| dc.description.abstract | Adverse work factors and hazards on construction sites seriously threaten safety
of construction workers. Provision and enforcement on use if personal protective
equipments (PPE) as part of the safety management actions has an important
role in controlling and reducing construction workers accidents and
injuries.
This research was carried out to study provision, use, maintenance and
enforcement mechanisms of PPE as a safety tool in construction sites. In this
cross-sectional study, questionnaires, interviews and observation were employed
for data collection. The questionnaires were in three categories; for construction
workers, site supervisory staff and managerial staff. 100 construction workers, 25
site supervisory staff and 5 managerial staff were selected randomly from
sampled construction sites and their respective management. The data obtained
was presented and analyzed by descriptive statistics.
The findings showed an undesirable level of 32% (average) for PPE provision to
construction workers and 36% of the workers were trained on PPE usage. 91
cases of injuries were attributable to lack of use of PPE or that could probably
have been eliminated were reported. Effective enforcement on use of PPE by
directorate of occupation health and safety services was noted to be lacking
mainly due to inadequate funding, recruitment of staff, professional training for
Occupation Health Safety practitioners and provision of tools and equipment.
The researcher suggests, though Directorate of occupation health and safety
services is the enforcing agent, the responsibility for use of PPE on construction
site should lie principally with the contractors, employers and workers. This
responsibility must be embedded in the management culture and practices of all
organizations involved in the planning and execution of construction operations
for successful safety programs specially workers training in relation to the use of
PPE. | en |
