ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF COMPLIANCE WITH HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS ON SOME SELECTED CONSTRUCTION SITES IN KANO METROPOLIS, NIGERIA

Abstract

Construction industry is known to be one of the most hazardous industries in terms of poor safety records on site. This resulted to frequent accidents, waste of money, resources and subsequent loss of valuable time and lives. Therefore, this study was to assess the extent to which health and safety standard are adhered to on some selected construction sites within Kano metropolis, Kano state Nigeria. The study used purposive sampling to source 127 participants. The study also used Krejcie and Morgan table to determine 60-sample size of infinite population in order to ensure that the chosen population is well represented. Data were collected through closed ended questionnaires as well as physical observations using observation checklist. The questionnaire was prepare using 5-point Likert scale rating with 5 having the highest weight of the rating while 1 having the lowest rating. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 23v) software was utilized for data analysis for this study and descriptive statistics was used for data presentation. The study found that there is moderate level of compliance with health and safety standard on construction sites within the study area. Only a least fraction of the construction sites has low level of compliance with health and safety standard. This is due to lack of knowledge and inadequate training of site workers and the fact that contractors regard the cost of complying with regulations as an unnecessary financial burden. The study recommends that Health and Safety standards shall be considered as pre-requisite for awarding contracts as currently no H&S criteria in the contract documents within the study area. Health & Safety plans should be thoroughly assessed at tender stage by all stakeholders as this could significantly minimize accidents on site.