Investigating the effect of enforcing occupational health and safety requirements on the time scope of construction projects

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to investigate the impact of occupational health and safety requirements on the time scope of Building construction projects in Kampala. Occupational health and safety requirements considered for this project included all the requirements specified by Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development (MoGLSD)for projects within Kampala. These acts provide a list of requirements that must be met for the award of permits by the regional building committee or equivalent authority. Construction projects in the Kampala area fall under the jurisdiction of the Kampala Capital City Authority. For example, for the award of a building permit, the owner of the building project is required to submit a list of documents which include a geotechnical report, a hydrological investigation report and an environmental and social assessment report issued by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA). Attainment of some of these documents requires permissions from independent authorities such as NEMA.The scope of the occupational health and safety requirements considered for this research targeted two major areas. Firstly, the measures forsafety of workers on building construction sites and overall public safety during the process of construction. Secondly,the measures for the structural integrity of the completed project and public health of the occupants as well as surrounding structures and their occupants. The requirements stipulated by the MoGLSD primarily target these two areas. For example, the requirements aim at upholding the safety of workers during the process of construction and also focus on the safety of persons residing near the ongoing construction as well as ensuring that the structural integrity of the building is not compromised.In general, the aim of these requirements is to preserve lives and property and uphold general public safety and these requirements are provided by the owner of the project to the relevant authorities. The respective authorities must then review the submissions and award permits if all the requirements have been met. This takes time!This research therefore investigated the effect of compliance with these regulations on the time scope of the Building construction project and used Relative importance index (RII) to rank the regulations that caused the most delays on building construction projects.