Health and Safety Management Practices in the Building Construction Industry in Akure, Nigeria

Full text

American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management
2018; 3(1): 23-28
http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ajetm
doi: 10.11648/j.ajetm.20180301.12
ISSN: 2575-1948 (Print); ISSN: 2575-1441 (Online)
Health and Safety Management Practices in the Building
Construction Industry in Akure, Nigeria
Olusoga Olawale Oreoluwa
*
, Fagbemi Olasunkanmi
Department of Architecture, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria
Email address:
*
Corresponding author
To cite this article:
Olusoga Olawale Oreoluwa, Fagbemi Olasunkanmi. Health and Safety Management Practices in the Building Construction Industry in
Akure, Nigeria. American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. Vol. 3, No. 1, 2018, pp. 23-28.
doi: 10.11648/j.ajetm.20180301.12
Received: January 27, 2018; Accepted: February 11, 2018; Published: March 14, 2018
Abstract:
Health and safety of construction workers on building construction sites in Nigeria have become necessary as a
result of the hazardous nature of the practice. It is noteworthy to mention that accidents of any kind are bound to happen on
these sites resulting into injuries that are sometimes fatal to site workers. Nevertheless, an evaluation of the health and safety
management practices put in place by building contractors in the construction industry in Nigeria is the main thrust of this
study. This paper discusses the different sources of accidents on construction sites. It also investigates the current state and
adherence to health and safety practice in Nigeria. 110 questionnaires were used to extract information from respondents
within the Akure metropolis. The safety precautions put in place by contractors for their site workers was also probed. Issues
such as the post-accident treatment of site workers were also investigated. Data collected were analysed using descriptive
statistics. The study found that construction workers are left to protect themselves in the line of duty and are largely
responsible for any occurrence of accidents. As a result, a lot needs to be done to ensure the health and safety of site workers.
Recommendations were made on possible solutions yearning for strict actions to be taken against defaulters by the respective
site inspectors.
Keywords:
Construction, Health, Management Practice, Safety, Site Workers
1. Introduction
The construction industry in Nigeria has since being on a
steady rise in recent years owing to the large expanse of
undeveloped Land required to provide shelter for the
booming population. As a result, the population of
construction workers has also soared. The building
construction industry is made up of different personnel
having different trades to handle different construction
process. Bala et al. [4] cited large number of seasonal
migrant as one of the several reason for this growth in
population because many of them are ignorant of
construction processes. With this increase both in terms of
development as well as personnel comes an increase in site
accidents. According to Smallwood et al 2008, the
construction industry has earned a reputation of being a
dangerous or highly hazardous industry because of the
disproportionately high accidents and fatalities that occur on
the construction sites around the world. The International
Training Centre of the International Labour Organization
claims that one in six fatal accidents at work occur on a
construction site .
Health and safety is of extreme importance within the
construction industry as different construction operations
take place at about the same time. This can be attributed to
building project delivery dates agreed upon during bidding
for construction jobs by building contractors. Health and
safety is relevant to all branches of industry, a practice that is
particularly imperative for the construction industry [1]. In
advanced countries of the world, visibly improvements have
since been made to mitigate site accident. This in turn cannot
be completed said of Nigeria as the industry is blighted by
reports of accidents on construction site with even the
multinational companies falling prey of such distasteful
occurrence. Construction managers over time have devised a
cheaper means of employing laborers on casual or temporary

24 Olusoga Olawale Oreoluwa and Fagbemi Olasunkanmi: Health and Safety Management Practices in the
Building Construction Industry in Akure, Nigeria
basis. This is partly because they are not tied to any
permanent employment contract which strips them of any
benefit from the company or employer in term of insurance.
As a result, the contractors do not feel responsible for any
unfortunate occurrence in term of accidents that eventually
befall the laborers. This in turn affect the productivity of such
laborers as issues of life is taken first before work hence the
evident defect seen in workmanship output especially in the
Nigeria building industry.
