Emuze, F (2017) The human contribution to unsafe construction acts and conditions in the central region of South Africa. In: Chan, P W and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 33rd Annual ARCOM Conference, 4-6 September 2017, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, UK.
Abstract
Unsafe acts and conditions have inflicted major harm to workers in South African construction. Despite reported accidents, permanent disabilities and fatalities in the media almost on monthly basis, there are limited empirical studies on acts and conditions on project sites in South Africa. The dearth of studies with depth as opposed to a quest for 'universals' is a concern in the central region of South Africa. This paper summarizes two qualitative (phenomenology) research projects, conducted over 7-9 months in 2016. The studies sought responses to "what is the relationship between working condition and accidents; and what are unsafe acts and conditions of greater concerns in South Africa. The highlights of the studies show that there is a direct relationship between unsafe acts and conditions. For instance, congested site conditions, and long working hours produce slips, falls, cuts, burns, fatigue, negligence, trips, entrapments, and misjudgment on project sites. The studies also reveal that reported incidents and accidents stem from human contributions. For example, people take short cut with work methods and procedures, ignore safety due to heavy workload and tight deadlines, and misjudge risks in work situations. Unsafe conditions are either created by workers when proper use of tools, plants and equipment are ignored, or set up by management when workers are forced to work at heights and inclement weather without adequate protection. The studies reinforce the view that 'human' is a hazard component whose unsafe acts are implicated in errors and violations that produce harm. The discourse in the paper closes with a motivation for promoting the 'person and systems models' of unsafe act prevention.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; unsafe acts; unsafe conditions; site work |
| Index terms: | workload, motivation, falls, negligence, fatigue, media, working hours, empirical study, site work, violation, phenomenology, weather, disability, fatalities, South Africa, prevention |
| Subjects: | research methods, management, health risk and incident analysis, financial risk, employment law, Geography, methods and analysis, health conditions and diseases, sociology, liability law, regulatory law, air quality, psychology, site logistics |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Human Resources, Site Management, Health and Safety, Cost Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here