Influence of Health and Safety Practices on Performance of Construction Projects in Abuja

Abstract

In most developing countries, health and safety consideration in construction project delivery is not given much priority, and employment of safety measures and practices during construction is considered a burden. Although significant progress has been made over the years, the need to continually improve the health and safety practices on construction sites cannot be over-emphasised as a result of the dangerous nature of the industry. Hence, this paper assessed the influence of health and safety practices on the performance of construction projects in Abuja, with the use of questionnaire survey and personal observation. Findings indicated that there was no statistical significant relationship between health and safety practices and the project objectives (cost, time and quality). Furthermore, the personal observations carried out showed that the level of compliance in terms of terms of safety rules and scaffolding and materials storage/handling was fair. The study concluded that health and safety practices have no influence on project objectives due to the little importance attached to health and safety practices. Health and safety plan should be made mandatory for all contractors during bidding process in order to improve health and safety practices and by extension construction performance. The implication of the study on contractors is that adhering to health and safety practices may go a long way in ensuring that cost, time and quality objectives are met thereby making sure that clients have better value for their investment.