Information about accidents in the Nigerian construction
industry is also not properly documented. This makes it an
arduous task getting relevant data. This was stressed by
Okeola [16] that because most contractors fail to report cases
of accidents to the ministerial departments in charge of such
occurrence, there are no reliable data. It has therefore become
imperative to look into these accidents as it has over time
rendered site laborers useless to themselves and the society
due to the extent of this injuries sustained in the line of duty.
This was discussed further by Awodele and Ayoola [3],
Smallwood and Haupt [17] that not less than hundreds or
construction workers are being killed each year and a much
more maimed on construction sites in Nigeria. It has also in
some extreme cases led to death as a result of the neglect of
some construction managers’ adherence to health and safety
laws but in place. Construction site workers are often
exposed to very risky job descriptions ranging from working
at heights, welding, working underground, handling
dangerous plants and equipment, drilling and handling fire
cables.
Accidents on construction sites which are inevitable can be
reduced to a bearable minimum if parameters are put in place
and are strictly adhered to by all the parties involved. The
training of site workers on the extreme importance of health
and safety procedures is also essential to curb further sad
tales of site accidents.
Building construction projects in Nigeria is characterized
with swift project execution. Even with the use of modern
day technology which involve the use of construction
machines and mechanism, there is still a need to include
manual labour in the building construction process. This
paper aims at investigating the compliance of construction
managers to health and safety management of their site
construction workers in preventing accidents.
2. Review of Literature
Alhajeri [1] defined health as the protection of the body
and mind from illness which results from the materials,
processes or procedures used in the workplace. Health was
also described as the protection of people from physical
injury. The World Health Organization also defined health as
a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being
and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It can be
seen from this definition that the issue of OHS in achieving a
viable construction project is imperative.
2.1. Accident Causation
Several reasons can be seen as the cause of construction
accidents which can be related to human behavior,
environmental factors, mechanical factors as well as poor
safety management. The dynamic nature of construction
work happens to be one of the major causes for several types
of accidents resulting to injuries and fatalities in the
construction industry [6].
Accident is a phenomenon having several related
definitions. According to Mwombeki [13], accident is viewed
as an unplanned and unexpected occurrence that upsets a
planned sequence of work thereby resulting to loss of
production, injury to personnel, damage to plant and
equipment as well as eventually interrupting production flow.
Most authors see accident as an unplanned events leading to
injury either fatal or minimal which in turn disrupt work and
often times bring about loss of business opportunities.
Accidents which results in both direct and indirect cost does
not necessarily have to be injurious or damaging but can
interrupt the completion of an activity [16]. It goes to show
that regardless of how careful one can be, accidents are
bound to happen. In the process of cutting cost and making
decent gain on a building construction site, use of standard
equipment are often compromised and this has led to the
death of many.
Accident causation refers to factors which are responsible
for accidents and therefore, understanding what causes
unsafe situations to occur is important in implementing
measures to help prevent reoccurrence. Elimination of
accident causation can drastically eliminate hazards and this
was stressed by Walah [18] that this accidents can be
rectified by the workers abiding by the rules and regulations
in respect to the happening.
2.2. Safety Culture
Safety culture is held in high regard within the
construction industry. It is described as the product of
individual or group values, attitudes, perception and patterns
of behaviour that determine the commitment to, and
proficiency of an organizations health and safety
management [19]. Zou et al. [22] defined safety culture also
as an agglomeration of individuals as well as group that are
concerned with abating the risks and exposure of workers
and the public to unsafe acts and conditions in a construction
environment. This goes to show that for an effective safety
culture, all organization members must share a set of belief
about risk as well as accidents. Culture is seen to have a hand
in accident causation which is predicated on the obvious
migration of construction workers across developed countries
of the world. This was stressed by Balch and Geddes [21]
that a structurally embedded reliance on cheap and flexible
sources of regularly and irregularly employed migrant
workers has always been a key feature of the UK
construction sector. The way of life of people differ from
place to place which in turn take its toll on construction
work. Alhajeri [1] opined that the importance of culture to

American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 2018; 3(1): 23-28 25
health and safety management cannot be overemphasized
because it does help in understanding the different
approaches to accident prevention. The different
characteristics that help to identify culture which ranges
from; Culture being a system of values, Culture influencing
beliefs, attitudes, perception, and behavior, and Culture
distinguishing one group from another.
