Determinants of compliance with health and safety regulations in Nigeria’s construction industry

The accident rate of the construction industry is disproportionate to the number of its workers compared withother industries. Despite this, the Nigerian construction industry lags behind in tackling the health and safety (H&S) challenges posed by the hazardous activities of the industryand contextual issues.Compliancewith H&S regulations is one of the pillars to achieving optimum H&Sin the workplace; regrettably, its level is low in Nigeria. This low level of compliance with H&S regulations in Nigeria remains one of the major factors blamed for the challenging state of H&S in Nigeria, especially in the construction industry.Hence, this paper examines the determinants of compliance with H&S regulations in Nigeria’s construction industry, unearthing the salient issues to compliance with H&S regulations in Nigeria’s construction industry.Using compliance theories, it explainsthecompliance behaviour of the Nigerian construction industry. Although studies on compliance with H&S regulations in developed countries abound, contextual influence prompts a study peculiar to Nigeria. A systematicreview of availableliteraturegathered through deskliterature search and qualitative content analysis wereconducted.The result of this study shows thatkey determinants to compliance with H&Sregulations in the Nigerian construction industry include: culture, client influence, inadequate legislation, activities of the informal construction sector, beliefs, enforcement of H&S regulations, bribery and corruption. It is evident from this study that contextual issues may explain compliance behaviour. This paper goes furtherto conclude that irrespective of the inadequate regulations and lack of governmental support, stakeholders in the construction industry and trade unions canimproveH&S. It also recommends that: building planning departments in local councils be involved in H&S enforcement; in tender selection, preference should be given to construction contractorswith good safety records; H&Sprofessionals should exploitthe economic benefits of good H&S management system toattract management commitment