Assessing compliance with health and safety regulations on construction sites

Abstract

The study aims to assess compliance with health and safety regulations on construction sites. It will focus on the factors that hinder compliance with health and safety regulations, the level of enforcement of health and safety regulations and the extent to which contractors and their workers adhere to health and safety regulations. The research design adopted in the study is descriptive and has the mixed approach of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The respondents were all construction professionals in the construction industry and so the type of sampling was purposive sampling. The data was collected with the aid of questionnaires and key informant interviews and analyzed using SPSS. The findings of the study reveal that Uganda still has a long way to achieving a 100% level of compliance with health and safety regulations on construction sites. This is as a result of negligence of both the workers and employers to implement the health and safety regulations and actually practice them. The poor management commitment is also a big challenge as the employers focus more on finishing the project on time without caring about the safety of the workers. Based on the findings, the study recommends the implementation of safety programs at each and every company in order to cultivate a culture of safety in different companies. Furthermore, the study recommends the involvement of the government through hiring of more inspectors who can carry out regular site inspections to ensure that the health and safety regulations are being followed at construction sites.