Safety Management Assessment For Unskilled Labor In Building Construction: A Case Of Bonga Town

Abstract

The construction industry is less mechanized and more labor-intensive; construction workers are the backbone of this industry. Establishing safety management for construction workers plays a vital role in the construction industry. So the major consideration is ensuring the safety of unskilled workers during construction. This research assess the safety management practices for unskilled labor in building construction projects, focusing on public construction sites in Bonga town. The study aims to explore the current practices, identify challenges in implementation, and assess the effects of improper safety management for unskilled labor on building construction in the Bonga area. However, it is known that numerous people lost their lives and had significantly worse injuries on building sites, including both construction workers and non-industry personnel. On those sites, poor safety management for unskilled workers is practiced. Literature review revealed significant gaps in safety management for unskilled labor, prompting the formulation of research questions and objectives. Descriptive research design methods are used to analyze the data. The data collection methods takes both primary and secondary data collection methods. The target area is around Bonga town, and the questionnaire is conducted on stakeholders in the study, which are local contractors, consultants, and unskilled laborers. The collected data is analyzed using the relative importance index (RII). The Results indicate critical challenges and effects such as lack of safety training facilities, lack of personal protective equipment’s, inadequate safety budget, improper safety policy implementation, lack of safety professional. These factors contribute to accidents, injuries, financial losses and finally death. Based on these findings, enhancing safety trainings, investing on PPE, increasing safety budget, improving safety policies and documentation and involvement of all parties are some recommendations that are proposed to enhance safety management practices and bridge the identified gaps.