Impact of health and safety management on safety performance of small and medium-sized construction businesses in Ghana

Health and safety at construction sites deals with both physical and psychological well being of workers on construction sites and other persons whose health is likely to be adversely affected by construction activities. It is of primary concern to employers, employees, governments and project participants. Although accident figures of the construction industry remain unacceptably high, some achievements in health and safety have been made. Nevertheless, the role of enabling socioeconomic, cultural, political, and institutional environments in health and safety management has either been overlooked or underemphasized. The importance of such enabling environments in this thesis is couched from the context of developing countries in particular, Ghana. In broader terms, the links between the socioeconomic, cultural, political, and institutional environments and health and safety at construction sites are still poorly understood. This thesis aims to understand the influence of the contextual environment on health and safety management within construction SMEs in Ghana and to develop a framework of recommendations for improving health and safety performance of the sector based on the analyses of the contextual environment. The thesis has adopted a multimethods strategy design, employing data collection techniques suited to the research setting. The discussion of results highlight the significance of the Ghanaian socio-cultural value systems particularly, the extended family system and traditional religious value systems in health and safety management within Ghanaian construction SMEs. The institutional structure for implementing health and safety standards on construction sites and the prevailing economic climate which undermines an enabling environment hinder construction SMEs from managing the risks of hazards on construction sites effectively. The research also gives insights into the difficulties posed by the internal environment of SMEs to the effective management of health and safety. Key issues identified by this study include: lack of skilled human resources; inadequate government support so construction SMEs; inefficiencies in the institutional structure responsible for implementing health and safety standards; the practice of corporate social responsibility; appropriate procurement practices; and, commitment to extended family obligations. These key issues need to be further explored. The study has made recommendations which, if adopted, will lead to significant improvements in the health and safety performance of construction SMEs in Ghana.