Kheni, N A; Dainty, A R J and Gibb, A (2008) Health and safety management in developing countries: A study of construction SMEs in Ghana. Construction Management and Economics, 26(11), pp. 1159-1169. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
The construction industry plays a significant role in the economy of developing countries. The sector is, however, also one of the most hazardous with frequent accidents and health-related problems. The health and safety practices of construction small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana are examined with a view to improving the health and safety performance of the sector. A survey questionnaire was administered to owner/managers of SMEs, with a response rate of 32% of the sampling frame. Few of the SMEs adopted proactive health and safety practices. However, health and safety practices identified as being particularly associated with firm characteristics were: accident investigation procedures; accident reporting procedures; use of health and safety posters; documentation of method statements; and health and safety inductions. The diversity of health and safety practices associated with different size categories of SMEs and constraints to improving health and safety are highlighted. A positive change is needed in the attitudes of owner/managers which takes into account size-related constraints in order to improve the health and safety performance of Ghanaian SMEs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | developing countries; health and safety; SMEs; survey |
| Index terms: | health and safety practices, questionnaire, survey, documentation, manager, developing country, health and safety, construction industry, health and safety management, accident investigation, sampling, owner, Ghana |
| Subjects: | Geography, health safety and environment, development economics, professional development, industry analysis, environmental health, occupational health and safety management, sociology, practitioner, data collection methods |
| Topics: | International Construction, Health and Safety, Information Management, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Sustainability |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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