Risk response in handling building materials on construction sites in Kenya
Date
2009Author
Oketch, Tom
Gichunge, Hezekiah
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
construction site up to the point of fixing them. Material handling represents a major portion of total costs and may account for 10-80% of total
cost. Construction sites are exposed to various risks such as workmanship, storage, transit, theft, damage. Such risks affect material handling
hence increasing the cost of production. Data was collected using questionnaires administered to site managers at on-going construction sites in
Nairobi. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as proportions, charts and spearman’s correlation. It was established that both
workmanship and theft (88%) posed the biggest risk and that risk retention was found to be the most preferred response method. A
recommendation was made that sub-contracting; transfer of theft risk through insurance and employment of professional security firms could
address the issue of risk response. The hypothesis of the study was: “the proportion of building material losses increases as risk response measures in
the handling of building materials decreases tested positive. Risk response methods should be used intensively in the handling of materials on
construction site in order to minimize losses.