Accident causes are ironically known to all building
construction employers and also almost preventable but as
other business issues, occupational safety and health can be
managed in the enterprise; [8]. Human factors, Mechanical
factors, and Environmental factors are also seen to be
important factors that causes accident. It can be seen as
discussed by several authors that the issue of OHS
encompasses a whole lot which is not limited to wearing
Personal Protective Equipment alone. It is a philosophy that
discourages work practices that place individuals at risk of
injury and the integration of Health and safety into the daily
work process [1]. Construction accidents according to the
Workmen’s compensation decree of 1987 include but not
limited to; Permanent partial incapacity, Permanent total
incapacity, Temporary incapacity and Fatal accidents, where
death results.
2.3. Health and Safety Procedures Available in Nigeria
Compensation of workers discusses basically the insurance
policy covering injuries sustained by workers on site. It
includes a collection of laws that states clearly benefits
injured employees are entitled to in the case of occurrence of
any accidents during working hours [20]. Compensation
programs were designed to reduce litigation for work-related
injuries, illness and death. The legislations on Health and
safety in Nigeria building construction industry include but
not limited to; Labour Act of 1974 modified to Labour Acts
1990, and updated to Labour Act, Cap L1, Laws of the
Federation of Nigeria (LFN), 2004; the Factories Act of 1987
which became effective in 1990 and later updated to
Factories Act, Cap. F1, LFN, 2004; the Workman’s
Compensation Act of 1987 which became effective in 1990,
modified to Workman’s Compensation Act, Cap W6, LFN,
2004 and repeal to Employee’s Compensation Act, No. 13,
2010 of the laws of the Federation of Nigeria, the Insurance
Act, 2003 and the Labour, Safety, Health and Welfare Bill of
2012. The National Building Code which is about the worst
case scenario that after being approved by the National
executive council in 2006 is yet to be enforced. In advanced
countries of the world, legislation issues of occupational
health and safety (OHS) are taken seriously. That does not
neglect the fact that such laws are also in existence in Nigeria
but laws or regulations made without proper enforcement is
no law at all [2]; [7].
3. The Study Population and Study Area
Akure, the study area which is a city in south-western
Nigeria is the capital of Ondo State. The total area is
approximately 41.2km
2
and it lies on a relative plain of about
250m above the sea level. Akure lies about 70°15’ north of
the equator and 50°15’ east of the Meridian. The town is
situated in the tropic rainforest zone in Nigeria. The last
census conducted in 2006 put the city’s population at 484,798
i.e. Four hundred and eighty four thousand, seven hundred
and ninety eight (NPC, 2006). Akure, the study area which is
a city in south-western Nigeria is the capital of Ondo State.
The total area is approximately 41.2km
2
and it lies on a
relative plain of about 250m above the sea level. Akure lies
about 70°15’ north of the equator and 50°15’ east of the
Meridian. The town is situated in the tropic rainforest zone in
Nigeria. The last census conducted in 2006 put the city’s
population at 484,798 i.e. Four hundred and eighty four
thousand, seven hundred and ninety eight (NPC, 2006).
The easiest way of solving a problem is by identifying its
source. It has become necessary to identify the type of
construction work obtainable in the study area. Kadiri et al.
[11] categorized construction activities in F.C.T. Abuja into;
Multinational Construction Companies, Large scale
indigenous construction companies and Small scale
indigenous construction companies. It is important to stress
that the small scale indigenous construction enterprises are
the most predominant in the city of Akure which according to
Kadiri et al. [11] engage mainly in construction of residential
and commercial buildings with site offices or buildings and
no headquarters but offices. The major essence of these
companies is to maximize profit in whatever form possible.
