the design of explicit, feasible and effectual... , M.Tech. (Construction Management)
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The implementation of health and safety practices : do demographic attributes matter?

- Agumba, Justus N., Haupt, Theo C.

  • Authors: Agumba, Justus N. , Haupt, Theo C.
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: Construction industry - South Africa - Health measures , Construction industry - South Africa - Safety measures
  • Identifier: uj:4906 , ISSN 1726-0531 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/13005
  • Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the personnel attributes perception on reliable and valid health and safety (H&S) practices within small- and medium-sized construction enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa. It explores whether these valid and reliable H&S practices could be implemented based on the demographic attributes, namely, years of experience in the construction industry, number of years working in the current organisation and educational level. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method approach was used to conduct this research, namely, Delphi and questionnaire survey. A structured questionnaire consisting of 31 H&S practices categorised into five major H&S practices was developed from extensive literature review and the participation of 20 purposive sampled H&S experts. Sixteen H&S experts completed four iterations. A convenient sample of 1,450 SMEs was obtained. In total, 228 questionnaires were returned, of which 216 responses were useable for analysis. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to determine the validity, reliability and acceptability of theH&Spractices. Finally, one-wayANOVAand t-test were conducted to determine personnel attributes perception on the implementation of the H&S practices. Findings – The five major H&S practices (constructs), namely, upper management commitment and involvement in H&S, employee involvement and empowerment in H&S, project supervision, project H&S planning and communication in H&S and H&S resources and training, were retained as reliable and valid practices of H&S within construction SMEs at project level. One-way ANOVA established no statistical significant difference on the respondents’ perception of the H&S practices. However, t-test revealed statistically significant difference on the respondents’ perception on, upper management commitment and involvement in H&S and H&S resources and training. The respondents with post-matric qualification strongly agreed that upper management are committed and involved in H&S. Originality/value – The findings may help construction SMEs to use these H&S practices to manage H&S in their projects. The SMEs may also consider the level of education of their personnel when implementing H&S practices of upper management and H&S resources and training.
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A construction health and safety performance improvement model for South African small and medium enterprises

- Agumba, Justus Ngala

  • Authors: Agumba, Justus Ngala
  • Date: 2013-12-09
  • Subjects: Construction industry - Safety regulations - South Africa , Construction industry - South Africa - Safety measures , Construction industry - Personnel management , Construction industry - Labor productivity
  • Type: Thesis
  • Identifier: uj:7810 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8705
  • Description: D.Phil. (Engineering Management) , Considering its share in and impact on national economies, the construction industry receives additional attention in terms of its performance and productivity especially small and medium construction enterprises (SMEs). However, with the extensive amount of workforce it employs, health and safety (H&S) has become important. Since the industry has the reputation of poor H&S performance especially SMEs. It has been accepted that H&S management practices constitute a vehicle to improve H&S performance, which reflects the H&S culture of the organization. However, the challenge is to determine what needs to be measured and practiced by SMEs at project level. The main objective of this thesis was to develop a construction H&S performance improvement model at project level of SMEs. A triangulation approach was used to develop the model using Delphi method and questionnaire survey. The Delphi method straddles between quantitative and qualitative research. Thirty H&S experts were purposively sampled and 20 agreed to participate in the Delphi process. However, 16 H&S experts completed the four iterations. The experts reached consensus on 31 statements or leading indicator metrics categorized in seven H&S elements/constructs. The final refined H&S conceptual model consisted of one independent construct, four intervening constructs and one dependent construct. Furthermore, a quantitative survey with 1,450 conveniently sampled SMEs was conducted. A total of 228 questionnaires were returned of which 216 were deemed usable representing 15.72% response rate. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 using Maximum Likelihood with Promax rotation was used to determine the validity and reliability of the six H&S constructs of the refined conceptual model. The six H&S construct and 40 statements were retained as valid and reliable measures of H&S for SMEs at project level. A further validity and reliability test was conducted using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using Mplus version 6.1, software program. The CFA revealed acceptable model fit of the measurement model after the re-specification of some of the measurement models. Finally the structural model was tested using Mplus version 6.1 to determine the constructs relationship. The findings revealed that the structural model data was acceptable and of the 12 hypotheses tested, six were significant. However, four significant relationships influenced H&S performance. The influential relationships were; upper management commitment and involvement in H&S indirectly influenced H&S performance through project supervision and H&S resources and training. These three proactive H&S elements are posited to be essential to improve H&S performance at project level of SMEs. Furthermore, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) established no statistical significant difference on the respondents’ perception of H&S model elements. However, t–test revealed statistical significant difference on the respondents’ perception on H&S performance, upper management commitment and involvement in H&S and H&S resources and training. The respondents with post-matric qualification strongly agreed that the way they managed H&S at project level had improved their H&S performance. Furthermore, they strongly agreed that upper management are committed and involved in H&S and H&S resources and training were provided. Multiple linear regression analysis was further used to test the influence of demographic variables on the H&S model elements. The selected demographic variables were; experience in the construction industry, education level and the number of employees. The result indicated that the demographic variables were not good predicators of the H&S model elements. Finally, the use of self-reported questionnaire and majority of respondents conducting business in Gauteng province in South Africa were some of the limitations in this study.
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