Occupational safety and health (OSH) sustainability compliance in the Ghanaian construction industry : perspective of casual workers

Abstract: Health and safety sustainability is fundamental to the performance and growth of the construction industry as well as all other economic sectors globally. OSH offers a risk free and safe working environment with influence on productivity and as such Ws imperative for construction firms to provide and ensure compliance by all workers particularly casual workers. The study sought tofind out the perspective of casual workers on the compliance to occupational health and safety (OHS) practice in the Ghanaian construction industry as well as sustainable OSH strategies to improve the compliance level of casual workers. A structured interview questionnaire survey was used to collect data from casual workers on selected construction sites in Ghana. The study revealed a poor compliance to basic OHS regulations by casual workers. This was attributed to; unsafe attitudes and behaviour less education on health and safety1 inadequate supply of personal protective equipment1 less supervision and improper use of tools and equipment. Recommendation are made for the empowerment of the factories inspectorate and labour departments to effectively undertake their mandate under the law1 the merger of all occupational safety and health policy documents into one single document is recommended and finally the passage of the construction industry bill to help regulate ensure strict compliance by industry players in the implementation of projects. In conclusion, strict compliance to OHS practice of casual workers should be ensured through close supervision at site; thus wearing a PPE must be a pre-requisite to access to site, safety education for workers should be undertaken as well as ensuring that occupational safety and health safety compliance declaration be considered a basic contractual requirement for the award of projects (at least for government of Ghanafunded projects)