Abstract:
Achieving occupational health and minimisation to a large extent possible hazard to
health and safety in the construction industry is the responsibility of all employees.
The onus is on management to achieve high standards in such matters as required by
the constitution of Ghana (1992) and the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) in relation to
health and safety at the work place. It is high time construction practitioners pay much
attention to health and safety issues on sites and implement policies or framework in
this regard. The main objective of this study is to find out if contractors and developers
in the building industry have health and safety policies and whether these policies are
implemented and functional. Through questionnaires, interviews and literature, it was
revealed that majority sites have employees’ orientation on health and safety before
starting work. More so, management and employees have regular interactions to
continuously re-orient the mind on importance of site safety. It also came to light that
local contractors are guiltier when it comes to site health and safety practices. Based on
the findings from this research, it was recommended that a regulatory body should be
formed for the building industry. This body should develop an institutional health and
safety framework in line with the constitution and the Labour Act of Ghana that would
be stringently implemented in Ghanaian construction sites. Furthermore, international
construction sites normally have dedicated department which are well resourced to
ensure health and safety measures which local contractors could emulate.
