Restriction Factors to Implement Safety Practices in Small Grade Contractors

Abstract

This study was focused on small grade contractor in Malaysian construction industry. The total of small grade contractors in Malaysia registered by Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is higher and increases for every year. However, it is well known that construction project are exposed to accidents and injuries including of minor accidents, ergonomics problems, out dated machinery can cause the machine breakdown, and lack of awareness from employers and employees. The statistic of construction accidents is one of the critical sectors that need a huge and fast overhaul from the current site safety practices. Moreover, the safety practice in small grade contractors is too far to achieve the good safety performance in construction industry compare to large grade contractors. In this study, a semi-structured question was developed to identify the factors that affecting safety practice in small grade contractors. The data used in this study was collected through the interview with manager in small grade contractors, Site Safety Supervisor (SSS), and Safety and Health Officer (SHO). The finding of this paper was identified factors that influence safety practice in small grade contractors such as poor Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management; small project value; financial constraint; lack of training and knowledge on safety management; high competition; lack of communication; unsatisfactory safety motivation; not exposed with good safety culture on site; the existing OSH framework is fragmented; difficult in contract acquirement; do not have SSS, SHO or safety person in charge; lack of OSH formal documentation; financial limitation and time constraints. The critical factors lack of safety practice which are financial limitation and lack of training and knowledge. In conclusion, small grade contractors faced for some factors that avoid them to implement safety practice in their companies.

Health and Safety Management on Construction Projects: The View of Construction Tradespeople

“…This is equivalent to 73.60% and 90.60%; implying that their contribution to construction site accidents ranges from high to very high. The findings of this section are in support of the findings of (Arunkumar & Gunasekaran, 2018;Julie Bell & Healey, 2006;Williams et al, 2019;Yusof & Misnan, 2019;Zou et al, 2007). Arunkumar and Gunasekaran (2018) found that the major causes of accidents on the construction site are; unsafe acts, unsafe working conditions, communication barriers, management commitment, and lack of training.…”

“…Certain conditions reduce the efficiency of site operations and predispose them to hazards and accidents. Yusof and Misnan (2019) revealed that these variable are poor occupational Safety and Health (OSH) management, financial constraint, lack of training and knowledge on safety management, high competition, lack of communication, unsatisfactory safety motivation, poor safety culture, inefficient safety person in charge and time pressure.…”

“…Arunkumar and Gunasekaran (2018) found that the major causes of accidents on the construction site are; unsafe acts, unsafe working conditions, communication barriers, management commitment, and lack of training. The lack of training on safety management, communication issues, poor safety motivation, poor safety culture of the organisation has been reported by (Yusof & Misnan, 2019) to be among the major causes of accidents on construction sites. According to the report of Williams et al (2019), some of the major causes of accidents are; violation of safety standards, poor supervision of working platform installations, over speeding of vehicle, wrong selection of working tools, non-usage of personal protective equipment, improperly installed equipment, horseplay, and poor housekeeping.…”

Effect of Occupational Health and Safety Training for Chinese Construction Workers Based on the CHAID Decision Tree

“…On the restrictive factors of implementing safety measures in construction contractors, it is found that the main factors affecting the safety practice of contractors are the perfection of occupational safety and health management, and lack of training knowledge in safety management, etc. (8). Therefore, it is urgent to professionalize the construction sector and implement a "risk prevention culture" among the personnel participating in construction activities (9).…”

System dynamics simulation of occupational health and safety management causal model based on NetLogo

“…The factors affecting the safety methods of contractors include an incomplete OHS management system, a lack of training and knowledge in safety management, and the absence of SSS, SHO, or safety managers [ 39 ]. Moreover, the inadequacy of OHS system documents is also a detrimental factor for methodological factors [ 40 ]. In addition, the formulation of OHS performance indicators and performance measurement in construction methods are also important factors affecting OHS management [ 5 , 41 , 42 ].…”