Stakeholders’ compliance and accountability with health and safety in the construction industry

M.Phil. (Engineering Management)Abstract: Health and safety are important considerations in the construction industry and have received a lot of attention due to the high rates of tragic incidents and accidents that have taken place. A significant amount of work has been done to improve the performance of health and safety in the industry world-wide; however, the slow pace of improvement is a concern. The South African construction industry is not an exception to these concerns. The purpose of this research intervention is to investigate the effects on health and safety performance by the high rate of non-compliance on the part of construction stakeholders in South African construction sites. This research presents findings from a study undertaken on Tongaat mall collapse accident to establish the role of construction stakeholders’ non-compliance and accountability on construction health and safety. A case study of the Tongaat mall collapse was conducted through the review of documents containing evidence presented in the inquiry that was held to investigate the cause of the collapse. The inquiry interrogated all the stakeholders and witnesses involved; furthermore, experts were invited to provide their expertise on the collapse. The failure of columns was identified to have led to the collapse. This study uses this finding to assess whether or not stakeholders were compliant with the provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, No 85 of 1993. The study also evaluates whether or not the inquiry managed to hold the stakeholders accountable for their actions or inactions. The findings from the study suggest that the non-compliance by stakeholders led to an accident that could have been avoided. Furthermore, the study found gaps in the legislation in so far as the regulating body is concerned in holding non-compliant parties accountable. These gaps create perverse incentives for non-compliance by stakeholders. This study therefore provides light on some of the contributing factors to the slow progress in health and safety performance of the industry. Understanding and addressing the issues highlighted in the above-mentioned study may contribute towards increasing the rate of improvement in health and safety performance. The findings from this research add to the existing body of knowledge on health and safety. They highlight non-compliance of stakeholders and lack of accountability as some of the contributing factors to the health and safety poor performance in the industry; the findings are further supported by available statistics of non-compliance in construction sites, as..