4. Methodology
Relevant data was extracted for this study through the use
of structured questionnaires within the study area on
frequency of construction work, insurance scheme available
and compensation packages accessible to construction
workers. The population of the study was construction
workers operating small scale indigenous construction
companies within Akure. The target respondents consisted of
Architects, Engineers, Building contractors, Project managers
and Quantity surveyors. 150 questionnaires were distributed
to these target respondents and a total of 110 questionnaires
were completed and returned which constitutes 73.3% while
the information retrieved were analyzed with the aid of
descriptive analyses tools.
5. Result and Discussion
Summarized in Table 1 are the characteristics of
respondents in Akure. These include their sex, Level of
education, specialization in the building industry and period
of practice experience.
The gender of the respondents was predominantly
dominated by the male with 79.1% while the female gender
completed the remaining 20.9%. However, the highest level
of education of the respondents in the table below shows that
construction within the study area is dominated by the Higher
National Diploma holders with 50.0%. Investigation into the
specialization of respondents in the building industry

26 Olusoga Olawale Oreoluwa and Fagbemi Olasunkanmi: Health and Safety Management Practices in the
Building Construction Industry in Akure, Nigeria
revealed that the Architects have the highest frequency
56(50.9%). The practice experience of respondents also
indicates 55(50%) of them have between 6 – 10 years
practice experience.
Table 1. General information of respondents.
Sex frequency Percentage
Male 87 79.1
Female 23 20.9
Total 110 100
Level of education frequency Percentage
OND - 0
HND 55 50.0
B.Sc. 38 34.6
M.Sc. 15 13.6
Ph.D. 2 1.8
Total 110 100
Specialization in the building industry frequency Percentage
Architect 56 50.9
Engineer 33 30.0
Builder 13 11.8
Project Manager 8 7.3
Quantity Surveyor - 0
Total 110 100
Period of practice experience frequency Percentage
0-5 years 32 29.1
6-10 years 55 50.0
11-20 years 23 20.9
Over 20 years - 0
Total 110 100
Data on respondents’ participation in construction work
shows that a total of 45 (40.9%) respondents participates
frequently in construction while 28 (25.5%) are
predominately involved in building construction, 25 (22.7%)
rarely do and a total of 12 (10.9%) do not participate in
construction at all.
Table 2. Participation of respondents in construction.
Participation in construction
work frequency Percentage
Not at all 12 10.9
Rarely 25 22.7
Frequently 45 40.9
Always 28 25.5
Total 110 100
The result of findings (Table 3) on employment status
indicates that respondents prefer to employ construction
workers on casual basis 56 (50.9%). This implies that their
employment is on temporary basis. A very low percentage
(10.9%) of workers are employed on the basis of full-time
employment while 42 (38.2%) are engaged on a daily pay
basis. Respondents find it cheaper to employ either casual
workers or recruit workers on daily pay basis because it
makes them spend less and also they become less responsible
for any form of accident that might occur. There is a
difference to this assumption for the respondents who recruit
workers on full employment basis, citing their reasons as;
being able to monitor their state of mind when construction
work is going on, cheaper and also being able to instill
relevance of health and safety principle in them.
Table 3. Employment status of respondents.
Employment Status frequency Percentage
Full-time 12 10.9
Casual worker 56 50.9
Daily 42 38.2
Total 110 100
The result obtained (Table 4) on compensation of site
workers reveals that 75(68.2%) of respondents provide a
form of compensation for their workers which include
footing a large chunk of their medical bills when there is an
occurrence of accidents on construction site, as against
35(31.8%) who provide no form of compensation
whatsoever. In situations where there is loss of limbs, fingers,
broken legs and so on, a certain amount of money is given to
injured workers as a form of compensation knowing fully
well that they may not be able to carry out such jobs any
longer. Workers who also pay the supreme price are also
compensated with a sizeable amount of money presented to
family of the deceased.
Table 4. Compensation for workers.
