Construction safety and management practices in Bangladesh

Abstract

Bangladesh is experiencing a building construction boom. At present there is a culture of high rise buildings, foot over bridge, building construction and repair of roads, placing of utility services etc. and it seems that the city is in building construction frenzy although it indicates the continuous development of the country. Unfortunately, it is done in a very careless and unprofessional manner without the safety practices. The aim of this study is to present the safety issues in construction practices and it focuses on the existing safety scenario in the construction sites. The main objective of this study is to collect the accident data to study and analyse the safety issues of construction practices. The study is carried out by questionnaires and interviews. A total of 150 questionnaires was distributed to 30 construction sites of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. The respondents were site engineers, project managers, contractors and workers/ labours. The collected data is analysed using the frequency analysis. From the study it was found that, safety equipment, in general, are not adequate both in terms of quantity and quality in construction site. Considering manpower, most of the workers are not trained about safety and management practices in construction site. Along with the general observations, a case study of ‘Rana Plaza’ disaster is also highlighted in this project.