Effective implementation of management techniques to enhance site worker safety in South Africa

Abstract

These days, with regard to construction management techniques, safety of construction site workers is crucial both during and after construction project execution. In the process, while many incidents relating to occupational hazards have been encountered and reported, they have not been thoroughly investigated to determine their causes and effects, mostly due to inadequate safety procedures. Lack of adequate safety procedures has been an enormous challenge to all concerned stakeholders, as numerous construction site workers have been physically affected. This problem persists due to the inability of the stakeholders to maintain an accident-free environment at the construction site. Appropriate research questions were formulated to aid in the development of relevant objectives in fostering a suitable methodology to assess and determine the responsible factors that cause the inadequate safety procedures within construction management techniques in South Africa. Methodology applied in this study cuts across the extensive study of literature relating to causes and effects of inadequate safety procedures in construction management techniques in South Africa. The outcome of the literature review paved the way for the formulation of steps required for collection and analysis of data. Due to the type of investigation carried out, mixed methodology was adopted to collect the required data through observations, semi-structured and unstructured interviews, and qualitative closed-end questionnaires were distributed to the respective construction professionals within the Western Cape Province. Data were carefully evaluated, analysed, and interpreted through the application of quantitative and qualitative approaches of descriptive analysis using SSPS and Excel statistical tools to demonstrate the outcome of the analysis. Findings gathered reveal that certain factors critically affect stakeholder ability to sustain accident-free sites, with more than 80% of these stakeholders affirming the effect of these factors in implementing effective management techniques for the occupational safety sustenance of the site workers in South Africa. The implementation of safety initiatives at the initial stage of production is essential for accident prevention on construction sites, thereby enhancing worker productivity. This study improves operational management techniques of construction worker safety in South Africa by suggesting proper implementation of the recommendations formulated and the framework developed to facilitate the effective implementation of management techniques for safer construction environments to halt the present prevalent occurrence of occupational accidents and ensure consistent site worker safety in South Africa.