Investigating the Impact of OHS Non-Compliance on Construction Projects in Kampala, Uganda
Abstract
Safety in the construction industry has always been a major issue. Non-compliance to
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) practices has become a problem in construction sites
since there is resistance from employers and employees, limited use of personal protective
equipment, lack of training and education and many other challenges as discussed herein, which
result to a lot of workers being injured during the construction process. Despite the fact that
construction is considered to be one of the most dangerous sectors on health and safety criteria
with reference to available records, there are still reports of a low level of compliance with safety
rules on construction sites in developing countries. This study seeks to investigate the impact of
OHS Non-compliance on building construction projects in Kampala, Uganda. From the existing
literature, two major types of impacts namely; direct and indirect cost impacts of noncompliance
with safety rule were investigated. Questionnaires were used to elicit information from
respondents. This information was analyzed to generate findings, draw conclusions and
recommendations. Therefore, this research was done in view of identification and examines
some occupational health, safety and environment related practices in our construction
industries. The framework of the existing occupational and health conditions is fragmented and
inadequately enforced, making construction sites more hazardous. It may even be argued that
relevant regulations are outdated and irrelevant in day-to-day construction operations.
Furthermore, the findings show that there is actually a significant impact of OHS Non-
compliance on building projects and majors on eight impacts; ‘treatment of injuries’, ‘damages
to property’, ‘workmen’s compensation,’ ‘liability insurance premiums’, ‘costs of delay’, ‘time
of cost’, ‘clean up costs’ and ‘rescheduling costs’. Though much improvement in construction
safety has been achieved, the study concludes that the industry still continues to lag behind most
other industries with regard to safety and therefore much still needs to be done to ensure
compliance to OHS. The research finally recommends labour motivation and training,
employment of supervising personnel to easily inspect and control the specified safety measures,
safety signs, and personal protective equipment in an attempt to improve OHS compliance on
building projects.
Keywords- Occupational Health and Safety, companies, construction, industry, accidents,
projects, risk, construction site; occupational hazard, occupational safety, workers.