Exploring challenges to implementing health and safety regulations in a developing economy

Abstract

There have been numerous laws enacted to regulate health and safety practices in the rapidly changing construction industry. However, the number of fatalities and accidents in the industry remains high. The purpose of this study is to explore the challenges to implementing health and safety regulations in a developing economy. A total of 30 challenges to implementing health and safety in construction were identified through an extant literature review; while data was obtained using survey questionnaires from professionals in both consulting and contracting firms involved in infrastructure development. The collected data was analysed with mean score, factor analysis and reliability tests to identify the main challenges to health and safety implementation on construction sites. The findings revealed that the challenges to implementing health and safety regulations include manhandling and external management, internal management, human error, enforcement system, working condition, and human and environmental factors. To ameliorate and reduce the effect of these challenges, there is need to review and update existing health and safety laws to align with current realities and periodically review safety records for future planning. This study could also form the basis for further studies in managing challenges to health and safety on construction sites.