Compensation of workers frequency Percentage
Yes 75 68.2
No 35 31.8
Total 110 100
Data results in Table 5 reveals that 95 (86.4%) respondents
have no provision for clinical services with recognized
medical institutions when there is an occurrence of site
accidents while 15(13.6%) have a provisions for clinical
services for their site workers. Respondents with provision
for clinical services have hospital where they foot medical
bills of injured site workers as they are to only report in such
places for treatment. Others leave their injured workers to get
themselves treated.
Table 5. Other management practices for workers.
Components Elements Frequency Percentage
Clinical
services
i. Availability of
clinical services 15 13.6
ii. No provision of
clinical services 95 86.4
Total 110 100
Accident
records
iii. Detailed records of
reported accident
victims
25 22.7
iv. No records for
accident victims 85 77.3
Total 110 100
Respondents with records of reported accidents discussed
that it makes it easy to analyze root causes of accidents
thereby advising and also provide necessary equipment to
mitigate from source, such causes. These according to them
has drastically reduced site accidents rate and also ensured
smooth running of construction projects.

American Journal of Engineering and Technology Management 2018; 3(1): 23-28 27
Source: Author’s Photograph.
Figure 1. Site worker without personal protective equipment while working
at height.
Interview conducted with building construction site
workers showed that a large portion of them are not aware of
the safety management practices obtainable within their
respective companies which in turn make them believe they
have to take personal care of themselves when accidents
occur. This they further added have made efficiency reduce
in that they fear they will be useless to themselves in the end.
Some site workers said that they have since taken issues of
their safety in their own hands with provision of personal
protective equipment (PPE). Another category of site workers
revealed that they have often forced themselves to come to
site even when ill and also called in sick. This they attributed
to the cruel nature of their establishment that refuse to honour
sick leave. They often receive deductions from their meagre
salaries for failing to show up on site due to reasons
pertaining to illness.
6. Conclusion
Accidents are unavoidable occurrences on construction site
all over the world with a lot of research done on mitigating it
from source. The regular practice of safety known to building
contractors within the study area is basically provision of
personal protective equipment. This is seen from literature as
not the only means of mitigating construction site accidents
with education and provision of safety signs seeming another
possible way out. This paper has carefully examined health
and safety management practices in Akure. Professionals in
the building industry also compete for and undertake building
construction work. It can be observed that the small scale
construction industries operate within the confines of their
budget because they lack the resources to perform at a high
level of health and safety performance. These constraints as
regards budgets also tend to prevent such industries from
doing a thorough accident reporting. Health and Safety issues
are almost never factored in their bidding at the tendering
stage thus, making it very difficult in earmarking funds to
cater for the events of accidents. Employment of site workers
which is predominately casual or daily pay basis provides the
building contractor a safe haven when accidents occur.
Without employment letters as well as decent contract
document which can serve as a legal means of demanding for
their rights, these workers are left to cater for themselves and
left defenseless. There is also risk of job loss to site workers
within the small scale companies when they try to complain
or report accident cases.
It can also be seen that few construction companies have a
decent level of safety practices captured in their company
policies. With the increasing number of small scale construction
companies, a lot still needs to be done in mitigating accident
causations as the life of construction site workers matter. An area
of further study will be to investigate the enforcement of such
safety policies whenever there is an unfortunate occurrence of
accidents and also seek to build up affordable health and safety
practices in small scale enterprises
Recommendation
To ensure the smooth running as well as timely delivery of
building projects, all parties – clients, project managers,
Architects, contractors, sub-contractors and artisans must see
health and safety as a fundamental issue. The issue of life and
its importance must be a key element within the policies of
the stakeholders within the industry. Building plans should
not be approved without detailed health and safety
documents indicating protective equipment provided by
companies. Also construction sites where work is carried out
must be sealed when there are no provision of safety
equipment. At the University level, health and safety issues

28 Olusoga Olawale Oreoluwa and Fagbemi Olasunkanmi: Health and Safety Management Practices in the
Building Construction Industry in Akure, Nigeria
should be included in the curriculum for both undergraduate
and postgraduate levels so that they know its importance at
the early stages of their training.
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