Management of construction safety: the failure and success of stakeholders

Abstract

At global level, the building construction sites are unsafe, Nigeria in particular. Site operatives are unprotected against risk. Fall, slip, trip, struck-by, and electric shock are predominant accidents on the building construction sites, while stakeholders are only engrossed with passion for cost, quality and timely delivery of project. Consequent upon the persistent accident occurrence on the building construction sites, the study aimed at revealing the failures of construction stakeholders in the effective management of construction safety. In achieving this, an extensive literature review was engaged, which exposes a copious number of factors responsible for accident as a result of failure on the part of the construction stakeholders. Establishing the causes of these accidents is paramount, as it serves as a precursor to unveiling the playable roles by the stakeholders in mitigating accident occurrence on building construction sites. Consequently, the study unearths the success factors for effective management of safety on construction sites which are inclusive of: consultants awarding contracts to contractors with good safety records, contractors enforcing the use of safety items and compliance of workers with safety regulations, giving necessary reports on safety issues, organising safety training, setting up safety committee, and embarking on thorough safety inspection and supervision. Finally, the client should ensure that enough funds are devoted to safety of workers as well as engaging competent and safety conscious professionals in building project.