Compliance with occupational health and safety in the construction industry in a selected district

Abstract

The underlying study was necessitated by the realisation that whereas national statistics indicated an increasing trend in injuries and fatalities in the construction industry and consequently excessive claims from the workman's compensation fund, there were no records of registered manufacturers and on occupational health related accidents at the provincial offices of the Department of Labour in the North West (NW)) province of South Africa. The study therefore undertook to establish whether manufacturers of cement-based intermediate goods in Ngaka Modiri Molema District (NMMD) complied with occupational health and safety (OHS) standards. A mixed method approach was adopted. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 50 respondents and through observation of the activities and the physical environments in workplaces. The level of compliance was established to be below par due to factors that included: unwillingness by manufacturers to pay sufficient attention to health and safety; inability to employ well educated individuals; managers opting to employ individuals who out of desperation would work under unacceptable conditions; a good supply of individuals that were ready to compromise OHS standards for pittance; lack of effective enforcement of OHS standards by inspectors; and substance abuse. Recommendations for improvement of OHS standards were suggested