| dc.description.abstract | Health and safety at construction sites deals with both physical and psychological well being of workers on construction sites and other persons whose health is likely to be adversely affected by construction activities. It is of primary concern to employers, employees, governments and project participants. Health and safety therefore is an economic as well as humanitarian concern that requires proper management control This research set out to study the health and safety management on construction sites in Nairobi.
The objectives of the study included; investigating the health and safety measures used on construction sites; evaluating the enforcement mechanisms of health and safety regulations on construction sites and examining the challenges encountered in the management of health and safety in construction project sites. Questionnaires and observation were employed as the main instruments of data collection. The questionnaires were administered via face to face survey method.
The findings indicate that health and safety measures on construction sites are inadequate and effective enforcement mechanism of health and safety measures is lacking. Due to this it was established that accidents are rampant as most respondents had witnessed an accident on site. Various challenges are faced in the management of health and safety, the major being inadequate enforcement mechanism. Consequently, health and safety are often neglected on construction project sites and rarely managed. Moreover, compliance with health and safety requirements is wanting, since employers in Kenya rarely observe the provisions of the law leaving employees exposed to unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.
The study concludes that the enforcement mechanism for health and safety is weak since there lacks clear and well-defined supervisory authority in most construction sites. The study thus recommends that the existing health and safety laws enforcement mechanisms to be reviewed to enhance health and safety in construction sites. The Directorate of occupational health and safety services should step up inspections and penalise those who fail to observe the provisions of the Act. Further, all parties in construction project site must work together and contribute their rightful parts towards making construction sites healthy and safe. | en_US |
